YuGiOh! Nightrise
by ardee
Summary: After the tumultuous events of the Tournament of Shadows, Yugi and his friends must join forces with the Demon Lords to prevent an ancient evil from destroying all existence. Victory is almost impossible, failure is unacceptable. Apocalypse has come.
1. Prologue

YuGiOh

**YuGiOh! Nightrise**

**Well, here's the new fic. I didn't expect to post it so fast, but hey, here it is, for your reading enjoyment. I was very happy with the positive response I got to Advent of Power, and I hope that this one will get the same level of feedback.**

PROLOGUE

Pain. That was the first thing that Joey Wheeler felt as he slowly dragged himself to his feet. He noticed that he was still in the same, large room where he had dueled Dartz… And lost miserably. Grimacing, he looked around, slowly rubbing his throbbing temples. He had been taken by the Orichalcos once before, and he knew that waking up hurt like hell.

Suddenly, it hit him. He was awake. That meant the Tournament of Shadows was over. He glanced around wildly, and saw resident rich-boy as well as that arrogant kid standing in the doorway, slowly trying to make their way to the stairs. Both seemed to be in terrible shape.

"Hey! Rich boy!" he called out hoarsely. The tall brunette whirled around, an expression of mixed shock and disdain on his face. "So you're awake," he growled.

Joey was too tired to retort. "Does this mean it's over?" Kyle nodded affirmatively. "Yugi probably defeated that Ishtar freak." Joey's eyes went wide.

"Did you say Ishtar?"

Kyle grimaced at this. "A lot of things happened while you were taking your little nap, mutt," growled Kaiba. "As it turned out, Ishtar purposely lost to Dartz, and through some weird hocus-pocus crap, he got free from the Orichalcos. Last I saw him, he went up to the terrace to duel Yugi. Not only that, but that English Bakura kid dropped by to duel as well."

Normally, this would have sent Joey racing up to the terrace. But he was far too weak for that. He looked around, and noticed that the prone forms of Zane Truesdale, Ryou Bakura, and Kevin Hunter were beginning to shift as well. Zane was the first to shift into a sitting position. He gasped in pain, holding his ribs.

"Are you okay?" asked Joey, turning to face him. "I… I think that last attack from Dartz broke a rib. No, I'm not okay."

When Ryou got up, Joey was glad to see that it was their English friend, and not his dark side. Kevin struggled to his feet, and seemed so tired that he couldn't speak.

"I think we'd better go and find Jaden and Alexis," said Zane, slowly getting to his feet. "Good idea," responded Joey. "I think that if the three of you," he indicated Zane, Kaiba and Kevin, "Go and find them, we'll go up and have a look at Yugi."

The other three agreed. Slowly, they went their different directions.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Apocalypse…" It was all Yami could say. Other words did not leave his mouth. He was speechless.

The towering man stared at him, as if his emotionless, cold eyes would bore a hole through Yami. _"I have arisen out of eons of imprisonment to bring Armageddon to this plane of existence, and every other one as well. I will not kill you now, for you have done me a favor by aiding in my release, mortal. Enjoy the last rays of twilight. Night is coming."_

The voice sounded like broken pieces of class in an ice bucket, with all the sharpness of glass and coldness of ice. The voice cut through Yami's barriers and pierced his core. It shook his heart and soul. He had never heard a voice like this. Somehow, he knew that Apocalypse, if that really was his name, was speaking the truth.

"But… But how did I release you?" he whispered.

Apocalypse seemed amused, if it was actually possible for an entity like himself. "_When you defeated your foe, your negative emotions provided the last amount of dark energy I needed to break through my prison. Enjoy the fact that you have caused the utter destruction of every single dimension that exists_."

With that, he was gone. He had seemingly disappeared into the rising sun, and was soon a speck of black in the horizon. After a few more seconds, he had completely disappeared.

Yami fell to his knees, his eyes glazing over. Joey was barely able to catch him before he hit the ground.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The wraith was a terrible sight to behold. He was about six foot three, but height didn't really matter when you floated above the ground most of the time. He was covered in a black cloak, but one could wonder if the cloak was exactly what he was, and if there was anything underneath it at all. It covered his feet, if he had any, and was frayed and tattered at the bottom. He had a hood, one that covered his head. When he looked down, one could not make out his features. The hands that were seen extended from his black sleeves were pale, and spider-like. The wraith had a very unhealthy look to him.

He spoke in a calm voice, yet one that would send shivers down the spine of a normal man. "Our fears have been realized. Apocalypse has escaped."

His companion was his polar opposite. She was a woman of such beauty, that words could not describe her. She was dressed in a flowing, white gown, that seemed to radiate light. Her features were soft and caring, with shining blue eyes, and a smile that seemed to light up the world. Fiery red hair fell to her shoulders. Her skin was slightly tanned. But aside from her incredible good looks, she had a tired look around her. One could tell she was exhausted.

"We must act," she said in a musical voice, one that seemed to carry the sound of a violin.

The two were in a very serene place with a great deal of natural beauty. The soft, green grass blew in the wind, and the quiet crooning of various birds could be heard. The vegetation was quite light, with a few flowering plants and trees here and there.

The ground underneath the wraith seemed to have rotted. The grass had turned black, and the soil seemed devoid of any nutrients. A flower near him was dead as well. Slowly and gracefully, the lady walked over to the flower, and bent down. She touched it, and its bent stem erected itself. The colorless petals turned a fiery red.

"You know the rule, Life," said the wraith in his hollow voice. The lady, apparently called Life, stood up, and closed her eyes. "Of course. Members of the Infinity Council cannot do battle under any circumstances. Last time around was an exception… He had grown too strong. But he must be even stronger now, Death. He broke free of the Oblivion Star."

Death fixed the lady with a distant stare. "I do not think so. He has used his servants all over the planes of existence to gather power from various battles. There has been a rather large series of battles on Earth, specifically battles involving Shadow Magic."

Life looked up from the grass, suddenly surprised. "Shadow Magic? The Pharao-…."

"He has returned. I believe this was Apocalypse's doing. He triggered the return of the Millennium Items, in order for a large power-struggle to take place. The Atlantian was involved as well. Even by our standards, some of these mortals are quite powerful. Eventually, however, the Pharaoh prevailed. He defeated his enemy with utmost hatred and anger. This last negative emotion was what Apocalypse required to break out of his bonds."

There was silence.

Finally, Life spoke. "We cannot fight him, Death. If we do, then we will not be able to hold back. If we destroy him, the resulting release of negative energy will cause indescribable pain and destruction. No… A former Infinity Council member cannot be destroyed by another member."

"Then what do you propose?" said Death coldly.

Life was silent again. Finally, she spoke. "The Pharaoh. He is powerful. He can fight Apocalypse."

"Ridiculous. Mighty though he is, Apocalypse will crush him under the heel of his boot. No, we must meet with Order, Chaos and Creation. We will need to decide whether we set out to destroy him ourselves, or if we should enlist the help of mortals."

Life closed her eyes. "We will have to do so eventually to decide on a long-term strategy. But do remember… Apocalypse will not waste time. He will resurrect his Horsemen. Even if we confront him eventually, the destruction he causes before that will be catastrophic. He will want energy released in order for him to consume it."

Death nodded. "You speak correctly."

"Therefore, I propose we use the Pharaoh to hold off Apocalypse up until we decide on a long-tem method of battle." Death considered. "Very well. It is necessary. However, it is strictly provisional. We cannot rely on a single mortal to keep Apocalypse at bay."

Life shook her head. "I did have another idea."

Death stared at her blankly. "What?"

"The Wolf Demon General." For a second, Death was silent. "That is a good proposition. The remaining Demon Lords will also be needed. I will do the needful, and make sure that they meet the Pharaoh and the other Chosen Duelists. When they do meet, I expect you to brief them."

"Very well, brother."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Daniel Pilkington had been your average sixteen year-old. At least up until about five and a half years ago. The experience had left him changed, and somehow, he was now your not-so average twenty-two year old.

To start with, he had won a place in the Duel Monsters Tournament held by the Shadow Corporation, along with his friends Deondre Anderson, and CJ Anderson (they are not related). It had been a brutal and cut-throat tournament to begin with, for all kinds of creepy and weird duelists had gotten in.

And it only got weirder when Daniel realized that there was an ancient, five thousand year-old demon spirit inhabiting his mind. The spirit went by the name of Rikuo Amero, and was apparently a Wolf Demon General from feudal Japan. And Giovanni Garlin, the host of the tournament, was the vessel of Rikuo's five thousand year-old adversary, the Torture Demon who went by the name of Kilomet Sestros.

The battle was a long and brutal one, not without tough times. At first, Daniel and Rikuo rarely got along, but eventually, they got closer. In a heart-stopping two on one duel against Sestros, Rikuo and Daniel found themselves working with the legendary Yugi Moto. Finally, Rikuo did the impossible and defeated his oppressor.

Over a period of time, they not only destroyed the remnants of the Shadow Corporation, but were also forced to face Sestros again. This was only a prelude to a terrible duel against a demon mage called Valeus, who planned to kill every human on Earth and allow demons free reign.

During the last adventure, Rikuo and Daniel had acquired different bodies. Sharing a body had been a strange, yet amazing experience. The two were as close as brothers.

Daniel was about five foot ten, and quite lean. He had light red, messy hair that flowed down to the small of his back. Dark brown, soft eyes did not give away the real determination that was contained in this individual. He had a red-furred wolf's tail that he keeps wrapped around his waist like a belt, a pair of red-furred wolf ears on top of his head, and strangely short claws. Considering he was a half-demon, his physical appearance was not too much of a giveaway. Dressed in a silver T-Shirt and black jeans, he was not too bad-looking, it was just that he tended to be incredibly nervous around girls.

Still, he had actually managed to have a conversation with a girl without fainting during his last adventure, and was now dating that same girl. He gave a small chuckle as he remembered his first date with Jennie. That was about five years ago.

His friends CJ and Deondre were also with him right now, as they got into Daniel's truck to go meet Rikuo. For some reason, the 5,016 year-old demon had e-mailed each one of them, urgently asking them to come to his house immediately. Confused, they agreed. After all, it was unwise to agree with one of the most powerful duelists, human or demon, on the planet.

CJ dominated whichever room he was in. He stood six foot four, and weighed a hefty one hundred and ninety pounds. He was African-American, and his overall intimidating appearance served to scare off anyone who wanted to cause trouble. He lost his temper very often, and this resulted in his friends calling him a gorilla. Upon discovering that he was the Horse Demon Lord, he had taken it hard, but not as hard as Deondre…. He wore a red T-Shirt and blue jeans.

Deondre Anderson was slightly muscular, with neat black hair that reached his shoulder. He had a pair of black dog ears similar to Daniel's, as well as short claws. Upon discovering that he was the Dog Demon Lord, he had not taken it well, and it had taken him a few months to deal with it. He was dressed similarly to Daniel, with a silver jersey and black jeans.

"What do you think Rikuo wants?" echoed CJ's deep voice as Daniel started up the truck. The engine cranked to life, and they pulled out of his drive-way.

Daniel shrugged. "He's never sounded so frantic before. I could tell, even across the e-mail. Anyway, he might be upset if we don't come." CJ grunted. He had experienced Rikuo's super-human strength a number of time, although he had been able to use his own demonic powers to counteract them when he mastered them.

Deondre was silent. Somehow, he didn't have a good feeling about this…

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Die, little man, die!" shouted Rikuo maniacally, slamming his fingers from button to button on the PlayStation3 joystick. He was playing a first-person shooter, and despite the enthusiasm he voiced, he found it incredibly boring.

Honestly, playing a modern video-game entailing usage of these cowardly and boring weapons was not befitting of an ancient demon general who had more experience in battle then every soldier on Earth put together. But then again, it was one of the few ways to relieve him of boredom.

Sighing as he shot down his last opponent, he flopped down on the couch. This was really boring him.

He couldn't even get into fights. Though he was only five foot ten, his slotted-amber eyes were enough to scare off most tough guys. His black wolf's ears and tail did nothing to tone down the wild and intense look he carried about him. Even the messy hair that went down to his lower back seemed scary.

He gave a sigh, and was about to play another round, when he heard a knock on his door. His ears perked up. He trudged to his door, and opened it, only to see Daniel, CJ and Deondre. "What are you doing here?" he asked, confused.

"You called us here," said CJ irritably. Rikuo shook his head. "Meh, why would I call you guys to my house, ape-horse?"

Before the Horse Demon Lord could retort, there was a call from outside the apartment. "Rikuo?" he called out. All four turned to see the silver-haired man in a flowing trench coat. It was Ryu Zaytel, alias Jourgen Politamus. The Dragon Demon Lord.

"What are you people doing outside my house?!" exploded Rikuo. "You were the one who called us, right?" said Ryu wearily.

"No," said a stone-cold voice behind Rikuo. Everyone whirled around to see a wraith standing there. He wore a black cloak that covered his feet, and was frayed and tattered at the bottom. He had a hood, one that covered his head. When he looked down, they couldn't see his face. The hands that were seen extended from his black sleeves were pale, and spider-like.

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!" roared Rikuo.

"You will find out," replied the same, emotionless voice. Suddenly, Rikuo yawned. "I said… I said… Who the he-… Who the hell are-…." He was on the floor, snoring like an elephant's trumpet. The others soon followed.

Death did not say anything. It was time for the Demon Lords to get acquainted with the Chosen Duelists.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I still can't figure out who that floating guy was," muttered Joey to Ryou, as they made their way to the elevator. First, they planned to pick up Tea, and then would proceed down where they would meet the other three with Jaden and Alexis.

Ryou shrugged. "I asked the spirit of the Ring as well. He has no idea. But for some reason, he seems to have told Yami something that bothered him."

Yami had given control of their body to a confused Yugi. When questioned by his friends, Yugi simply said that Yami had locked himself in his soul room, and refused to speak to him.

"Something else to deal with," growled Joey. "How can you be so sure?" replied Ryou. "Hey… If a big, black armored guy floats down from the sky and says something to Yami that makes him close everyone else out of his life… It's definitely something bad. And hey, name me one time when we don't have to deal with this kind of stuff."

Ryou shrugged. "Touché."

Suddenly, as the elevator reached their floor, it opened to reveal a woman of such breath-taking beauty, that they all stopped in their tracks. All being males below twenty-five, it was an awkward experience. The lady was dressed in a white robe, with fiery red hair and shining blue eyes. She had a smile that seemed to radiate pure light.

"Who… Who are you?" said Kaiba, the only one among them, besides Yugi and Ryou, who was able to control his hormones.

"I am Life." With that, they were all unconscious.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rikuo wearily opened his eyes. "When I find that damn wraith I am going to…" He stopped short. He didn't expect to see what he had just witnessed.

Around him were a number of people, some of whom he recognized, others whom he didn't. One of the other standing figures was a young man with tri-colored spiky hair. He had blonde bangs and a pink stripe that went around the outer part of his spikes, with black filling in the rest. His eyes were violet. He wore black leather pants, a belt that hung off to the side, a black muscle shirt, and a long sleeved blue jacket.

"Moto?" he asked, surprised. Yugi turned to look at him. He squinted, and then gasped. "Don't tell me…"

Rikuo smirked. He noticed that Daniel had woken up next to him. Yugi glanced at the red-haired duelist. "Daniel. Good to see you. Care to explain what the hell is going on here?" The half-demon shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine."

They looked around them and absorbed their surroundings. It was a large, spacious room with no furniture at all. There were no doors. It was like someone had locked them in an asylum. Rikuo snorted as he noticed a man with brown hair brown hair that went down to his neck, but was trimmed up, and piercing dark blue eyes. He wore a white trench coat with a black undershirt and black leather pants. It seemed Kaiba was still around.

Meanwhile, CJ, Deondre, Ryu, Joey, Kevin, Kyle, Zane, Jaden, Alexis, Ryou also got to their feet. They also saw two people whom they did not expect to see. One as Siegfried Reinhardt, a duelist whom they had worked with a number of times to combat the Shadow Corporation. He was just the same as ever, with long brown hair and a jacket and jeans combo. He had a tail wrapped around his waist as well.

With a heavy German accent, he spoke. "Can someone tell me what is going on?"

The Demon Lords shrugged. But none of the others even paid attention. They were all looking at Tea Gardner's prone form. "Why isn't she getting up?!" hissed Yugi, kneeling down. He checked for a pulse, and heaved a sigh of relief. At least she was still alive.

A laugh came from behind them. It was a clear, musical laugh, one that could leave even the saddest person in a good mood. They turned around, only to see the beautiful woman whom Yugi and his friends had seen before they fell into unconsciousness.

"You!" roared Kyle.

The woman shook her head. "I am sorry if you were offended by my actions." Her voice was just as melodious and soft as her laugh. "But you must understand, the circumstances compelled me to do so. It was essential that every single one of you accompanied me here."

Just as she finished speaking, the tall wraith materialized beside her. Rikuo roared in anger. "YOU!"

The wraith looked at him, and he stopped. They didn't gasp or scream, for the sight was too chilling for that. There was no face inside the hood. It was pure blackness, and all they could see were two, floating, crimson eyes.

"_There is no time for this._"

Seto stepped forward. "Why? Where are we? And in any case, why did you bring us here?"

The woman sighed. "We will explain. First, however, we will introduce ourselves. I am Life." She glanced at her companion. "He is Death."

This would have incited a good many snorts from a number of the group, but for some reason, be it Life's stunning beauty or Death's unnerving qualities, no one did so. It was something in her voice that made them understand how deadly serious she was.

"I assume that not one of you has heard of the Infinity Council." She received blank stares from everyone.

"Very well," she sighed. "I will explain. The Universe is balanced by six essential forces, Creation, Life, Order, Chaos, Death and… Apocalypse." She left it hanging. Yugi gave a small gasp, but everyone else was quiet. These words meant nothing to them.

"These six forces are embodied into entities. These entities sit as the members of the Infinity Council, overseeing the various stages of existence. There is Creation, myself, Order, Chaos Death… and Apocalypse. Our names are self-explanatory."

She gave another sigh. The exhaustion was apparent in her face. "I will be brief. Twenty-seven thousand years ago, the Infinity Council was divided. Apocalypse rose up against us. The fundamental law of the Universe states that we cannot fight among ourselves or destroy each other. Therefore, we were forced to seal him in a prison known as an Oblivion Star. It is a concentration of archaic energies. It was apparent that in his weakened state after his battle with us, he would not be able to break out. Less than fifteen minutes ago, we were proved wrong."

Even Rikuo did not speak. For some reason, there was a tiny hint of bitterness in her voice.

"It seems like Apocalypse has drawn energy from the many Shadow Games that have been played out. Truth be told, he has manipulated people for eons, using his enormous mental capabilities and his servants throughout the world, in order for scenarios to occur that release a lot of energy. He siphoned this energy into himself. It seems that eventually, he has been able to break free."

They were silent. Finally, Joey spoke up. "And how does this concern us? Other than the obvious fact that he obviously plans to destroy pretty much everything, considering his name."

Life nodded serenely. "As of now, we assume that is his aim. After all, he wished to cause an early Apocalypse during his last uprising. Our wish is for you to keep him at bay while we think of a new solution."

Rikuo snorted, as did CJ. Some others muttered among themselves, while the remainder were silent.

Yugi spoke first. "How do you expect us to take him on? First of all, you have barely told us anything about him and the Infinity Council. Plus, if we are to believe your words, he is about as strong as a god. We cannot contend with that kind of power."

It was Death who replied. His cold voice was slightly softer, but not much. "Your concerns are agreeable. However, the less you know about us, the better. The Infinity Council has a long, subtle, and sometimes terrible history that should remain buried. It is not for mortals to uncover. Also, Apocalypse is not at his previous level of strength. He had to use a great deal of power to break out of the Oblivion Star. We do not wish for you to destroy him. We just want him kept at bay until we find a solution."

Kaiba replied coldly. "Really? And what might this solution be? And how will it take you to find it?"

Death glared at him. "Do not presume to speak to me in such a manner, mortal." Before he could say anything else, Life intervened.

"Please. We may have sounded too pressuring. We are asking you. It is for the greater good. We require you to prevent him from wreaking a great deal of destruction that will kill many innocent people, before he attempts to cause a universal destruction."

Yugi closed his eyes. "For seven years, I've dealt with people like him. Maybe on a smaller scale, but they wish to similarly cause pain. It is not something I can allow. I love this world. I will not allow him to do this. I may be a firefly compared to a star, but I will do what I can."

He snapped them open, and looked at Life. Meanwhile, Joey walked up to his friend and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You've got my support, pal. You're not alone in this. You never will be." Yugi gave his friend a thankful smile.

Slowly but surely, Kaiba grudgingly walked up. "If I'm to believe you, this individual has been responsible for a number of incidents that have caused me great inconvenience. I will not allow him to go unpunished. Because of him, my brother was kidnapped twice. He will pay, whoever he is."

Ryou joined them, a smile on his face. He glowed slightly, and his soft features carried the malevolent grin of the Spirit of the Ring. "This bloke cannot destroy the Universe before I take over. Meh, he's probably just some wannabe villain who uses a lot of smoke and mirrors. I'll help you on a purely provisional basis."

Zane, Alexis and Jaden stepped forward. "I have a moral obligation to this," said Zane softly. "I have hurt people in the past. Too many. I will now wash away my sins my aiding in stopping this madman." Jaden and Alexis nodded in agreement. They clasped each other's hands tightly. Kyle walked towards them as well.

All eyes were on the Demon Lords. Rikuo was looking at Death. "Correct me if I'm wrong. Are you saying that this freak is responsible for not only the black deeds of Kilomet Sestros, but the bids for power by Yamidra and Valeus as well?"

Life nodded. Rikuo cracked his knuckles. "Revenge is a dish best served cold," he growled. "Last time I checked, it was November." Daniel nodded and placed a hand on his yami's shoulder.

"Sestros _killed_ me. And he turned me against my sister. And a whole lot of other nasty things. If Apocalypse is responsible for this, there will be hell to pay from his side."

CJ and Deondre nodded affirmatively. "Daniel's been our friend for a long time," said the towering giant of a duelist. "We've stuck with him through everything. And we're not going to leave him alone with the irritable wolf now." He ducked a punch from Rikuo.

Ryu and Siegfried nodded quietly. "I think I speak for both of us when I say that actions such as his cannot go unpunished," said Ryu softly.

Suddenly, Seto glanced around to see Kevin Hunter. He had a nervous expression on his face, along with a slight bit of anger. "Well, Hunter?" he said crisply. "Are you on board or not?"

The teenage duelist glared. "Just shut up, won't you?! I hate you, I hate every one in this room. I have been through enough in my life rather then having to deal with some weirdo who apparently came down from the sky and said that he would destroy the world. I WILL NOT WORK WITH YOU!"

There was silence. This was followed by the sound of a heavy thud. It was the sound of Kyle stepping forward and lashing out with his fist, catching Kevin on the cheek. The dragon duelist stumbled, and fell over in shock. "You little, pathetic excuse for a human being," whispered Kyle, flexing his fingers.

"This is not the time for your petty grudges. The life of every single person on Earth is at risk. And you think of your father's loss to Kaiba in a _duel_?" Everyone else was silent as Kevin got to his feet. He was glaring at Kyle, and was about to speak when he found himself slammed against the wall. Kyle's hand was wrapped around his collar.

"You are pathetic. _Pathetic_," he whispered. He pulled back his fist, but felt a palm descend on it. It was Yugi. "Don't do this, Kyle" he said softly. "It's his choice." Kyle closed his eyes for a minute, and with a sigh, let Kevin go.

Life's hand was glowing a strange purple. "If that is your wish, then I will create a portal for you to leave. However, leaving now will result in losing your memories of everything that has been said here. You will also lose your memories of your involvement with Marik Ishtar, and your hatred of Seto Kaiba. We cannot afford him to be impeded."

Kevin glared. "Fine! Anything to get away from you freaks!"

Life sighed, and her fist relaxed. A strange portal appeared next to her. It was made of a swirling purple, with tinges of other colors as well. On the other side was complete blackness. Without a second thought, Kevin entered it, his features marred with an angry grimace all the while. The portal disappeared.

There was an unnatural silence in the room. Everyone had thought Kevin to be a repentant individual.

"That's that," said Jaden grimly. "Now, since we've all agreed to help you, do you mind telling us exactly what we need to do?"

Death nodded. "Before Apocalypse was imprisoned, we sapped him of his powers of immortality. He was invulnerable to every kind of harm. He was impervious to physical harm, as well as various forms of energy attacks. He was unaffected by Shadow Magic, and was also indifferent to a very unusual and arcane form of murder… It is known as purging the soul of an entity. I will not go into the details," he said, at the blank look on their eyes. "It is a very complex form of magic that is beyond your means. Finally, there is the Touch of Death."

It sent a shiver down everyone's spines. For some reason, they knew this last one did not bode well.

Life took it up. "Death has the unique ability of destroying the life force of a being by touching it. He channels his negative energy into the entity, and this reacts badly with its life force, destroying it. On the other hand, I am the complete opposite. I can channel positive energy, which fixes the remaining pieces of a shattered life-force, bringing life into a body."

Death spoke again. "Apocalypse, just like the other five of us, was immune to these five methods of death. We feared that leaving him his immortality would leave him with enough strength to break through the Oblivion Star. Therefore, we scattered the various abilities across the cosmos in the form of Seals. We need you to recover these Seals and bring them to us in order for us to destroy them, thus making Apocalypse even more vulnerable."

It was Daniel who replied. "How do we know where the Seals are?"

"Upon your return to Earth, we will send you an envoy who will give you this knowledge. In the meantime, we will begin to prepare for the destruction of the Seals."

"Return to Earth?! You mean, we're not on Earth?! Where the hell are we, then?" gasped CJ. "That is none of your concern," replied Death.

Seto stamped his foot angrily. "How do you expect us to help you if you're not giving us any details?!"

Once again, Life smiled. "The less you know about the Infinity Council, the better. Do not worry. You will be transported back now. You will also be provided with a means of transport from the location of one Seal of Immortality to another."

There was silence. Finally, Yugi spoke. His tone sounded distressed. "What about Tea?" He indicated the prone form of the gorgeous brunette lying on the ground next to him. Life closed her eyes. "It is an especially nasty story."

"_Tell me_."

"Very well. It seems that Apocalypse was manipulating her. The dark energy boosted her dueling skills, and she was forced to go face the God of Death under the pretense of getting revenge. Do not worry, she did not wish to do anything of the sort. The duel was too much for her moderate physical stamina, and therefore, she is unconscious even after the duel." Yugi relaxed. There was silence for a moment.

Inevitably, it was Rikuo who spoke. "So how are we going back to Earth? And it better not be that damn sleep-….. sleep-…." He, along with every single person in the room, were all lying on the floor, some snoring louder then others.

"Take them back," said Death coldly. Life nodded.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jason walked into the casino by himself. It was an odd feeling to finally be out here by himself, but then again, it was something unusual for a twenty-one year old such as himself to be promoted to the Field Ops of his organization. He took a seat at the bar, and spoke curtly to the barman.

"One glass of water. Mineral." The barman raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure?"

Jason nodded, and turned away to look at the massive Las Vegas casino. With a shrug, the barman pulled out a large bottle of Swiss water from below and poured a glass of it. He disdainfully pushed it towards Jason, who caught it in one of his large hands. He downed it in a single gulp.

He leaned against the bar and looked across the casino, trying to find signs of what he was looking for. Passing girls gave him smoldering looks; he ignored them. He was a good looking guy, but this wasn't time to waste. If he actually picked up a thread here, it might lead to a major victory for his organization.

Standing six foot two, he was quite lean, although muscular at the same time. He had jet black hair that fell over his forehead, but didn't cover his dark, large eyes. He was clean-shaven, and was right now wearing a gray T-Shirt, with a black jacket. He also wore khaki jeans. Inside his jacket was his expensive DD3.

He glanced over to the blackjack table. One of the gamblers had an uncharacteristic confidence about him. Stepping forward, Jason saw that he was already on nineteen, with a jack and a nine. This was to be the third round of dealing, and the dealer was about to pass him by, when the man ordered him to wait. Everyone seemed surprised. Which idiot would ask for another card on nineteen?

Amazingly, the man did. Only an ace or a deuce could save him. To the shock of the other gamblers, and the delight of the man, it was the deuce of clubs. Grudgingly, the remaining gamblers drew their cards. Each one went bust, or was too far below twenty-one to be any threat. Greedily, the man scooped up three hundred thousand dollars worth of winnings.

For about another fifteen minutes, Jason watched him from one of the slot machines. Twice more he drew on incredibly high figures, and won each time. That night, he made a total killing of one million, one hundred and fifty thousand dollars.

As it neared midnight, the casino got even more crowded. The man seemed to have decided he had won enough for the night. As he exited the casino, Jason followed him, observing his target from a distance. The man was five foot six, and quite thick around the middle. Dressed in a cheap accountant's attire, it was a wonder they even allowed him into the casino.

Silently, Jason followed his target through the darkness. He made no sound, but the eeriness made his nerves tingle, just like they always did. The man turned around suddenly, and Jason stopped, hidden in the shadows.

They stood like that for a minute, and the man suddenly took off at full speed. Jason sighed, and within five lopes of his long legs, he had caught up. Grabbing the man's collar, he slammed him against a wall. "Hello, Dent," he said grimly.

The man tried shouting for help, but Jason punched him full across the face. He collapsed to the ground. Jason dragged him into an alley, and threw him against a rubbish dump. "Do you think I'm an idiot, Dent?!" he shouted angrily. The small man groaned and tried to heave himself up, but found himself slammed against the wall again.

"We know of Paradias' new ventures. Our intelligence is far better then yours." Dent spoke up. "C'mon…. Becker. I've got over a check for over a million bucks with me. Surely you'd like some of…" He was cut off as Jason threw him to the floor.

"I don't want your money," he whispered. "I want to know exactly how many operatives does Paradias have in Las Vegas who use their abilities to milk the casinos." Dent didn't answer. Jason pulled him up.

"Believe me, you do not want to make my angry." Dent winced and gestured to his bleeding lip. "I think I'd have figured that out by now."

Jason grudgingly let him go. "Here's a deal. We'll duel. If I win, I'll take you back to headquarters and you'll be questioned there. If you win, and Hell happens to freeze over, I'll question you here and be done with it. Do we have an agreement?"

Dent frowned. "That's not fair… You get to question me anyway!" He then noticed that Jason had raised his fist. "Ok… Ok. I'm not a hardcore criminal. I just use Paradias for money. I don't exactly want to have to go back to your damn headquarters…. Fine, I'll duel you."

He pulled out a Duel Disk from his jacket, and Jason did the same. Jason positioned himself at the opening of the alley, so that Dent couldn't make a run for it. The fat man groaned at this, and Jason allowed himself a grim smile. "Don't worry, Dent. By the time I'm done with you, you won't be able to exit from here."

(Jason: 8000, Dent: 8000)

Jason drew his six cards. "_Perfect… Just what I need to deal this idiot a quick and decisive victory._" He set a brown-backed card horizontally across his Duel Disk. "I set one card facedown in defense mode and end my turn."

Dent gave a nervous chuckle. "I summon Camouflage Marine (1500/1600)!" A man dressed in green combat gear appeared. His attire, as well as the green paint on his skin was obviously intended for a camouflage. He carried a Sig Sauer gun in one hand, and a long knife in the other. He glared at Jason, who didn't seem to care.

"Attack now!" The Marine sheathed the knife, and took a shooting position. He let lose a bullet, and Jason's monster flipped up to reveal a small dragon with rusty red scales. It tiny wings flared out in an attempt to scare off the attacker, but they didn't help any more then the metal mask on its face. It was hit by the bullet, and died instantly.

"Thank you for destroying Masked Dragon (1400/1100)," said Jason. "Now I can special summon a dragon with fifteen hundred or less attack points to the field. I choose Armed Dragon LV3 (1200/900)." A short, fat, orange and green dragon with various spikes on its back appeared. It had long, thin claws for hands, but it kept its arms to itself.

Dent swallowed. He knew what was coming. "Camouflage Marine returns to my hand at the end of the turn, and lets me special summon another monster in facedown defense mode." The Marine disappeared, and Dent plucked the card off his Duel Disk. He set a facedown card horizontally.

Jason drew. "I play Level Up, sacrificing Armed Dragon LV3 to summon Armed Dragon LV5 (2400/1700)." Armed Dragon glowed and then grew into a large, angry looking black and brown dragon, with a red face and many spikes. It had unforgiving, yellow eyes.

"Then I summon Luster Dragon (1900/1600)." A sapphire dragon with strong powerful arms and legs, bone like wings, and ruby colored eyes appeared onto the field with a small roar. The Armed Dragon LV5 nodded at it, obviously impressed by its power.

"Luster Dragon, destroy his facedown monster." Letting out a small roar, the dragon opened it's jaws as ruby energy filled came beaming out. With a simple spitting motion, the dragon released a sphere of ruby colored energy, which quickly went flying across the field. Once it neared the face down card image, the card image vanished and was replaced by a small man in gray armor. He had a similar helmet, and held a long sword. He screamed in shock as he was vaporized.

"There goes Chthonian Soldier (1200/1400)," grumbled Dent.

"Armed Dragon LV5, attack directly."

Moving forward with its clawed hands raised, the dragon began spinning his arms rapidly and slashed the sorcerer with both hands. Grasping his chest in pain, the gambler slid backwards a little bit, but managed to stay standing.

(Jason: 8000, Dent: 5600)

"I end my turn," grunted Jason.

Dent drew. "I summon Blackjack Dealer (1900/900) in attack mode!" A man dressed in a black suit appeared. He had a white shirt, which was covered by a black jacket. He also had a large, black top-hat, and held a deck of cards in his hands.

"When he's summoned, I send twenty-one cards from my deck to my graveyard." Jason raised an eyebrow as Dent pulled out his deck He selected twenty-one cards, and put them in his graveyard slot. He was left with about sixteen or seventeen cards left in his deck.

"Then I play Quick Summon. This will let me summon another monster, known as the Chaos Necromancer (?/0)!" Darkness swirled on the field, until a blue, orange, gold and black-armored being started rising from the center of its cyclone. Four blue, tentacle-like legs fell from the center body of the being, which itself seemed to be very random. Insect-like wings were on the back of the being, and two, glaring, red eyes were stationed at the top-front of the flying monster.

"This guy gains three hundred attack points for every monster in my graveyard. Since I just sent fifteen to the graveyard, his attack points are huge!" The monster glowed slightly, and its attack points went through the roof (4500/0).

Jason raised an eyebrow. "Impressive."

Chaos Necromancer started glowing with dark light, and suddenly a raging explosion was set forth from the beast, engulfing the Armed Dragon LV5. It gave a cry of pain, and attempted to withstand the attack, but it was impossible. With a croak of pain, its armor gave out and it was vaporized.

(Jason: 5900, Dent: 5600)

"I end my turn," said Dent haughtily.

Jason was not unduly worried. "I sacrifice Luster Dragon for Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV6 (2300/1600)." The beautiful dragon was suddenly hidden by black flames. From the flames, large silver wings came out, along with a long silver tail, a pair of powerful talon legs, and finally the main body of the silver metal dragon was seen. It still looked like a large bird, but a much more powerful bird.

"Then I play another Level Up, sacrificing this Horus to summon his next form. I call upon Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV8 (3000/1800)." A large sphere of black flames surrounded the silver dragon in a flash. From the flames came a larger set of silver metal wings, a longer tail, stronger talon legs, powerful silver arms, and at long last, a large silver head. With a massive roar, the flames dispersed.

"_Where does this guy get such powerful cards_?!" thought Dent worriedly.

"Horus, destroy Blackjack Dealer." Roaring once more, the dragon beat its massive wings. Lifting off of the ground, the dragon opened it's jaws, revealing black flames in it's mouth. Breathing out, the flames came spewing out in a stream straight for the black-suited man. He ran for it, but found himself blocked by the alley wall. He was left to an undignified death as he was vaporized by the flames.

(Jason: 5900, Dent: 4500)

"I set a card and end my turn."

Dent drew slowly. "I summon Gaia Soul the Combustible Collective (2000/0)!"

A massive piece of flesh slowly rose up from the field. In the center of the flesh was a single eye that had a blue iris. Small flames of red energy seemed to be pouring off of the creature while it simply hovered in position.

"Chaos Necromancer…. Destroy his Horus!" Once again, the necromancer let lose a wave of energy at Jason's field. This dragon was more powerful then the last, but it was very apparent that it too was far too weak to stand up to the devastating power of the unholy sorcerer on Dent's field.

"Command Silencer," were the two words that Jason said clearly and coldly. A large totem pole appeared and let lose sound waves. The Chaos Necromancer stopped its attack, and Jason drew one card.

"Damn!" muttered Dent. "I end my turn. Unfortunately, the effect of Gaia Soul the Combustible Collective is that it is destroyed on the same turn that it is summoned." The single lump of flesh began twitching and suddenly exploded, leaving nothing of the creature.

Jason drew slowly. "I play Riryoku. I can now slash your Chaos Necromancer's attack points in half, and add the same amount to Horus." Dent gulped as the weird abomination on his field began to glow. It gave a small moan as its attack points shrunk (2250/0). At the same time, the titanic dragon's level of power was now at an insane level (5250/1800).

Roaring loudly, the dragon released a stream of black flames, which instantly engulfed the weaker necromancer. The creature was quickly burned up, leaving no traces of its existence. "That was low," muttered Dent.

"Deal with it."

(Jason: 5900, Dent: 1500)

With that, Jason ended his turn.

Dent drew nervously. "Go, Smashing Ground! This destroys one monster on your field with the highest defense points. Since you only have Horus, he's going to be destroyed." Nothing happened. In fact, the card shattered. "What in the… You cheated!" said Dent, pointing an accusing finger at Jason.

Jason replied calmly. "As a matter of fact, that was Horus' effect. I can negate and destroy any magic card I want. That's why your Smashing Ground failed." Dent nervously placed a monster in defense mode. "I end my turn."

It was back to Jason. "Time to end this. I play Graceful Charity." With a faint smile, Jason drew three cards and slid two into the graveyard. "Then comes Premature Burial. At the cost of eight hundred life-points, I can special summon Cave Dragon (2000/100) in attack mode."

A large, green dragon appeared on Jason's field. It was very largely built, and its scales glinted in the Las Vegas night. It had no wings, but to compensate, it possessed a number of spikes on its back, along with two glinting red eyes. Its spiked tail waved about as it growled in anger.

"No…" whispered Dent. "Cave Dragon, attack his facedown monster." With a growl, the green dragon belched out a wave of fiery energy at the facedown monster. It seemed like a second Chthonian Soldier (1200/1400) was not enough to withstand the attack, and was immediately destroyed.

"Horus… End it." Dent screamed in shock as the massive silver dragon opened its maw, razor sharp teeth glinting. With a roar, it let lose a wave of black fire that swept across the alley, coming straight for him. The alley was too narrow to dodge, and he couldn't run in any direction. All he could do was wait until the blast hit him, knocking him off his feet.

(Jason: 5100, Dent: 0)

Jason nodded to his monsters, each of whom gave a friendly roar before disappearing. He de-activated his Duel Disk before walking up to Dent. The gambler got to his feet, and as Jason's hand encircled his collar, he knew that all chances of escape were over.

"We're going downtown," muttered Jason, pushing Dent towards the opening of the alley. He tensed, knowing that they were in the open now. He placed a reassuring hand on the .38 service handgun in his pocket. He didn't like these toys, but when you played with stakes as dangerous as the one he played, you had to be ready for anything. Paradias was made up of sick, demented freaks.

His convertible Porsche was waiting by the curb. He pushed Dent towards the passenger seat. "Get in." Slowly but surely, the gambler obeyed. However, just as he opened the door, Dent collapsed.

Jason stood there in shock for a second, and then instinctively looked around. He was just in time to see a black form retreating from the terrace of a building adjacent to them. The form was carrying a gun. He swore, and quickly bent down. When he turned the man to check his pulse, he was greeted by a bloody bullet wound. Dent was dead, victim of a textbook kill.

Obviously, Paradias was not pulling punches.

There was no point waiting with Dent. The least Jason could do was go after the assassin. He tore across the empty street. Luckily for him, this part of Vegas did sleep, so there was probably no witness. The cops would pick up Dent's body, and they would never be able to trace it back to Paradias, or the organization which Jason represented.

He entered the apartment building, only to be stopped by a guard. The man spoke wearily. "Who are you visiting?" Jason didn't have time for this. He could either talk his way through it, or knock out the guard and be done with it. He was just about to raise a fist, when a black form rushed out of the corridor.

"No one, really," muttered Jason as he took off after the assassin, leaving a confused guard standing behind. He hadn't even seen the assassin enter the building.

The two were racing through the Las Vegas street, until the assassin leapt onto a motorbike that had been parked by the curb. Jason knew that he would never catch up on foot. Once again, he tore back to his car and Dent's corpse. Leaping into the driver's seat, he paused to give Dent's body a sad glance before starting up the engine and speeding towards the bike that was not to far ahead. Dent was not a good man, but he wasn't a criminal either. He didn't deserve to die.

Slamming his foot down on the accelerator, Jason watched as the speedometer climbed to sixty miles an hour. That should have been enough to catch up with the assassin. Either the man was a hired killer, or perhaps was one of Paradias' own. If the case was the latter, he would be even more useful then Dent.

Suddenly, at the most inappropriate of all times, his cellphone rang. With one hand still on the wheel, he ripped it out of his pocket, and jammed it to his ear. "HELLO!" The caller replied calmly. Jason frowned. "Oh, sorry. Dent was killed, I am in pursuit of the hostile. What? Forget it? Why?" The caller's tone turned urgent, and Jason's frown became bigger.

"Apocalypse? Are you sure?" The caller simply growled in reply. "Fine. I'll leave this for another time." Without a second look at the bike, he turned his car around and sped off in the opposite direction.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Now, did anyone understand a word of what is going on? No? Good. That was my intention. This is going to be a HUGE fic, I'm estimating a length in the range of sixty chapters, perhaps more. All of my chapters will have an average length of about seven to eight thousand words, sometimes longer. **

**Anyway, I know this might have seemed rushed. However, it takes place right after the events of Advent of Power, which is obviously why everything is picking up so fast. A lot of things, such as the explanation provided by Life and Death may have seemed haphazard, but believe me, that was my intention. No need for you guys to find out everything so fast… Heh heh. **

**Rikuo, Daniel, CJ, Deondre, Siegfried and Ryu all belong to Wolf General. Jason, and every other OC belongs to me. However, an OC belonging to a great friend of mine will appear later in the fic. The nature of his role will be kept secret for now…**

**As always, please read and review. **


	2. Light of Destruction

CHAPTER ONE: Rise of the Horsemen

CHAPTER ONE: Rise of the Horsemen

**Wow, this is a big chapter, even though most of it is just story-telling, not dueling. Still, hope you enjoy it.**

**Princess Yunariana: Thanks a lot for the compliments. Hope you enjoy this new story.**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: I had little better to do, so I decided to get working. However, I still have Minutes to Midnight to finish along with Illidan, so I'll have to balance out these two fics for a while. Hmm…. I don't know about that, even though it is a magnificent idea. One duelist who will appear is going to surprise you like crazy though. I'm not saying much though. Basketball fans will know what I mean when I talk about the star of a Philadelphia 76ers vs. New York Knicks game in 1962-63. It may be subject to change, but I think I'll leave it like that. Anyway, if you have any new ideas, please give them to me. They always help, because most of the time they're very good. Thanks a lot.**

**SolarMoon59: Wow, I didn't realize I was that good. Frankly, I still don't think I am, but thanks for the compliments anyway.**

**HimeAmelie: Thanks a lot for the compliments.**

**Aelsthla-Mental: Hope you like this one as much as Advent.**

Captain James Parker was at the end of his rope. Never in his life had he expected to be in such a situation. Working for Kaiba Corp. guaranteed a whole lot of money, respect in the industrial field, and most of all, security. Hell, when he had been offered the job as captain of one of Kaiba Corp.'s satellites, he had jumped at it.

Now, as he sat on one of the seats, trembling with fear at the gun pointed at his head, he really did not know why he had taken the job. The man had killed three of his six crew-mates, and was threatening to kill the other two of Parker did not give him what he wanted.

The man was wearing a mask, but was very small and scrawny otherwise. He was literally floating in the clothes he wore. How he got on board, Parker didn't know.

"I will ask again. What is the password to the room I spoke of?" He voice was very raspy, like a bunch of metal pins gyrating against one another. Parker closed his eyes. "Please, I'm telling you…" The man didn't seem interested. "Wrong answer." He cocked his gun, and was about to shoot in the direction of another crew member, when Parker screamed.

"NO! Wait. I will give it to you. Alpha, three, nine, Alpha, Charlie." The man nodded. He then raised his gun and shot the other two crew members, much to Parker's horror. "NO! I gave you what you wanted!" The man cackled. "Be happy I've left you with your life." He walked over to the door, and punched in the password. The door acknowledged it.

"Wait!" screamed Parker. "If you release the energy in there, it will kill the both of us!" The man ignored him, and pushed open the door. There was a flash of light, followed by a final scream from Parker. This was then followed by a loud cackling from the murderer.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The veritably large group woke up in one of the backstreets of New York. Dawn had just broken, and slivers of light were filtering in from the shining sphere that was the sun. But no one noticed this. "Where is that damn envoy?" growled Rikuo.

Yugi shrugged. "They didn't say when they would come. We could relax for a bit. After all, we just dealt with not one, but three power-crazed madmen." He received a haughty stare from the Wolf Demon General for this. "Are you joking? Bring the Pharaoh out. At least he had tactical knowledge."

Joey glared. "Haven't our experiences with the Shadow Corporation taught you anything? It's more then likely that this dumbass will send people after us." He motioned to the Duel Disk on his wrist. "Not that I won't be ready for them."

Suddenly, something diverted Yugi's attention. It was the sight of Tea, slowly but surely getting to her feet. "All right, all right," muttered Joey. "Everyone out. My friends need their private time." Slowly but surely, the group of duelists moved out of the alley.

Yugi stared across at his friend. The two looked at each other for some time. Slowly but surely, Tea walked across to Yugi. Her arms encircled him, and his did the same. They simply stood there, locked in an embrace. The sheer platonic love between them, which many speculated went between that, and it was very possible that it did, was enough to wash away all their worries.

Finally, Tea spoke in a choked voice. "Yugi… It wasn't me, I swear! I could feel something in my head, it was horrible! It wasn-…." Yugi spoke calmly. "Shhhh…. We know. We don't need to discuss this. _No _one blames you. _No _one. Forget about it." He tightened his embrace, and Tea broke down into sobs.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The dark figure couldn't seem more ominous as he stood among the shadows of a Chicago backstreet. "I will need to resurrect my Horsemen. I believe Blight has already returned." The words seemed to be spoken to no one in particular.

"You spoke to soon, Master," said a raspy voice from shadows beside them. A form stepped from the darkness, and knelt down before Apocalypse. "Twenty seven thousand years, Master. Twenty seven thousand years I have awaited your glorious return. Finally, we will wage war on this sad excuse for a dimension, and move onto the destruction of every single being to have ever lived."

Apocalypse did not even seem to note what the man had said. "Where are the rest, Blight?" Blight stood. "I do not know, Master. With all due respect, it may be preferable to recruit new Horsemen. Your army will need to be readied quickly if the Infinity Council is to fail in its attempt to thwart you."

Apocalypse considered. "There is wisdom in your words. My previous three Horsemen were all destroyed by the Infinity Council in my last clash with them, and you were rendered all but useless. Resurrecting them will be a complex process. I will decide on new servants."

"As you wish, Master. As you wish."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jason just entered the conference room in time. It was already quite crowded. People of all ages were present, although most were in their mid-thirties. They were of all nationalities. One man was standing at the head of the conference table, while all others were seated in leather chairs. The man was about forty, and wore an expensive suit. He was not clean shaven, with stubble all over his face. His hand gripped the chair at the head slightly more tightly as he noticed Jason enter, but he said nothing and simply gestured for him to enter.

Jason took an empty seat next to an absolutely gorgeous nineteen year old girl. She had dark raven hair that flowed down to her shoulders, with light blue eyes. Her features suggested Caucasian as well as Asian descent, and she gave Jason a playful wink as he leaned back in his chair. She wore a crimson top along with tight blue jeans. She attracted many stares as she walked down the street.

"What did I miss, Sarah?" said Jason from the corner of his mouth. She shook her head, and whispered back, "Nothing. They were just starting."

The man at the head of the conference table began to speak. "As I was planning to say before Mr. Becker entered," he gestured to Jason, "I have received very disturbing news. The one we know as Apocalypse has returned." This resulted in a number of mutters and angry growls from around the table.

"Mr. Chairman," began one of the men, a tall and lean Chinese man, but before he could continue, the chairman held up a hand. "Please. Allow me to explain." They paused.

"When this organization was established, its purpose was to check the rapidly growing power of the Paradias Corporation. Lead by the man called Dartz, it began to grow incredibly powerful. While our primary purpose was to stop its expansion on the political and financial fronts, using Duel Monsters to confront them, I resolved to personally research the origin of Dartz. I made some shocking discoveries."

"We know this, Eizan," wheezed an elderly man from across the table. The chairman, apparently called Eizan, nodded briefly. "I am sorry. As we know, we are not the only ones who had taken interest in Dartz's past. The Infinity Council was also extremely suspicious of him, but instead of exercising their enormous power, they began a covert investigation for reasons known only to them. Our parallel investigations had set us on a collision course that guaranteed that sooner or later, we would become aware of each other's existence."

There was silence in the room, as Eizan continued. "Our shocking discovery of the fact that a council of omnipotent beings watched over the Universe was surprising, to say the least. Strangely, they could have easily made us forget about them, literally, but they did not. It was, of course, useful for them to have a group of representatives on Earth, and having ties with such a huge power benefited us as well. Their armies slowly began to educate our operatives in magic. However, this is not important at the moment. Ladies and gentlemen, I introduce you to the Archangel Zerato, who operates as a liaison between us and the Infinity Council."

A man walked through the door. In no way did he look the part of an Archangel, but one could tell from his incredible aura of power and benevolence that he was not a man to be trifled with. He was of average height and build, and was dressed in a casual shirt and trousers. His face, however, seemed to carry an air of such purity around it, that it instantly washed away one's doubts.

He spoke in a soft voice. "It is indeed an honor to meet you all once again. I do wish the circumstances were different." No one answered, and he took it as a sign to continue.

"I live on Earth as a normal human being, communicating with Lady Life once a month. She has just informed me that the sixth member of the Infinity Council, the most notorious of them all, has escaped from the Oblivion Star where he was imprisoned twenty-seven millennia ago. The Council has appointed a group as a temporary measure against Apocalypse, who will surely begin gathering an army soon. I have come her to request the assistance of your organization to combat this threat."

The Chinese man spoke up in a throaty voice. "Archangel Zerato… It is indeed odd to meet a real angel. That aside, I must inform you that we are currently nearing an all-out war with the Paradias Corporation. We cannot spare any manpower."

The archangel's face hardened, but before he could speak, Eizan spoke curtly to the Chinese man. "Li… Although your opinion is valued as a senior member of this organization, you do not make the decisions. That is up to the directorial body, and even I myself, as chairman, cannot overrule their decision. Before we set this to a vote, please tell us what kind of help you require."

Zerato continued in his soft voice, much to Li's chargin. "We have our army; we do not require manpower. What we need is the five best duelists your organization has. It is very possible that Apocalypse will use Shadow Games to further his purpose, and having skilled duelists on our side is a great advantage."

Eizan frowned at the word. _Shadow Games_. He hated them from the bottom of his heart. He had lost his only wife to a Shadow Game initiated by a Rare Hunter of Marik Ishtar during Battle City, when she had just been an innocent bystander.

"You will have them. Jason Becker, here, for one. He is deputy Head of Field Ops." He pointed at Jason, who nodded. "Serena Avalon." He gestured to a blonde, twenty-four year old who was seated next to Li. She seemed to be eager to get away from him as soon as possible, and gave a nod.

"Drake Manning." A mid-thirties man who was sitting adjacent to Jason raised a hand. He was about five foot eleven, and wore a casual shirt and trousers. His red hair tumbled down to his shoulders.

"And Brian Palmer. They are all excellent field operatives, and good at using magic." An imposing African American who was seated at the far end of the table gave a curt nod. He wore a gray suit, and was quite bald, even though one could tell he was only in his twenties.

"Also, Sarah Taylor, our senior tactical analyst. All in favor?"

Out of the twenty-five people seated at the table, all eyes were on a group of six sitting at the head of the table. These were the board of directors, of which Eizan was head. They nodded.

Zerato nodded serenely. "Thank you for these duelists. Indeed, they will be a great help to fight the Horsemen…" He was roughly cut off by Li. "Mr. Chairman, I do not believe Ms. Taylor is a good enough duelist to warrant her being a part of this task force. I nominate Zachary Nemo."

Eizan lost his patience. "Nominate all you want. The directorial board has already agreed to these duelists."

Before Li could reply, Sarah stood up, a fierce glare on her face. "Mr. Li, if you do not believe I am capable of aiding the Infinity Council, I challenge you to a duel, right here, right now, to determine whether or not I am a good enough duelist to be a part of this task force."

Jason looked at her incredulously. Li Ching was supposed to be one of the deadliest duelists on the continent, having one a number of tournaments before retiring and joining the organization. "If I lose, then I will not join the task force, and your wish will be fulfilled. If I win, however, you will tender your resignation right away," she growled angrily. Despite her beauty, one could tell Sarah was not a person to be trifled with when angry.

Eizan looked at her. "No, Sarah," he said roughly. "It has been decided. You will be on the task force. As he is not a member of the Directorial Board, he has no say in this." Sarah looked ready to protest, but in the end, she took it quietly.

Zerato nodded. "Very well. We have recruited another group of duelists to help us fend off Apocalypse for the time being. We need to gather the Seals of Immortality before Apocalypse reaches them. Once this task force meets the other duelists, they will be able to decide who will go after which Seal by themselves."

Most of the people seated there were familiar with the Seals of Immortality. "Very well. The duelists are in New York. I suggest that the five of you contact them there." Jason nodded.

"This is bigger than Paradias," continued Zerato softly. "Apocalypse's soldiers are without mercy. They will not hesitate to kill you. I feel guilty placing the lives of such young people in danger, but the group of duelists we have assembled is our best hope to stem the tide of Apocalypse's power."

Jason spoke in a firm voice. "Do not worry. We are aware of the risks. This organization was formed to fight against establishments like Paradias. Apocalypse is far worse, and we know that failure is unacceptable." Zerato nodded. "I thank you all for this. I only wish I was meeting you under better circumstances." He then exited the room. Whoever was seated near the door glanced outside to look at him leave, but to their surprise, he had disappeared into thin air.

Eizan spoke. "Being Deputy Head of Field Ops, I think it is wise for Jason to lead the team." He looked at the twenty-one year old, who nodded. The other six directors did not seem to have any objections. "Very well. It is now three a.m. It would be safer to fly on a commercial airliner rather then charter one of the organization's own aircraft. Our transport sector will buy tickets for the five of you as soon as possible. Does anyone else have any matters to discuss?"

No one said anything, but Jason could have sworn he noticed a tightening of Li's jaw. "Very well. Adjourned."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Keh, what's taking those lovebirds so long?" grumbled Rikuo, leaning against a wall. Joey shrugged. "I always knew there was something between them. Just didn't know what, but frankly, there are times when I don't want to know."

"Save it," snarled Kaiba. "We've just gotten ourselves involved in what is probably the biggest freakshow yet on the list. I'm just trying to find a way to keep my sanity while surrounded by so many dweebs." Rikuo lashed out with his fist at this, which Kaiba easily ducked.

Before anything else could happen, they saw Yugi and Tea slowly exiting the alley. Joey had half expected them to be holding hands, but to his shock, they were not. "_What IS it going to take to get those to together_?" he thought in wonder.

Rikuo walked up to Yugi, while Kyle hugged Tea. "Let me speak to the Pharaoh," he said. Yugi shook his head sadly. "He is refusing to come out. I have no idea why. He isn't even speaking to me." Rikuo chuckled. "You'd be better of getting separate bodies, like I did with Daniel. It's so much more-…"

He was cut off by Zane. "There is one thing we haven't considered. While I am quite sure Marik Ishtar is back to his usual self, Dartz will most definitely still be a threat. He's still in the Empire State Building, at least he was the last time we checked. We have to go back and deal with him. After all, he probably got his soul back when the Tournament ended."

Rikuo scoffed. "Meh, we have to deal with Apocalypse and you worry about Dartz?"

Yugi spoke up. "Zane's point is valid. With the power of the Paradias Corporation behind him, Dartz is indeed a large threat. If we're not careful, we'll not only be dealing with Apocalypse, but Dartz as well."

"You make it sound like Dartz would ally himself with Apocalypse," said Kaiba, entering the conversation. "He's a control freak, all he wants to his impose his damn' 'order' on the world. He'll be against Apocalypse."

"The question is, will we be able to use this to our advantage?" continued the young CEO. "We don't know how strong Apocalypse is right now, hell, we know pretty much nothing about him. What we do know is that Paradias is a very powerful organization. This could actually benefit us. Apocalypse will be too busy dealing with Dartz to even notice us."

"I still think we should go after him," said Zane quietly.

There was silence, which was broken by Yugi. "We can discuss this later. We need someplace safe to recuperate. Most of us have just dueled in the Tournament of Shadows, and we're exhausted. We can't go to a hotel. Kaiba, can you think of a place?"

The CEO considered. "Well, Kaiba Corp. has a base just outside New York. It was originally used to manufacture weapons. Even though it doesn't do so anymore, I left Gozaburo's security measures in place. I don't advertise it, but its one of the most secure buildings on the continent. It can withstand any kind of attack excluding missiles."

Daniel, who had been listening, spoke up. "Well, I think it'd serve well as a temporary base. We could use it to regroup after we find those damn Seals." Kaiba nodded. "All right. It also has a large number of dueling rings, so if anyone wants to practise, they're open."

But Yugi didn't hear this. He had something very important to do.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

In the vast recesses of the Millennium Puzzle, Yugi stared straight ahead at the door of Yami's soul room. He spoke in a soft voice. "Yami. Just please let me in."

Yami's normally deep and authority-filled voice had cracked. "It's my fault, Yugi. It's my fault." Angrily, Yugi pushed the door open. He had rarely been in Yami's soul room, and never got used to the eerie emptiness of the place. It had absolutely nothing in it, except for the ancient Pharaoh, who simply stood in the center of the room.

His eyes were closed, and his head was bowed. The long bangs cast a shadow over his face. "It was me… I hated Marik so much. I wanted to cause him pain with that last attack. Because of that…. I let Apocalypse out."

Yugi walked up to him. "Don't say that! Anger is what makes you human. You can't blame yourself!"

Yami looked up, and glared at his hikari. "NO! Don't patronize me, Yugi! You know it's true! It is my fault. I can't do this any more. I've hurt too many people. Leave me alone!!"

Yugi was stunned by the outburst. Yami had once again bowed his head, and Yugi could see a tear dropping from his eyes. "Just listen to me," said Yugi urgently. "Without you, we can't fight him! Come out of this, Yami!"

"NO!" screamed Yami in answer. Yugi could see the desperate confusion, anger, and sadness in his friend's face. "I'll do it again! I'll let my hatred lose! I can't control it!"

"NO! YOU LISTEN TO ME!" shouted Yugi. Yami was stunned. Never, _never_ had he seen his hikari lose his temper like that. "You can either sit here feeling sorry for yourself or get out of here and help us! You think you made a mistake, fine! This is a chance to repent for that!"

Yami looked at him sadly. "Yugi…." The young man calmed down. "Please, Yami. Just get out of this. It's not your fault. If it's anyone's fault, it's Apocalypse." Slowly, he went forward and hugged Yami. The spirit was stunned, but finally hugged his friend back.

"Will you do it?"

"Yes, I'll do it."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The base was exactly as Kaiba described it. A fortress. It was located on a man-made island four miles of shore of the beach. It was a twenty-story building that seemed a bit out of place on the otherwise empty island. It had a few windows here and there, but they were obviously bullet proof. Armed guards stood at each entrance to the building. No one could get in without Kaiba's permission.

He had contacted his employees, who had sent out a chopper. There were benefits to having a billionaire as a part of your group.

As the helicopter touched down, a man in a plain suit rushed up to him. "Mr. Kaiba, sir! Stock has gone up by one-…" "Save it," snapped Kaiba, stepping off as the rotors began to slow down. "Don't come to me unless it's a real emergency. Escort them to the residential floor. Then, I want you to tighten the security."

The man was stunned. Since when was Kaiba uninterested in stock? "Erm….. Very well, sir."

They were led into a plush lobby that resembled a hotel more then an office. The marble was all of the finest quality, with wall to wall carpets. But no one noticed this. "The residential floor is the fourteenth one. I'll be in my office on the fifteenth floor," Kaiba grunted to the group. He strode to his private elevator, and was gone.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Seven hours had passed since they had arrived in the base. The rooms were like those of a five-star hotel, and even had a PlayStation3. Rikuo had played it for a while, but had almost immediately gotten bored. The games were lousy, and he had finished two of them in the first ninety minutes. The computer had offered some amusement, but online strategy games just didn't cut it. He was a demon general who had fought hundreds of real life battles. Human teenagers who knew nothing of real battles weren't much of a challenge.

He had wandered to the dueling rings. For a while, he had contemplated leaving and trying to find Apocalypse by himself and take his revenge, but it would be impossible. He noticed that CJ was there as well. A rather bored looking Joey Wheeler joined them.

"How about a duel, Rikuo?" asked Joey. "Meh, you wouldn't be a challenge. Anyway, I'm reserving everything for that jackass who has caused me problems starting five thousand years ago."

Joey shrugged. "Suit yourself. CJ?" Rikuo smirked, knowing he was going to watch a good duel. CJ and Joey had dueled in the Shadow Tournament hosted by Giovanni Garlin, and it had been epic, to say the least.

The Horse Demon Lord nodded. "Seeing as I've got nothing to do, fine. I just hope that damn' envoy will get here soon." Joey grinned. This was going to be fun. Seeing as he had been soulless for a few hours, he hadn't been as sleepy as he thought.

They took positions at the opposite ends of the ring, and activated their Duel Disks. They continued to smirk at each other as the holo projectors were fired off. "This is going to end differently from the Shadow Tournament," said CJ.

Just as they were about to draw their first hands, a panicky voice sounded from outside the ring. They turned to see Alexis Rhodes running towards them, a stressed look on her face. "It's Jaden," she cried. "He's gone!"

Rikuo didn't really seem to care, but CJ and Joey were surprised. "Where'd the kid get himself to…" muttered Joey to himself. "He was in the room next to me. When I went in to talk to him, he was gone. The sheets were cold, which means he probably never even slept in there."

The Wolf Demon shrugged. "He probably just went for a walk or something, little girl." Alexis glowered at him. "I can see I won't get much help here."

Joey followed her out, so did CJ. For lack of anything better to do, Rikuo grudgingly joined them. They spoke to a security man, who immediately alerted those posted at different parts of the building. No one had seen a thing. The cameras didn't show anything as well. It was like Jaden had disappeared into thin air.

Slowly, the rest of the group awoke. Alexis was distraught, but being worried himself, Zane comforted her. Kaiba was furious. "Why do I pay you people?!" he roared at the security men. They flinched; incurring the wrath of an angry Seto Kaiba was not on their list of priorities.

"Damn it…" he growled. "Redirect one of your satellites. Check if any vehicle has come to or left the island in the past seven hours." One of the technicians got to work immediately, and within three minutes, one of Kaiba Corp.'s satellites had its ion beams trained on the tower in the ocean.

"Sir! The helicopter in which you came to the island left at eight forty-one a.m." Kaiba frowned. "I never authorized it to leave. It was meant to be permanently stationed on the island in case I ever needed to use it. Follow it." Slowly, they watched the helicopter fly across the gap of sea and land on a helipad in John F. Kennedy Airport.

Kaiba smirked. "Now I want you to contact the airport and ask them who that helipad belongs to." Immediately, one of the more experienced technicians spoke up. "Sir, if we went through this by a legal process, it would take a long time. I suggest you authorize me to hack into their database."

Kaiba smirked. He liked the techie's style. "Do it." In another three minutes, the screen was showing senseless gibberish. It was a mess of numbers and letters that made absolutely no sense. "It's encrypted," growled the techie angrily. "This would take a while to crack. The standard encryption code for the US Government is 256 bit."

The others could make very little sense of this. Kaiba frowned. He knew what this meant; it would take an hour at least. "Fine. Start working on it now. I'm going back to New York. Give us a call when you know the owner." He clenched his fist in irritation.

"Yugi, you might as well come. You too, Truesdale." He knew that it would be helpful to have someone whom Yuki knew and was friends with come along with them. Rikuo stepped up angrily. "What the hell are we doing here? I'm coming too." Kaiba shrugged. "Fine. But everyone else had better stay here." He then addressed his staff. "I want the security quadrupled here. No one gets in, _or _out. For all we know, the chopper was a decoy and Yuki and his captor are still in the building. Begin a sweep."

As they left, Alexis closed her eyes tightly. "_Please, Jaden. Please be all right_."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The trip back was short. They landed in JFK, and Kaiba used his influence to bypass customs. Soon, they were out in the city. "I never liked this place," commented Rikuo, sniffing at the polluted air. "Some places really stink. When you have the smell sensory cells of a wolf, it gets really bad."

As if on cue, Kaiba's cell phone buzzed. He stared into the crowded streets full of honking cars and the sidewalk of jostling pedestrians. "Kaiba." "Sir, I decrypted it. The helipad is the property of a man named Julius Smith. He has a house in New York." Kaiba smirked. "Where?"

"It's on First Avenue, Sixty-Fifth Street. The building number is 242. He lives on the fifteenth floor." Kaiba's grin widened. Finally, definite information. "Good work." He shut his phone, and spoke quietly to the other three. "He's in 65th and 1st, building number 240. I'm carrying a firearm just in case. With these guys, you can't be too careful."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jaden Yuki awoke tied to a chair. There was a dull, throbbing pain in his head, and a bitter taste in his mouth. His hands and feet were numb, and his arms and ankles hurt where they had been secured to the chair. The last thing he remembered was going to one of the Dueling Rings to see if he could pass some time.

He was not blindfolded, however, and he could see that he was in an empty room. The windows were boarded up, and he had a feeling that it wouldn't matter even if he screamed for help.

Angrily, he struggled against his bonds. The person who had tied him was obviously bad at it, for they slowly came lose. But it wasn't enough for him to pull his arms out. With a heave, he pushed his captures limbs against the rotten wood of the chair, and was able to slip them out of the slackened ropes. He quickly freed his feet. In a flash, he was on his feet.

They had taken his cellphone, which was a pity. Quickly, he tried the door to the next room. It was locked, as he expected.

He noticed his Duel Disk on the floor. It would be handy as a weapon. As he bent down to pick it up, the door opened to reveal a stunned man. He was about six feet tall and fat around the middle. Without a second thought, Jaden leapt forward and powered his fist into the man's face.

The element of surprise, combined with the momentum of the punch, drove the man to his feet. As he fell, two more men rushed in. All that practice in the Academy gym was coming in handy now. Grimly, Jaden dodged a punch, and picked up his Duel Disk. He used it as a weapon, slamming it into one of his attacker's faces. He cried out in pain, and Jaden leaned backwards, lashing out with his foot at the other man.

With those two temporarily unable to fight, he charged towards the door, only to be stopped short by the first man. The other two got up. He was surrounded.

He reacted in a way they couldn't have possibly thought possible. He activated his Duel Disk. The holo projectors exploded out in both direction, slamming into their faces. The sheer force knocked them off their feet, unconscious.

The first man growled in anger, and was about to take a step forward when Jaden slammed a card down on his Duel Disk. A creature that had a red dragon head for a right arm, a mostly green and black body, with a long red tail, and a white wing on its left shoulder materialized in the room. The creature's head was mostly black with some red, and its eyes were red.

The thought going through the man's head was, "_Why didn't I listen to Mommy and stay out of gangs_?"

"Elemental Hero Flame Wingman (2100/1200)!" said Jaden triumphantly. "Attack him now!" Leaping into the air, the black and green creature took aim with it's dragon arm, which opened it's jaws and released a stream of flames at the mobster. He squealed in shock as the fire hit him head on. He was knocked off his feet by the sheer force of the attack.

He lay unconscious on the ground, patches of his shirt burned away and some of his skin charred. Jaden didn't care; the man had kidnapped him and was now getting his due. As he dashed towards the door, he felt himself suspended in the air. He couldn't move a muscle. He couldn't even turn his head around.

A deeply amused voice spoke. "You were correct, Master. He will indeed make a worthy servant once his dark side is released."

Another voice spoke, one that chilled Jaden's bones down to their marrow. He had never, ever heard such a voice in his life. It was devoid of mercy, pity, kindness, any kind of human emotion. "_I tire of this filthy place. Break him, Blight_."

Jaden struggled to turn around and see what was going on, but he couldn't. The first voice spoke again. "Hmm… Jaden Yuki. It would be wise for us to get to know each other. After all, we are going to be working very closely now…"

Jaden could feel his jaw moving. "Who are you?!" "Me? It is not important. You will know about me in good time. Right now, our goal is to find and release your inner darkness." Before Jaden could understand what he was hearing, he blacked out.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jaden could see a dark figure in the corner of his mind. "Who are you?" he asked defiantly. He knew this had something to do with the freakshow who had kidnapped him.

A dark chuckle was heard from the figure, who revealed himself slowly. The figure wore dark black and gold medieval knight-esque armor with six tendril-like spikes, with two jutting out of the back of the armor and four off the armor's shoulders. On the back of the figure was a black cape with a red interior. The armor itself had a tall collar, surrounding a helmet that sat upon the figure's head. The helmet had a shield on it that was down, hiding the face of the figure.

Reaching up, the figure pushed the visor up, revealing his face, making Jaden gasp in complete and utter shock. "You… you're me!" The young duelist said in shock.

The man spoke in a cold voice. "I am not you. I am not weak. I am not afraid to use the power of darkness." His cold, dark golden eyes seemed to bore a hole through Jaden. His mind, normally full of happiness and joy, was an empty void.

Jaden could not answer. The fear was getting to him. "I was reincarnated in you. For seventeen long years, I have fed off the darkness in your mind, body and soul. For seventeen long years you have subconsciously withstood my influence. It has been too long. You will now surrender to me."

Jaden looked defiantly at him. "No." The man laughed coldly. "You do not have a choice." He raised a hand, which glowed with black energy. Jaden felt himself suspended in the air, unable to move. "This is my body now," whispered the man. "This is the body of Haou, Supreme King of the Dark World."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

When the body of Jaden Yuki regained consciousness, his eyes were dark golden, and held no emotion. He turned to see another figure. He was dressed in platinum armor. The crest was finely crafted, and one could tell that the armor was not anything ever seen on the Earth. His face was that of a middle-aged man, and he was bald, with wisps of blonde hair on his head. He raised a gauntlet-covered hand.

"Hello, Haou." Haou stared at him. "Who are you?"

"I am Blight," replied the other man with a grin. "The only remaining Horseman of Apocalypse. Strangely enough, that is why I have come here to meet you. My Master Apocalypse wishes that you join us."

Haou didn't even look at him. "A change is necessary." The black glow shrouded his body completely for a few moments, hiding him from her view. A moment later, the glow dissipated, revealing a figure wearing black and gold armor, a black cape with a red interior, and a helmet on their head with the visor down.

He then looked at Blight.

"I will receive no benefit from serving your Master."

Blight shook his head. "Ah, that is where you're wrong. For one, he won't kill you. Secondly, I know you're as sadistic as I am. As a Horseman, you'll get the opportunity to cause a lot of pain and suffering. That's just the beginning. Who knows? If you survive the eventual Apocalypse, you will really be the Supreme King. The benefits of agreeing _far_ outweigh the consequences of being stupid and not agreeing. Besides, I don't even think Apocalypse needs to destroy you. Go out there and face the Infinity Council yourself. See what kind of reception you get."

Haou was silent.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Don't do it, Haou!" screamed Jaden, struggling in his bonds. The Supreme King fixed him with an odd stare. "Why? I will flourish. I love destruction. Let Apocalypse go and destroy this planet. Let him destroy the whole Universe! What difference does it make to me?"

"NO!" shot back Jaden. "He will kill you in the end! You know it."

But Haou didn't bother to reply.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Very well," he said coldly. "I will work with you on a purely provisional basis in order to destroy our mutual enemies.. But do not expect me to put the needs of your master before mine."

Blight snickered. "Believe me, you most definitely will. Until then, we don't need to remain in this pathetic flat. Master Apocalypse is waiting for us."

Suddenly, they heard a banging on the door. Blight sighed dramatically. "That's them." There was a cry of anger, and the door was blown off its hinges, to reveal a group of four. All four were easily recognizable as some of the deadliest duelists alive. Yugi Moto, Seto Kaiba, Zane Truesdale, and Rikuo Amero.

Zane stared at Haou and gasped. "Jaden!" "I am not Jaden," hissed Haou. "I am far stronger then that pathetic child."

Zane took an involuntary step forward, but Rikuo stopped him. "Are you an idiot? Both of these men are giving off far too much power for you to even hope of matching them. Anyway, who are you, old man?" He addressed these words to Blight.

"Lord Blight, First Horseman of Apocalypse," he said gallantly, with a mock bow. Haou simply fixed the four with a cold glare. No one seemed to understand this statement. None of them really seemed to care. The only word they noticed was Blight's last one, and it was enough. Rikuo snarled and stepped forward.

"So… You serve that jackass who was directly or indirectly responsible for the deaths of my father, mother, uncle, and myself?" Blight blinked. "Ah, I recognize you now! Rikuo Amero, I was not expecting you here. My, my, news really does get around here. Petty criminals kidnap Jaden Yuki, you people land up at the house he's being held a few hours later."

"Cut the crap!" snarled Rikuo. "I'm going to deal with the both of you now, and then I'm going to find your master and kill him."

"I'm afraid I must ask you to stop even thinking of such things. They are far beyond your little demonic powers," chuckled Blight, flexing his fingers. "If you even want to think something like that again, you will have to get by me. I will duel all four of you at once."

Kaiba looked at him incredulously. "What kind of crack are you smoking? You do realize you just challenged all three of the world's best duelists, as well as the new sensation of the Pro League to a duel?"

Zane shook his head, and activated his Duel Disk. "You are going to pay for this, whoever you are. I will duel you now, and show your master that he needs to find another Horseman."

Blight shrugged. "Very well. If you wish for me to pick you'll off one by one, I really don't mind. Haou, I believe Kaiba has been foolish enough to contact law enforcement. Why not amuse yourself by killing each and every one of those agents that have clamored around the building?"

Haou looked at the four with pure hatred in his face.

"I would kill you now. Your lives have been temporarily spared." Even as Seto shouted in anger at him to wait, the Supreme King vanished in a puff of noxious black smoke.

"Now…" smirked Blight with a horrible grin on his face. "Mr. Truesdale, prepare for hell." On his belt, the four duelists noticed, were a number of decks. Some of them were as large as sixty cards or more, while some couldn't have more then thirty. He picked one of them out its slot, and a Duel Disk appeared on his arm. It was a Duel Disk unlike one they had ever seen. It was merged with his armor, and pure white in color. It was shaped like a dragon's wing.

"I would have preferred someone who was going to be a real challenge, like maybe Mr. Amero, but I will make do with you. Oh, and Kaiba? You might want to check on your girlfriend, Ms. Wheeler. I believe that New York will not be a pleasant place soon."

Kaiba's fist tightened. "You… You… If any of you or your people touch one hair on her head, I will find your master and you will all drown in his blood!" His pupils were dilating, and sweat was pouring down his face. Yugi placed an urgent hand on his rival's shoulder. "We've got no time to waste. Zane should be able to handle him. We have to find Serenity, and hopefully, stop Jaden from killing all those agents. I don't know what they did to him, but we need to bring him back."

"Fine!" spat Kaiba. He looked at Zane. "Make him pay."

Zane nodded. "Oh, I intend to." Blight gave a dry chuckle. "We'll see." With a last, furious look at Blight, Kaiba left, along with Yugi and Rikuo, who cracked his knuckles in anticipation.

(Zane: 8000, Blight: 8000)

"I don't know what you've done to Jaden," growled Zane. "And to be frank, I don't care. Just know that once I'm done with you, you will be at your knees, begging me to let you change him back."

"You don't understand, do you?" smirked Blight. "I didn't do anything. I simply weakened Jaden. In my presence, his negative emotions became far stronger. He couldn't overcome his darkness, and the Supreme King Haou took his place."

"What connection does Jaden have with that man?" said Zane suspiciously.

Blight shook his head. "Such curiosity. That information is not out for everyone to know. You will have to defeat me in a duel if you are to find out the truth about what Jaden Yuki has undergone. For someone as pathetic as you, that is next to impossible."

"Watch it," warned Zane, drawing his sixth card. "You're already doomed. I play Polymerization, fusing Cyber Dragon (2100/1600) and Proto-Cyber Dragon (1100/600) to special summon Cyber Twin Dragon (2800/2100)!"

Two machine snake like dragons appeared onto the field in a flash. The first was an older dull grey colored metal and had many wires hanging out of its body, as if it wasn't finished being built. The other dragon was had a sleek silver body that was finished with a simple strong head. Together, the pair swirled together to form a twin headed silver machine dragon that looked snake like. With a loud roar, each head made its presence known.

They were on the top floor of the building, so the dragon's head broke through the ceiling and sprouted out of the top of the building. Through the substantial hole, the sky could be seen.

"I end my turn," growled Zane.

"How bland," commented Blight as he observed the two-headed machine. He was just about to play a card, when he paused. His face hardened. Zane stared at him. "What's wrong with you?"

Blight de-activated his Duel Disk. "I wish I could have stayed and crushed you, but my Master Apocalypse needs my help with something more important. Consider yourself lucky; you have been spared a terrible fate. I will find you once again, and believe me, I will do so no matter how well you hide."

"Get back here!" snarled Zane. But it was not possible. Blight simply flicked his hand, as if he were brushing a piece of dirt from his armor. A powerful force of wind lifted him into the air, and slammed him into the opposite wall. Before he had time to get up, Blight was gone.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Yugi stared in horror at the dead NYPD agents and civilians. Every single one of them had been killed in the most brutal and gruesome of ways. "I can't believe it… Jaden did this," whispered Yugi, more to himself then anyone else. Kaiba too, was shocked. Rikuo spoke in a disdainful voice. "Feh, what Sestros did is much worse compared to this."

No one answered him. Yugi broke the silence. "We have to go and get Serenity from the hotel. We told her to stay put… I just hope she hasn't been attacked yet." Kaiba answered with a brief nod.

"You are not going anywhere!" cried a new voice. It came from just behind the corner of the street. A man was standing there. He was short and lean, dressed in a black cloak. His face was scarred, and he had a brutal look to him, despite his unimposing physical build.

"Who are you?" spat Kaiba.

"I am one of the newest servants of Lord Apocalypse," he said in a monotone. The three duelists instantly recognized the voice as that of one who was under mental control. It seemed that Apocalypse had already begun taking control of other duelists, rather then waiting to resurrect his old army, however he would do that.

"My name is Evan. My orders are to defeat the three of you in a duel to prevent you from encumbering my Master." Rikuo stepped up. "I'll deal with this dumbass imitation of a real villain. Go find your girlfriend, Kaiba."

Kaiba's fist tightened at the last word, but he said nothing. Evan did not notice. "If you attempt to escape, I will find you sooner or later." Yugi and Kaiba didn't have time for Evan's monotone voice. They were already gone.

Rikuo fired off the holo projectors. "Ready for hell, kiddo?" sneered Rikuo.

Evan just gave him a blank look.

(Evan: 8000, Rikuo: 8000)

"I summon Alpha the Magnet Warrior (1400/1700) in attack mode," began Evan. A grey magnet creature with a sword and shield materialized onto his field, and pointed its sword at Rikuo. He snorted at this. He had seen Yugi use the Magnet Warriors, and they had proved to be incredibly useless creatures.

"I end my turn."

With a chuckle, Rikuo drew his sixth card. You didn't get a hand like this everyday… Evan was screwed. "I summon Mechanicalchaser (1850/800) in attack mode!" The strange, machine hunter appeared. Its body was spherical, and it had a number of weapons sticking out of various parts of its body. It buzzed in anger upon seeing Alpha.

"Destroy it!" The hunter lunged across the field, and its swords sliced through the Magnet Warrior. Alpha tried to defend itself, but it was seemingly impossible to fight against the mighty swords of the Mechanicalchaser.

(Evan: 7550, Rikuo: 8000)

"Activate, Flat LV4. When one monster is destroyed in battle, both duelists special summon one level four or lower monster from their decks." Rikuo gave a grin at this. The idiot was helping him. "I summon Gamma the Magnet Warrior (1500/1800) in defense mode."

A pink metal magnet creature with strange wings, large pink feet, a big blue S on it's chest, silver spring like arms, a magnet around it's neck, and a strange pink head appeared onto the field with it's arms crossed.

"I choose X-Head Cannon (1800/1500)," shot back Rikuo. A blue and yellow robotic creature, that was legless and hovered on a spiked ball, and had twin cannons extending out of its shoulders materialized. The robots hands were metal clawed, making it seemingly more dangerous.

"I'll set a card facedown, just like you," chuckled Rikuo.

Evan drew once more, with his blank face still present. "I sacrifice Gamma the Magnet Warrior for Iota the Magnet Warrior (2300/2100)." The pink monster was replaced a mechanical figure made up of silver, with bronze underneath, showing through at the joints. Its helmet was also bronze, with what looked like a magnet reaching out of the top of its skull and pointed backwards, like a pair of reversed horns. Its hands crackled with electricity.

"Iota the Magnet Warrior deals you four hundred points of damage for every Magnet Warrior in my graveyard when it is summoned," continued Evan. It raised its hands, which began to shake even more as the electricity built up. The blast slammed into Rikuo, and he deflected it with his fist. Nevertheless, the damage was done.

(Evan: 7550, Rikuo: 7200)

"Iota, attack X-Head Cannon." A spear appeared in its hands, the blade long and jagged. With a flick of its massive arm, it let the weapon lose at the cannon-like monster. "I activate Wabuko!" retorted Rikuo immediately. Evan fell silent as the three robed mages began to chant, stopping the spear in its tracks.

"End turn."

Rikuo snapped the top card off his deck. "Perfect. I summon Z – Metal Tank (1500/1300) in attack mode!" Up next was a blue and yellow tank like creature with treads. "I union Z-Metal Tank and X-Head Cannon to summon XZ-Cannon Tank (2400/2200)!"

Launching into the air by use of their thrusters, the two machine creatures began to form into one creature. The tank became the bottom and took up position while waiting for the other to link up. The large blue robot creature lowered itself into a port within the tank's back and linked up. A bit of electricity flashed through the air when the two finally fully powered up.

Evan did not say anything. He didn't even seem at all worried. "Damn, you and your silent ways are beginning to piss me off," snarled Rikuo. "XZ-Cannon Tank, attack him now with Laser Destruction!" With deadly aim, the weapons on the combo creature released a group of laser blasts, each just as strong as the other. The series of blasts soon struck, which was shattered by the force of the assault.

"Mechanicalchaser, attack directly!" Evan gave a small cry of pain as the many swords of the machine rendered gashes all over his skin. Other then that, however, he said nothing.

(Evan: 5500, Rikuo: 7200)

"End turn," shrugged Rikuo.

Evan snapped the top card off his deck. "I play Brain Control." A strange pink brain appeared on Evan's field. Dull green, vine-like tendrils snaked out and pulled the XZ-Tank Cannon towards him. Rikuo snarled in anger.

"I activate Magnet Meltdown. This lets me sacrifice a monster to special summon Magnet Warriors from my deck whose total levels equal that of the sacrificed monster. I summon the level four Delta the Magnet Warrior (1900/1200) and the level two Kappa the Magnet Warrior (300/600)."

Evan snatched up two more cards from his deck, the first his slapped onto a monster zone, revealing another box-shaped robot, only this one was a rusty brown color and had the letter "K" on its chest. This was Kappa. The second to appear was a blue, magnet shaped warrior appeared on the field. It held an axe, and had the letter'd' emblazoned on its front.

"I sacrifice both to summon Omicron the Magnet Warrior (2500/2800)." Instantly the droids shattered and was replaced by a much taller figure, this one with yellow armor, its entire body seemingly made up of magnets that were attached to each other and stack one on top of the other. It's head was a single magnet with a round golden eye peering out, while its hands and feet were much the same, minus the eyes. Printed on this ones chest was a large white "O".

"Activate field magic card, Magnet World." The air around them began to glow, and electricity pulsed. Rikuo watched in mild interest as the Mechanicalchaser was pulled this way and that, due to the awesome power of the magnetic charge around them. "It can only be activated when there are five or more Magnet Warriors in my graveyard. Each Magnet Warrior on my field gains five hundred attack points."

Omicron began to glow and gave a buzz of triumph as it's attack points soared (2500 + 500 3000/2800).

"Attack." Omicron raised both its hands, and they began to pulse with electricity. The electricity hit the Mechanicalchaser. Its metallic body was unable to withstand the magnetic force, and it was pulled apart. The pieces of scrap disappeared.

"When Omicron attacks, I can either draw one card, or deal you four hundred points of damage. I choose to draw one card."

(Evan: 5500, Rikuo: 6050)

It was back to the deadly machine duelist. He smirked at the next card. "I play Soul Exchange! By sacrificing one of your monsters, I can tribute summon a monster from my hand, although I will be forced to skip my battle phase. I summon my physical avatar, Wolf Demon Lord (2400/1000)!"

The monster that appeared resembled Rikuo himself. It was a samurai dressed in heavy Japanese armor, and his massive biceps rippled underneath it. It held a long sword that appeared very thick as well. Wisps of smoke were hovering around it, making it look even more deadly then it was.

"Luckily for you, you'll be spared his wrath for this turn," sneered Rikuo. "But just you wait until next turn, when you'll face the full strength of one of the most powerful Demon Lords! Until then, I set a card and end my turn.

Evan just looked at him blankly and drew. "Activate Summoner Cube. I must now roll a die, and I can special summon level four monsters from my graveyard equal to the number rolled minus one. They must be off the attribute of one monster I discard. I choose to discard another Delta the Magnet Warrior (1900/1200), which is earth."

A die appeared on the field, and it flew into the air. It rolled about a bit, and then fell on a three. "I now special summon Alpha the Magnet Warrior (1400 + 500 1900/1700) and Gamma the Magnet Warrior (1500 + 500 2000/1800)!" The gray, box-like robot wielding a sword and shield appeared, followed by the large pink earthen creature.

"The final effect of Summoner Cube allows me to draw one card for every monster on my field, minus the number on yours." He snapped the top card off his deck. "I sacrifice Alpha, Gamma and Beta the Magnet Warrior (1700/1600) from my hand to special summon Valkyrion the Magna Warrior (3500 + 500 4000/3850)!"

Another magnet shaped creature appeared onto the field, letting off of soft moan. It was a yellow droid with magnet like hands, and another on its head. Together, the three leapt into the air. Slowly, each began to break apart into many pieces. The pieces slowly reformed into one body. A large creature with many components from the previous three was build in the place of the three. It had a massive sword, a large body frame, pink wings, and many other pieces from the three previous creatures. Swinging it's sword in a sweeping motion, the new creature let out a low moan, showing its strength.

Rikuo didn't seem worried. "Meh, it doesn't make a difference. You're going to lose either way." Evan did not take kindly to this.

Rushing across the field, the large magnet creature brought its sword forward, preparing to attack. With a single sweep, its blade slammed into that of the Wolf Demon Lord. The two glared at each other and struggled, when Rikuo gave a chuckle. "I activate Negate Attack." A spinning vortex appeared between the two of them, and forced them to break apart.

"End turn," droned Evan.

Rikuo drew quickly. "I play Pot of Greed!" He snapped the top two cards off his deck. "Hmm… I play Monster Reborn, to call back my XZ-Cannon Tank (2400/2200)!" The strange, mechanical combo monster appeared next to the Wolf Demon Lord and buzzed loudly.

"Then I summon Y-Dragon Head (1500/1600)!" A machine red dragon with four smaller legs, metallic claws, and wings spread appeared in an offensive stance. "I then combine it with my XZ-Cannon Tank to call upon the mighty XYZ-Dragon Cannon (2800/2600)!"

The XZ-Cannon Tank broke apart, leaving the three component pieces by themselves. Launching into the air by use of their thrusters, the three machine creatures began to form into one creature. The tank became the bottom and took up position while waiting for the other two to link up. Slowly, the red dragon's wings broke off of its body and it retracted it's head. The large blue robot creature lowered itself into a port within the dragon's back and linked up, before finally the two came crashing down onto the blue and yellow tank, which hooked up as well. A bit of electricity flashed through the air when the three finally fully powered up.

"Now you're really screwed! I discard a card from my hand to activate its effect and destroy your Magna Warrior. Full Laser Destruction!"

Aiming its twin cannons, the combo machine creature released a pair of twin laser blasts at the magnet creature. The blast hit hard, smashing it into pieces. Not a trace was left of it. "This duel has lasted far too long…. Which is why I play the last card in my hand, Limiter Removal, to double the attack points of my XYZ-Dragon Cannon (2800 2 5600/2600)!"

The combo machine began to glow insanely as its attack points went through the roof.

"End this now!" With deadly aim, the weapons on the combo creature released a group of laser blasts, each just as strong as the other. The series of blasts soon struck Evan head on, who was knocked to his hands and knees while panting heavily.

(Evan: 0, Rikuo: 6050)

"That's game," he sneered. "I can't believe the duel was over so quickly. I was expecting at least a bit of a challenge." Evan hadn't seemed to hear him. He simply keeled over, and began to gasp in pain. Rikuo looked at him in surprise. "What's up with you?"

He noticed that he was gasping even more. His eyes were glazing over. "What the-…" began Rikuo before he simply fell over. Rikuo rushed forward and placed two fingers on his neck. There was no pulse. The Wolf Demon General clenched his fist. "He's dead," he growled to himself. This meant he couldn't even extract information from him to find out where Apocalypse was.

But it didn't matter. "Apocalypse, I am coming to get you," growled Rikuo.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The assassin was one of the best in the world. He had started off as a free-lancer for the Japanese gangsters, the Yakuza. After five successful killings and five hundred thousand dollars worth of pay, he had decided he had too much class for such a petty organization. He had then approached Paradias.

They had welcomed him with open arms, a bit too literally. One of the bigger and more idiotic men had actually had the audacity to run over and hug him. The assassin had sent him and three of his friends to hospital for five weeks.

No one would even think of him as an assassin as he leaned back in the soft chair of the expensive restraunt. He did enjoy the finer things in life, as he sat there sipping French wine. His cell phone rang, and he grimaced. He knew who it was.

"This is a big job," said a voice at the other end. "Failure is unacceptable at any costs."

"I know," sighed the assassin. He was tempted to be a little more rude, but then the client would be upset and that would cost him six hundred grand. "I will want confirmation that the other half of the payment will be wired to my Swiss bank account after the targets are killed."

"I will call you," replied his client. "Just remember, one of the group will not be harmed by your bullets. If he notices you, then everything is lost. I suggest you carry a Duel Disk and your strongest deck as well. If the escape your initial attack, then you may be forced to initiate an Orichalcos duel."

The assassin frowned at this. He did like dueling, and found it a fun pastime. He was a fairly accomplished duelist, having won the Phoenix Regional Championship in the previous year. However, he doubted that he would be able to stand up to the likes of Yugi Moto or Seto Kaiba. Then again, with his new deck, one could never tell.

"Don't worry. Jason Becker and Sarah Taylor will be dead. Just have my money ready, Mr. Li."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Whoo! Cliffie! Now you know that there's already a traitor in the mysterious organization I've been going on about.**

**I'm out of town for three weeks, so no updates until I get back. However, I will tell you this. Sarah Taylor will be dueling next chapter. Jason is based of myself. We're the same person, essentially, in all ways other then names. Sarah is a purely fictional character, although I based her physical appearance of a certain Disney actress whom I happen to admire.**

**Anyway, hope you guys enjoy the new fic, and please review!!**


	3. Murder Most Foul

CHAPTER TWO: Murder Most Foul

Jason grimaced. He never had much of a liking for New York. It was a field operative's nightmare. Covering twelve hundred square kilometers and with a population density of over ten thousand people per square kilometer, it was incredibly easy for a fugitive to hide among the masses. He didn't mind Fifth Avenue; it had a certain charm about it. But other then that, it was just a big noisy city.

He looked over at the other operatives as they exited John F. Kennedy Airport. Serena Avalon, Drake Manning, Brian Palmer and Sarah Taylor were all very proficient duelists, and excellent field operatives. The five had worked together before, and were good friends. There was really no one else whom Jason would rather have watching his back.

The sixth of the group, was, of course, the Archangel Zerato. They had posed as college kids on a trip to the Big Apple, and Zerato posed as their chaperone, a Mr. Smithers. He had been none too enthusiastic about the name, but it was the only fake ID that their organization could spare.

"We rendezvous with the other duelists on Seventh Avenue," said Zerato calmly. "You'll will be provided with the location of the first Seal, and I will then leave in order to contact Lady Life." Jason nodded.

Brian was about to speak up when Zerato froze. Everyone looked at him, and the archangel mouthed, "Three o'clock." They looked in the specified direction, to see a small black shape on a building. For a second, it didn't register with them.

"It could be anyone," said Brian Palmer in his deep voice. "This is Queens. Even though it is three o'clock in the morning, people do strange things." Zerato shook his head, and they noticed a shard of light from the blackness. It could only be one thing. It was the moonlight reflecting off the barrel of a gun.

"He is unlikely to be alone," continued Zerato, not turning around. "Be on your guard, and be ready to run if need be. Until I say so, act normal, or otherwise the assassin will realize that we have noticed him. That is a risk that cannot be taken. I will deal with him when the time comes."

Slowly and quietly, the group began moving towards the shelter of a parking lot. "This makes no sense," whispered Serena Avalon. "The parking lot is the perfect cover for a group of thugs." Zerato didn't look down. "I am counting on that. I will deal with any interlopers, giving you a chance to split up. I believe that the thugs will simply be grunts to keep you in place. The assassin, who has probably been sent by Paradias, is the real danger. You will need to deal with him."

"But how could he know we are here?" growled Jason angrily. Drake Manning nodded. "Other then the directorial board and the heads of department, no one knows where we are right now."

"That is something to worry about later," replied Zerato calmly, as they turned into the parking lot. "On my signal, Jason and Sarah will go left, and the three of you will go right. I am certain that the assassin will target Jason first, as he is the head of the operation. Keep him occupied, finish him off if you can. I will deal with him myself later, if you fail."

They stopped at the entrance. "Now," hissed Zerato. The party of five broke, and ran. At that second, eight men rose up from behind various cars. Each one was armed with automatic weapons. "Stick em' up!" growled the leader.

"How very unoriginal," muttered Zerato. Luckily, the others were gone. Slowly, he closed his eyes. His limbs and torso began to grow smaller. His head grew smaller as well, and he gained a snout. His clothes were replaced by brown fur. The thugs looked on in shock as the Archangel Zerato changed into the shape of a field rat.

The rat snapped open its eyes. It spoke in a small, squeaky voice that actually had something scary about it. "Show time."

"A damn mouse!" boomed one of the more stupid men. "I'll take you on." He lifted his gun. The things that the rat did to that man made the remaining men think things like, "_Why didn't I listen to mummy and stay out of organized crime_?" You really had to feel sorry for those thugs.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jason and Sarah walked quickly towards the exit. He had a feeling that the assassin would be coming down to intercept any survivors of the supposed ambush. If that was the case, he and Sarah would need to be ready.

As they entered the relatively empty street, Jason put a hand in front of Sarah. They both stopped, and his ears pricked up. "Down," he said in a monotone. The two just ducked down as a bullet slammed into the concrete three inches from them. They whirled around to see a man walking towards them.

He looked more like an Italian stud then an assassin. He was dressed in an expensive clothes, with the first few buttons of his shirt open. He had long, curly hair, which framed a solid face. His nose was long, and bridged the gap between two brown eyes. He held an automatic weapon in his right hand.

"Hello, Mr. Becker, and of course, Ms. Taylor," he chuckled. His voice had a crystal clear quality to it. "I am here with the unfortunate news that your lives are over." Jason said nothing, and Sarah followed his example. "Really, it's nothing personal." He raised his gun, and was about to pull the trigger. Jason tensed, in an attempt to dive out of the way, when the assassin paused.

"Hmm… I have a better idea. I need to deal with your comrades as well, Mr. Palmer, Mr. Manning, and Ms. Avalon. I have a deal for you. We will have a Shadow Game. If I win the duel, then you will first reveal the location where you'll planned to rendezvous, and then I will kill you. In the strange and impossible event that you somehow defeat me, you will get a two minute head start."

"Do you think we are ignorant about the rules of a Shadow Game?" sneered Jason. "We decide your fate if you lose. I say that you reveal to us why you have to kill us, who has ordered you to do so, and also pretty much anything else we want to know about Paradias. You will also, ahem, what is the term…. _Come quietly._"

The assassin shrugged. "Works for me. Even if I killed you now, the other three will be far away. I can't be bothered to try and find them, so it would be easier to kill the whole lot at once."

"_I don't like doing this_," thought Jason. "_I could be endangering the lives of Serena, Drake, and Brian. But otherwise, we don't stand a chance against this guy. It's our only hope_." He pulled his Duel Disk out of his jacket, but Sarah stopped him.

"I'll duel," she said in a stone-cold voice, as she glared at the assassin. He chuckled. "Very well then. Ladies first. Your life is in her hands, Mr. Becker." Jason knew he couldn't argue. Once Sarah decided to do something, you couldn't stop her. Besides, the assassin would probably use the Shadow Game on her, not him.

"Paradias supplied me with a good deal of power," he said conversationally. He raised his hand, and dark fog began to roll in. "It's rather uncommon to be able to initiate a Shadow Game without a Millennium Item. My employer gave me enough for one-time use."

He fired off the holo projectors of a Duel Disk that he pulled out of his own jacket, while Sarah grimly did the same. Jason watched silently as the two duelists locked eyes. "Let's duel!"

As they picked up there first hands, the assassin spoke up again. "Name's Nicholas, by the way. I wish we could have been meeting under different circumstances. It would have been nice to take such a pretty girl out to dinner rather then having to kill her…"

"Shut up, you sick pervert!" spat Sarah.

"Oh, you fight," whistled Nicholas. "I like that."

"Then you're going to love this guy. I summon Mystic Swordsman LV2 (900/0)!" A warrior with a large, silver, pointed samurai-like head garment and flowing, blonde hair rose to the field, being dressed in light-violet clothing and a white cape on his back and down between his legs. He wielded a curved, white, energy-like blade.

Nicholas shrugged. "It's a bit of a pathetic monster, really. I don't know why you would bother with something so weak."

Sarah glared. "We'll see if you call him weak when he attacks you. But for now, I set a card and end my turn."

Nicholas drew with a bored expression on his face. "Ah… I'll place a monster in defense mode, and then end my turn. Please, go ahead and make your move." A brown-backed monster appeared in front of the assassin. He gave Sarah a sweet smile.

She shook her head in bewilderment. "Mystic Swordsman LV2, attack with Mystic Blade Level Two!" The monster nodded, and shot towards the brown-backed cards image. His sword began to glow, and with a tensing of its shoulders, it cleaved through the card. It was revealed as a skeletal figure wearing the clothing of an ancient Egyptian. It held a staff-like sword, and the clothing seemed like that of a guard. It gave a cry of pain.

"It was Pharaoh's Servant (900/0)," said Nicholas, unperturbed, as he picked the card off his Duel Disk and put it in his graveyard. Jason raised his eyebrows. It was among the weakest monsters in the game, with no effect. Why would he run it?

Sarah shrugged. "Since Mystic Swordsman LV2 destroyed a monster in battle, I can replace it with Mystic Swordsman LV4 (1900/1600)!"

Mystic Swordsman grew taller, and his sword morphed into a double-edged one, transforming into a straight one from a curved one. His white cape grew longer, while his purple unfiA blue mask was over his eyes.

"I set a card and end my turn."

Nicholas drew. "I set a card facedown, and activate the magic card Heart of the Underdog. Every time I draw a normal monster, I can draw another normal monster immediately." Sarah realized what was going on. "_He's using normal monsters… That means he might have Gene-Warped Warwolves in his deck. Still, why would he have Pharaoh's Servant if it's a beatdown strategy?_"

"Then comes Pot of Greed." He snapped the top two cards off his deck. "I summon another monster facedown in defense mode, and end my turn."

Sarah drew. Nicholas' strategy was bordering on ridiculous.

"Before you continue your turn, allow me to activate a trap known as The First Sarcophagus!" A large, old piece of yellow paper appeared, covering a small coffin. "Do please continue."

Sarah shrugged. "I summon Silent Swordsman LV3 (1000/1000) in attack mode!" A green skinned young warrior, almost looking like a child, with orange hair with human looking features on one knee then appeared. He wore a long black jacket, white gloves, black boots with little bands of metals on them, some armor on his shoulders, and an odd helmet that had odd blades on it. On his shoulder rested a sword with three large looking teeth cut into the blade's design.

"Mystic Swordsman LV4, attack with Mystic Sword Level Four! With this guy's effect, it doesn't matter what that monster is, it's going to be destroyed anyway. You see, he can destroy any facedown defense mode monster without applying damage calculation or activating a flip effect."

The stronger swordsman nodded, and gripped his sword tighter. With a battle-cry, he leapt towards the facedown card image. With a single slash of his blade, he cleaved it in half. Oddly, it was a monster identical to the one that had been previously destroyed. It was another Pharaoh's Servant (900/0).

"What is it with these weak monsters?" muttered Jason. Meanwhile Sarah continued. "Silent Swordsman LV3, attack his life-points directly!" The smaller swordsman leapt towards Nicholas, and slammed its buster sword into his chest. He barely flinched as the cold steel left a scratch on him, and the warrior leapt back.

(Sarah: 8000, Nicholas: 7000)

"Not bad," he commented, brushing off his shirt as if it had been dirtied by the attack. "Although highly uncivilized."

Sarah frowned, and ended her turn. As she did so, a shining light engulfed Mystic Swordsman, surrounding him for a brief moment. Soon, he stepped out of the light, which vanished. Mystic Swordsman was now about another half-foot taller, and his straight, double-edged energy sword had now turned into two separate, curved and extendable white-energy blades. "Meet Mystic Swordsman LV6 (2300/1700), who can only be summoned when Mystic Swordsman LV4, successfully destroys a monster in battle."

Nicholas shrugged. "Another weakling. Oh, and by the way, the effect of The First Sarcophagus activates during your end-phase. I get to activate The Second Sarcophagus from my deck." Another parchment, identical to the first one appeared on Nicholas' field.

The assassin drew, and chuckled. "I drew my Pharaonic Protector (900/0). Thanks to Heart of the Underdog, I can draw again." He snapped the top card off his deck. "What a surprise! I drew another Pharaonic Protector (900/0). I draw one more time."

Sarah watched in incredulity as he drew for the third time. "Ah… I play Graceful Charity, to draw three cards at the cost of discarding two. I think I'll send the two Pharaonic Protectors to my graveyard." He plucked the two cards out of his hand, and pushed them into his graveyard slot. He was left with seven cards in his hand.

"Then I play Smashing Ground, which allows me to take care of that annoyance." He pointed at Mystic Swordsman LV6. Sarah frowned as the warrior screamed in pain. Its skin seemed to glow red, and it suddenly exploded.

"Then I set a monster in defense mode. End turn."

Sarah drew angrily. "You don't destroy my monsters and get away with it just like that! I'll level up Silent Swordsman LV3 to his next form, Silent Swordsman LV5 (2300/1000)!"

Silent Swordsman started to rise in stature, gaining nearly more than twice his original height, with his clothes expanding with him. The buster sword he held glowed, growing nearly to the size of the warrior himself, though being much thicker. It also had a double handle at the bottom, being able to be held in two different positions. Circular, wheel-like silver pieces divided the separate handles. Silent Swordsman pulled his buster sword in front of himself and held it up triumphantly.

"Silent Swordsman LV5, attack his monster now!" Nicholas shrugged as the warrior cleaved the card flipped up to reveal a clown with a white and black striped face, with yellow and blue-green baggy clothing, a blue vest with a white collar, a large red hat with a long pink flowing wig in half. It was immediately sliced in half.

"It doesn't really make much of a difference. You destroyed Peten the Dark Clown (500/1200). I can now special summon another one in defense mode." A clown identical to the one that was just destroyed re-appeared.

"I end my turn," growled Sarah. "Thank you, because now the effect of The First Sarcophagus allows me to activate The Third Sarcophagus from my deck!" Another piece of torn parchment appeared next to the other two. They seemed to glow ominously, and Sarah felt a drop of sweat trickle down her forehead. Her Silent Swordsman LV5 was unaffected by Nicholas' spell cards, but she had a bad feeling about those three traps.

Nicholas drew with a gleeful expression on his face. "Now, watch as I sent all three Sarcophagus cards to the graveyard in order to special summon a monster from my deck known as the Spirit of the Pharaoh (2500/2000)!"

The three sarcophagus' opened, to let lose blasts of multicolored energy. Sarah watched in amazement as the three streams formed a ball, which began to grow in size. It exploded in an influx of light and energy, to reveal a terrible new creature. It was a tall humanoid, with aqua blue skin. It wore ornate Egyptian clothing, which consisted of a flowing robe, as well as a golden head-piece. It's face was covered by a golden mask which was molded into the shape of its face. It carried a long, golden staff as well.

"When this monster is summoned, I can special summon up to four level two or lower zombies from my graveyard! I call upon my Pharaonic Protector (900/0), as well as my two Pharaoh's Servants (900/0) (x2)!"

The two monsters that had originally been destroyed appeared, along with another skeletal man dressed in a flowing white robe. They leered evilly at Sarah, who kept a strong face. "Then I switch Peten the Dark Clown to attack mode!" continued Nicholas with a sick grin. The clown got to his feet and cackled.

"Spirit of the Pharaoh, lead the charge and annihilate her Silent Swordsman LV5 with Emperor's Burst!" The tall humanoid raised its staff, which began to glow with dark energy. Lightning struck it, and the shadows around them began to blink black and white. With a gust of wind pushing it, the sphere slammed into the swordsman, who gave a cry of pain as it was destroyed.

(Sarah: 7800, Nicholas: 7000)

"Feel pain, little girl!" cackled Nicholas as he pointed at Sarah in a command for his other four monsters to attack. One by one, they shot across the field. The Pharaoh's Servant slammed its staff-like sword into her gut, and before she had time to recover the other one dealt a terrible blow across her face. The Pharaonic Protector let lose a sphere of white energy which nearly knocked her off her feet, while Peten gave a mischievous grin and disappeared. Reappearing behind the pretty duelist, it unsheathed a knife. Sarah bit back a scream of pain as pain shot up her body.

"Damn you…." she gasped as she fell to her knees. "You're…. You're going to pay for that!"

(Sarah: 4600, Nicholas: 7000)

"Are you okay?" asked Jason, concerned. Sarah got to her knees angrily. "I'm fine!" she spat, glaring at Nicholas, who smiled back innocently, as if he had committed no wrong deed.

"I guess I'll set a card and end my turn," chuckled the assassin.

Sarah snapped the top card off her deck. "If you think I'm just going to sit back and allow you and your monsters to attack me, you're sorely mistaken. I set a card facedown, and add another facedown monster. End turn."

Nicholas chuckled as he drew. "Spirit of the Pharaoh, annihilate that pathetic facedown monster!" Once again, the heathen ruler let lose a sphere of unholy black fire at the facedown card image. It flipped over to reveal a small imp dressed in green clothes. It had two wings, and a very large face. Its nose was long and pointed, and it held a long staff. "Spear Cretin (500/500)?"

"Yes," nodded Sarah. "When flipped, we can both special summon a monster from our graveyards in face-up attack position or facedown defense position. Since your field is full, you're not benefited. I choose to call upon Silent Swordsman LV5 (2300/1000)!"

The warrior dressed in a blue coat appeared, his turquoise skin and blonde hair shining in the darkness. He winced as the screaming imp was blown to pieces by the Spirit of the Pharaoh's attack.

"Since your remaining monsters are too weak to challenge my Silent Swordsman LV5, my life-points are safe," smirked Sarah. Nicholas frowned. "A well-executed move, I must say. But in the long run, it makes no difference, for I was paid to take care of you two, and I definitely will."

Sarah simply growled, and a frown spread across Jason's face. "End turn," chuckled the assassin.

Since Silent Swordsman hadn't attack Nicholas' life-points directly, Sarah couldn't level it up. She did, however, have a better solution. "I equip Silent Swordsman LV5 with Fusion Sword – Murasame Blade, which grants him another eight hundred attack points!" Another sword appeared in the hand of the warrior, and he began to glow (2300 + 800 3100/1000).

"Impressive," muttered Nicholas, a bit taken aback.

"Attack his Spirit of the Pharaoh now!" The Silent Swordsman LV5 raised both swords, and tore across the field. He slashed both of them in opposite directions, cleaving through the strange monster completely. Instead of blood, white energy spilled out as the mummified ruler exploded.

(Sarah: 4600, Nicholas: 6400)

"Not bad," coughed Nicholas. "However, you only succeeded in defeating one of the weakest strategies of my deck. Believe me, your pathetic level monsters will not stop me. Sooner or later, probably sooner, I will destroy you."

Sarah ignored him. "I set a card and end my turn."

Nicholas drew slowly. "I switch all four of my monsters to defense mode, and add a facedown before I end my turn." The three skeletons dropped to their knees, crossing their arms in front of them. Peten bowed his head and crossed his arms as well, although his ever-present idiotic grin still graced his face.

Sarah grinned. "I set a monster in defense mode." A brown-backed card appeared behind her. "Then I activate my facedown Quick Summon, sacrificing it for Jinzo (2400/1500)!" The card was replaced by a tall-standing cyborg, with its brains visible through a transparent type of helmet. It had dark-green goggles on its face, and pink skin. It wore a black and yellow-patterned full-body suit.

Nicholas looked confused. "What would Jinzo be doing in a deck based around LV monsters?"

Sarah giggled. "If that's what you think, you definitely haven't understood my deck's strategy. Wait a little while, and you'll understand just how much trouble you are in. Until then, I think I'd like to introduce Jinzo to your Peten!" The android let lose a sphere of golden-black energy, which completely decimated the clown.

"I'll summon the last one." Scarcely did he say this, did the Silent Swordsman LV5 cleave the new arrival in half, leaving Nicholas with nothing but his Pharaonic Protector and his two Pharaoh's Servants.

"I'll call it a turn," chuckled Sarah.

Jason allowed himself a small smile. It seemed like things were going Sarah's way, with one monster at twenty-four hundred and another at a greater thirty-one hundred. And when Sarah was able to trade in her Silent Swordsman for its next level, Nicholas would be in a load of trouble. That was, if he didn't mess up her strategy again.

Nicholas drew, a smile gracing his face. "I set three cards facedown. End turn."

Sarah shrugged, and drew. She knew that she didn't have to worry about those facedown cards, for Silent Swordsman LV5 was immune to all his spell cards and Jinzo negated all his traps. "Silent Swordsman LV5, annihilate one of his Pharaoh's Servants!" The zombie-like monster tried to parry with its long staff, but was easily cut down by the warrior's powerful buster sword.

"Jinzo, follow it up!" Scarcely did these words leave her mouth did the android let lose a sphere of energy at the other Pharaoh's Servant. Nicholas snickered. "Sorry, but you walked into a trap…. Or should I say, quick-play magic card?"

Sarah gasped as the Pharaoh's Servant snapped its staff around, sending the ball of energy spinning back at the android. It gave a hiss as its own attack began to burn it to cinders. Soon, there was absolutely no trace of it remaining.

"My facedown quick-play spell, Protector of the Oppressed, allows me to destroy all monsters that target level two or lower normal monsters as targets this turn. For every monster destroyed, I get to then destroy one spell or trap card on the field. I choose your Fusion Sword – Murasame Blade!" The Pharaoh's Servant slammed its staff into the ground, creating a shockwave that shattered the Silent Swordsman's equip card. "Normally, it can't be destroyed by effects, but Protector of the Oppressed allows me to remove the top three cards of my deck from play to get rid of any such ridiculous effect."

Sarah bit her lip but said nothing. "I end my turn." As she did so, Nicholas chuckled and pressed a button on his Duel Disk. "I activate my facedown Human-Wave Tactics! For every level two or lower normal monster that was destroyed this turn, I can special summon another level two or lower normal monster. Since your Silent Swordsman LV5 destroyed my Pharaoh's Servant, I think I'll call upon Mokey Mokey (300/100)!"

A small blue rectangle like creature with golden wings on the top corners of his body and small stubby hands and feet with a question mark on his head appeared. With his arrival, he said "Mokey Mokey!"

Sarah sweat-dropped. "Man, what is it with this guy and weird monsters?" she murmured to herself, as Nicholas drew. "I think I'll summon a second Mokey Mokey (300/100)!" Another monster, this one identical to the one that had just been summoned materialized onto the field and cooed softly.

"Then I switch Pharaonic Protector to attack mode." The robed monster got to his feet and raised his hands.

"Mokey Mokey, attack Silent Swordsman LV5!" Sarah watched incredulously as the small monster cooed once more and shot towards the much more powerful swordsman. It began to flap its wings up and down as fast as it could, which was actually pretty slow. It let lose a sound wave in the general direction of the warrior, who simply stared at the now puffing and panting fairy, bemused and unaffected by the attack. With a simple slash of its sword, it dispatched of the strange monster.

"I activate Wabuko, meaning I don't lose a single life-point!" The three robed mages appeared around Nicholas, preventing the Silent Swordsman LV5 from going any closer to his mistress' opponent. "And the point of all that was…. What?"

"The final card of my combo!" declared Nicholas dramatically. "Mokey Mokey Smackdown!" The remaining Mokey Mokey began to glow red, and its entire body began to puff up. It began to pant from the exertion of swelling up, and the question mark on its forehead glowed insanely (3000/100).

"What the-…" swore Sarah as she noticed its attack points skyrocketing. "By the effect of my magic card, when an angel type monster is destroyed, all Mokey Mokey's have their attack points raised to three thousand, till the end of the turn." Sarah swallowed nervously.

"Mokey Mokey, obliterate her Silent Swordsman LV5!" The red puffed out monster's wings began to flap up and down as it let out a sound wave that struck the powerful swordsman. It let out a cry of pain as it was destroyed into millions of pieces.

(Sarah: 3900, Nicholas: 6400)

"Pharaonic Protector, give it to her!" exclaimed Nicholas gleefully. With a nod, the monster raised both hands and began to chant. White energy left its hands and slammed into Sarah, causing her to double over in pain. Jason glared at Nicholas, but said nothing.

(Sarah: 3000, Nicholas: 6400)

"Give up?" chuckled the assassin, folding his arms. "Never!" spat Sarah, glaring at him.

Nicholas shrugged. "Ah well, your choice. I end my turn. Thanks to Human-Wave Tactics, I can special summon another Mokey Mokey, this one in defense mode." The strange blue fairy appeared next to its brother, with its wings folded across its body. It cooed softly.

Sarah drew slowly. "Much better. I summon Silent Magician LV4 (1000/1000)!"

Materializing onto the field was a very young mage with light brown eyes and silver hair, dressed in white and blue robes, holding a small white staff. "Silent Magician LV4, destroy his attack mode Mokey Mokey with Silent Scepter Blast Level Four!"

Leaping into the air, the white robed mage aimed his staff straight for the blue fairy. Magical energy began building up on the end of the staff, giving off a crackling sound. After a moment of power build up, a white sphere of magical energy formed on the end of the staff. Taking aim, the mage released the sphere straight at the angel. Mokey Mokey screamed in pain as it was destroyed.

"I set a card and end my turn," finished Sarah.

(Sarah: 3000, Nicholas: 5700)

It was back to Nicholas. As he drew, the Silent Magician began to glow. "What the…" he began, when Sarah cut him off. "You see, when you drew a card, you activated his special ability! He now gains a Spell Counter, which grants him 500 additional attack points (1000 + 500 1500/1000)," she calmly explained.

The young mage instantly glowed with a white aura, and seemingly took on a small growth spurt, for his height rose somewhat.

He growled slightly but said nothing. "Very well. I drew a normal monster, so Heart of the Underdog forces me to draw again." He snapped the top card off his deck again, and the Silent Magician LV4 began to glow again, and he grew taller (1500 + 500 2000/1000).

"Damn it…. I set a monster in defense mode and switch my Pharaonic Protector to defense mode. I end my turn." A brown-backed card appeared next to the other two monsters.

Sarah smirked as she drew. "I summon my Reflector Samurai LV3 (1400/1000) in attack mode!" A tall samurai appeared. He was dressed in silver armor, with raven black hair reaching his shoulders. His Japanese features expressed a hint of glee upon seeing the two weaker monsters on Nicholas' field. His arms were thin, but he was able to hold a small katana. His lean body craned over as he cackled wildly.

"Reflector Samurai, destroy his Pharaonic Protector!" The warrior yelped and leapt across the field. The light of a nearby street lamp reflected off his armor, blinding the skeleton. With a slash of his blade, he cleaved the monster in half.

"Silent Magician, finish off his Mokey Mokey!" Nicholas winced as the now older magician fired off a sphere of black energy at the remaining fairy, which squealed in surprise as it was blown to pieces.

"I set a card and end turn," she said confidently. As she did so, the Reflector Samurai suddenly bulked up. His frame became more thickset and muscular, and his features more hardened. His armor began to shine more intensely, and his sword grew a bit longer. He now looked more like a samurai then before.

"When he destroys a monster in battle, Reflector Samurai levels up at the end of the turn," explained Sarah smugly. "Meet Reflector Samurai LV5 (2200/1600). Unlike his previous counterpart, this one has an effect that's sure to cause you a lot of problems."

Nicholas ignored her. "Thanks to Human-Wave Tactics, I can special summon Ojama Black (0/1000) and Ojama Yellow (0/1000)." Appearing on the field were two small creatures, each wearing a pair of pink bikini briefs. The first was black and had a large nose with two small eyes. The next was yellow, had eyes attached to small tentacles, and red lips.

They looked at Nicholas, and the black one spoke up. "Holy smokes, boss, what have you gotten yourself tangled up in this time? Looks like we're going to have to bail you out again."

"As always, it's appreciated," said Nicholas curtly. "You should be able to do fine." "Well, that makes me feel swell, boss, but I'd much rather prefer to hang around in my card," piped up the yellow one. Nicholas ignored them, and drew. "Ah…. Perfect. I flip Ojama Green (0/1000)."

The last one was green, had a single eyed, and was slightly more muscular than the others. He looked at the other two, and then at Nicholas. "Hey, boss…. Do you really need us for this duel?"

Nicholas ignored him. "I now play the magic card Ojama Delta Hurricane. When the three Ojama brothers are on the field, I can destroy all cards on your field."

Each smiling, but with a bit of fear, the three launched into the air. Calling out their color, the three finally placed their butts together, saying in unison "Ojama Delta Hurricane!"

Slowly, the three began swirling in a circle. Little by little, the group began spinning faster and faster, and the circle began widening. The three shifted the circles position, and moved it to right above the large golden dragon and the duo of the mage and warrior. Once more widening the circle, the three increased the diameter till it encircled the two. With a swift movement, the circle dropped down till it was at the middle of their bodies, at which point it came to a screeching halt. In a single motion, the circle tightened around the warrior and mage.

The Silent Magician howled in pain, while the Reflector Samurai was silent. The circle soon began to shrink even more, making the mage roar once more in tremendous pain. After what seemed like an eternity, the mage finally exploded, sending out a shockwave that hit the Reflector Samurai. Surprisingly, it wasn't destroyed.

"What the-…." swore Nicholas. "Holy smokes, what is it with that guy?" squeaked Ojama Green. The Reflector Samurai gave a screech of laughter. "He's really giving me the creeps…" chattered Ojama Yellow.

"It's very simple, really," chuckled Sarah. "My Reflector Samurai LV5 can be rendered immune to either magic or trap cards till the end of the turn, at the cost of discarding a single card from my hand." Waving a Repayment of Losses, she slotted it into her graveyard, and drew another card.

Nicholas growled to himself but said nothing. "Very well….. I'll start things off with Emergency Provisions. I'm going to need my magic and trap card zones, so I'll send Human-Wave Tactics, Mokey Mokey Smackdown, and my facedown Repayment of Losses to the graveyard." He closed his eyes as fresh energy flooded him.

He stretched. "Yeah… That's good for the spine… Anyway, back to the duel." He snapped open his eyes.

(Sarah: 3000, Nicholas: 8700)

"I also draw one card since I sent Repayment of Losses to the graveyard, giving me a grand total of five cards…. Which one should I play? I can think of no better option then Polymerization!"

Slowly, the three creatures on Nicholas' field began to swirl together. Once they did, a puff of smoke appeared, hiding a new figure from sight. The smoke slowly cleared, revealing a fat like white creature with tentacle eyes, a pair of red bikini bottoms, a green cape on its back, a crown on its head, and finally a large smile with gross looking teeth that looked like they hadn't been brushed in years. Standing before the group, he cried out "Oh yeah baby! I'm in da' house!"

"Meet Ojama King (0/3000)," said Nicholas with a satisfied grin on his face. Suddenly, the towering monster reached over and produced a stamp. He slammed it down onto Sarah's field, just missing the Reflector Samurai. "While he's on the field, you can't use three of your monster card zones."

Sarah frowned, but said nothing. This was a setback, but she would get around it. Still, it would be difficult to destroy a monster with three thousand defense points…. She was interrupted by Ojama King shouting, "Who's da' man?!"

"Don't worry, he's not staying long. When he's summoned, I can add a card called Mecha Ojama King Transformation from my deck to my hand. I immediately play it, which allows me to sacrifice Ojama King for a monster known as Mecha Ojama King from my deck, hand or graveyard!" He found the card in his deck and slammed it down onto his Duel Disk.

"Aww….. Boss…." The giant white freak couldn't complete the sentence as it covered in a blinding flash of white light. Sarah covered her eyes and grunted as the light grew brighter. Finally, it began to subside, although it still reflected off her samurai's armor. The new monster was like the first one, except its skin was like a coating of metallic armor. It had two short and stumpy legs, and similar arms. It had two tiny eyes on tentacles, and a small green cape that looked odd on its huge body (0/3000).

"Its stats are identical to that of Ojama King," chuckled Sarah. "A bit of a waste. You also allowed me to use my monster card zones."

"Shut up, foolish girl," snapped Nicholas, finding another card in his deck. "The effect of Mecha Ojama King allows me to special summon Ojamachine Yellow (0/1000) from my deck!" A strange monster appeared on the field, completely yellow in color. It looked like a toy robot, with a large head and two eyes balanced on tentacles.

Suddenly, three more that were identical to it appeared. "The effect of Ojamachine Yellow allows me to special summon tokens to my field with exactly the same stats as it." (0/1000) (x3)

"What's the point of all this?" said Sarah irritably. "You'll see soon enough," replied Nicholas. Jason widened his eyes, realizing what was about to happen. "Oh no…"

"I play the magic card, Trap Booster! This allows me to activate a trap card from my hand, at the cost of a discard. Of course, I discard a Repayment of Losses, letting me draw another card." His hand size was at three as he picked up another card. I now play the trap Ojama Trio!"

Three monsters that were identical to the trio that had originally been on Nicholas' field appeared on Sarah's field (0/1000) (x3). Unlike the previous ones, these were silent, and simply stared up at the towering Mecha Ojama King with fearful eyes.

"What the…" began Sarah, but Nicholas butted in. "Ojama Trio lets me special summon three Ojama Tokens to your field. When they're destroyed, you lose three hundred life-points each. Plus, they can't be sacrificed, so they're essentially dead-weights on your field." Sarah groaned. Just what she needed. More of her space clogged up by those weirdoes.

"Next comes the magic card Royal Ojama Throne! Any one Ojama monster on the field has its name considered as Ojama King and also gains the effect of that monster, at the cost of a thousand life-points. I choose Mecha Ojama King." The metallized giant glowed slightly, but that was it. Sarah watched in confusion. The elaborate combo was getting him nowhere, and none of his monsters were close to her Reflector Samurai LV5 in strength.

Meanwhile, Nicholas grunted slightly as his life-points dropped.

(Sarah: 3000, Nicholas: 7700)

"I now have one last card to play!" thundered Nicholas. "Ojamuscle! This little handy card now destroys all Ojama monsters, except for Ojama King. Since Mecha Ojama King's name is also considered as Ojama King, he's safe. Anyway, once that happens, he then gains 1000 attack points per a destroyed Ojama. Since you have those three Ojama Tokens, that means Ojama King will gain 3000 more points, in addition to all the Yellow Ojamachine tokens on my field. I count a total of seven Ojama monsters, which meant he gains 7000 attack points!"

Sarah gasped in shock as the towering creature began to glow. Its attack power skyrocketed, and it gave an enormous yawn and stretched its miniscule arms. Getting to its feet, it glanced down at the small Ojama Tokens all over the field. It gave a giant burp, and they all shattered (7000/3000).

Jason took a step back in shock. Seven thousand attack points…

Meanwhile, three blasts of energy hit Sarah from Nicholas' graveyard. "Since your three Ojama Tokens were destroyed, you're dealt nine hundred points of damage. Not that it matters…"

(Sarah: 2100, Nicholas: 7700)

"Time to end this duel!" said Nicholas dramatically, flourishing his hand. "Mecha Ojama King, attack with Mecha Flying Body Slam!"

Leaping into the air, the large white creature let out a small laugh. Once the creature had leveled out and lost all momentum, he began his descent towards the samurai, who could only watch with shock on his face. With incredible speed, the large white creature came flying downwards and slammed his large body into the ancient warrior, seemingly crushing him flat.

"I WIN!" roared Nicholas. "Now, tell me where your friends are so that I can deal with you two and go on to earn my salary."

Suddenly, he noticed that Sarah's life-points weren't _nearly _over. "What the…." he gasped angrily as the dust cleared to reveal a panting but grinning Sarah. "I activated my facedown card, Nutrient Z. When I'm about to take two thousand or more points of damage, I gain four thousand life-points. Since I took forty-eight hundred points of damage from the attack, I'm left with thirteen hundred life-points."

(Sarah: 1300, Nicholas: 7700)

The giant robot bounced back to Nicholas' field. "Spoilsport!" it rumbled.

Sarah wiped a drop of sweat from her forehead. That was close. Meanwhile, Nicholas was wringing his hands in annoyance. "You really love to make life difficult for me, don't you, girl? I'm going to make things extra painful for you."

"You'll have to win to do that," rasped Sarah, as she drew her next card slowly.

She sighed. Her deck was powerful, but seven thousand attack points was something else altogether. She did, however, have one combo that could help, but she would need draw specific cards. Until then, her best bet was to play defensively.

"I set a monster in defense mode and end my turn."

Maliciously, Nicholas snapped the top card off his deck. "Mecha Ojama King… Mecha Flying Body Slam!" Once again, the gigantic monster took off into the air. It reached about fifty feet before it tumbled down to Earth again, and crashed into the facedown card image, which just flipped over to reveal a brown and white flying squirrel. It was very furry, and the skin between its hind and forelimbs was very floppy. It squeaked as it was crushed.

"You destroyed Nimble Momonga (1000/100). Thanks to that, I can now special summon two more copies from my deck to the field in facedown defense mode. Plus, I gain a thousand life-points."

Nicholas shrugged. "Keh, how are two more of those rats going to stop me?"

Sarah cleared her throat. "They're squirrels, not rats."

"Rats."

"Squirrels."

"Rats."

"Squirrels."

"Rats."

"If they're rats, then how can they fly?" defended Sarah. Nicholas ignored her, and ended his turn.

(Sarah: 2300, Nicholas: 7700)

Sarah snapped the top card off her deck. "I sacrifice my two Momongas for one of the most powerful monsters in my deck…. I introduce to you Gilford the Legend (2600/2000)!"

As Sarah gently placed the card on the Monster Zone, bolts of electricity crackled across the ground, shooting out a blinding ray in all directions. As the light died down, a tattered and brown cape was whipped to the behind of a tall, very muscular warrior whose thickset face was surrounded by a metallic mask. His metallic armor looked like nothing could penetrate it. On two sheaths on his back, he had a couple of long swords, and held another, huge one in his hands.

Jason chuckled to himself. Sarah had succeeded in summoning what could well be one of the most powerful warriors in the game. If she played her cards right, Nicholas was finished.

"When he's summoned, I can equip all equip spell cards in my graveyard to warriors on my field. Since Gilford himself is a warrior, I can equip Fusion Sword – Murasame Blade to him." The massive warrior drew another sword from his back, and he began to glow with energy (2600 + 800 3400/2000).

"Pathetic!" scoffed Nicholas, folding his arms. "It's no match for my Mecha Ojama King." Sarah grinned at him. "Really? What if I play the magic card Mage Power?" Glowing even more brightly, fresh energy flooded the grandiose soldier as he glared at the towering, metallic freak which gave a simple 'huh' (4400/3000).

"Not enough!" crowed Nicholas.

Sarah held up another card. "I play the mighty magic card, Excalibur!" Suddenly, Nicholas stopped, and froze. "Oh crap."

"Indeed," agreed Sarah. "Excalibur doubles Gilford's attack points, as long as I skip my draw phase. If I wish to draw, all I have to do is allow Excalibur to be destroyed. But it doesn't matter, because Gilford is now strong enough to reduce opposition of any sort to dust!" It was true. Both of Gilford's sword vanished, and he now held a single, deadly blade that looked like something out of a fairy-tale. It was about six feet long, and it reflected every single pearl of light in the area (9300/3500).

The Mecha Ojama King took notice. "Oh crap…." he groaned to himself.

Sarah held up her final card. "Here goes Pot of Avarice… By sending five monsters back to my deck from my graveyard, I can draw two cards. So I'll send Reflector Samurai LV3, Reflector Samurai LV5, Mystic Swordsman LV2, Mystic Swordsman LV4, and Mystic Swordsman LV6 back to my deck to draw two cards."

She smirked at the two new cards. "It's over. I equip Gilford with Twin Swords of Flashing Light – Tryce! First, I must discard one card." She slotted her remaining card into the graveyard. "Then, Gilford loses five hundred attack points, although when he's at ninety-three hundred, it really doesn't matter. Lastly, he gains the ability to attack twice!"

Nicholas was aghast. "No, no, no! I came too close to victory!"

"Not close enough," pointed out Sarah. "Sorry, buddy boy, but this is it. Gilford, attack with Excalibur Holy Wave!" The titanic warrior shot off into the air, and his single sword began to give off such light, that the Mecha Ojama King was blinded. With a cry of anger, Gilford shot towards the ground like a speeding bullet, and skimmed across the pavement until he slammed into the metallic giant. His sword flashed sideways, leaving the mechanical menace in two pieces. The two pieces crackled slightly, and then both exploded.

Gilford bounced back to Sarah's field, a smug look on his face.

(Sarah: 2300, Nicholas: 5400)

"No, wait, hold on!" yelped Nicholas, holding up his hands in horror. Sarah ignored him. "End this now, Gilford!" With a single slash of his sword, this one a bit gentler then the previous one, Gilford knocked the assassin off his feet. He watched in disbelief as his life-points plummeted until they reached a point where he was unable to continue.

(Sarah: 2300, Nicholas: 0)

Jason stepped forward as the fog began to clear. Sarah was panting with exertion. "Are you okay?" he asked, concerned. She nodded, but said nothing. He walked over to Nicholas, and snatched the gun out of his belt. Carelessly tossing it away, he lifted him up by the collar. "If you don't tell us who sent you, the rules of the Shadow Game will take your soul," he sneered.

Nicholas was able to maintain his decorum. "Fine…" he sighed. "I was only in it for the money, anyway. I didn't care about what that guy believes in. My employer is a very rich and influential man in both Paradias, and your organization."

Jason narrowed his eyes. He suspected as much. No one outside the organization knew where their task force was going to New York. It had to be a traitor from within.

"He defected to Paradias a few years ago when he tired of his opinions being neglected. I don't know much about him, except for the fact that I'm going to leave town after this. I can't kill you people because of the Shadow Game, and he'll be coming after me because I failed."

"Just give me a name," said Jason impatiently, tightening his grip on Nicholas' collar. "I'm getting there. Believe me, you're in trouble. If you're really unlucky, he might send _him_ after you, and then you're so badly screwed that you might as well commit suicide. I'd say he's probably within the top five most powerful people in Paradias. His name is…."

Suddenly, he gasped. Jason thought for a second he had been squeezing his throat to hard, and let go. But it didn't help. Nicholas fell to the ground, choking and gasping in pain. His face was turning beet-red. Jason dropped to his knees, and could tell that he was having a heck of a hard time breathing. "Damn it!" he swore, and immediately began pumping the man's chest. He hated having to do this, but he needed a name.

Meanwhile, Sarah glanced around. "There!" she cried, pointing at a rooftop near them. A single, dark figure stood there, clenching his fist. His fist seemed to tighten, and Nicholas' eyes rolled back in his head. He was dead.

"Wait here," ordered Jason. Sarah was far too tired to participate in a chase. Even as he got to his feet, the black figure had leapt across to another roof top. Within seconds, he was out of sight. "Christ…" whispered Jason. There was no way he would be able to find that figure. He would go back to Zerato, and inform him that their organization was compromised. It was probably someone senior, so he didn't have to worry about his teammates.

"Can you walk?" he asked Sarah softly. She nodded, and slowly got to her feet. Breathing deeply she began to stumble off towards the parking lot. As Jason walked beside her, the same question was on both their minds. What the hell was going on?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The abyss is a place where most go to escape from the hell of life. It is a place of lost souls, of people who have not found their purpose in life, wandering meaninglessly until they find some sort of hope. It has a dark side as well. It is the place where the dark side of Man is born. It births things that cannot be put into words. Lost in this wild and strange place, Yami wondered if he would ever be able to set his mind right.

_I doomed the world. I released Apocalypse. _

He stood surrounded by shadows. He wondered if this was real, or it was all in his head. Of course, it could be happening in his head, but that didn't mean it was not real.

"Why?!" he intoned aloud, to no one in particular. "WHY?!" he screamed again. Despite what he had said to Yugi, he had not gotten over it. Images flashed around him. He remembered declaring the final attack of his Dark Magician against Marik's dark side, thinking he had finally brought the darkness crashing down.

If he had retained his deeper memories, the darkest secrets of his past life, perhaps it would give him some hope, some meaning. Was he destined to simply be a puppet of the forces of Good, forever plowing on in this unending battle against the Shadows?

He fell to his knees in despair, and he heard a voice.

"_You will know the truth before you complete your destiny. Your destiny is far more complex that you could ever understand. You are the Chosen One. For five thousand years, your ultimate deed has been planned, one that will alter the course of history. The secret is buried deep under layers of time. Do what you must, and you will know the truth."_

"Who are you?!" screamed Yami. "Come back! Tell me what you mean!" But his words were met with nothing but silence.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Here we are," said Blight cheerily, as Haou and himself walked towards the edge of the cliff. Beneath them was a deep and dark forest. The trees seemed black, and above them was a dark blanket that was supposed to be the night sky. No stars pierced it, for this was truly the Dark World.

"If you agree to serve Master Apocalypse, this will be yours, Supreme King," said the First Horsemen. "We know your history. We know how much this dark little dimension means to you. All you have to do is agree to serve my Master, and you will have infinite reign over this place. Sounds good?"

Haou stared blankly at him. "Why do you serve him?"

The grin slid off Blight's face, and was replaced by a serious expression. "It is a purpose that goes deeper then you can understand. I do not expect anyone to comprehend why I do what I do, except for my Master."

"Tell me," said Haou in his emotionless voice. "Very well," breathed Blight, and stared up into the starless sky. His eyes were a startling arctic blue, and look like two pinpricks of light in the eternal blackness that surrounded them. A distant roar was heard from the forest below, but the two ignored it.

"A long time ago, I was like you. You cannot even begin to comprehend when this was. I am older then the soil we walk on, the wind that hits our faces. I was a being without purpose, with a meaningless destiny. When I was first spoken to by my Master, he was the messiah I seeked. He gave me a power beyond comprehension… The power of destruction. It is a power of pure Light…. But that of Destruction."

A very slight look of surprise flitted across Haou's face. "You are the original essence of the Light of Destruction."

Blight nodded. "Very perceptive. Our purposes are identical. I feed off destruction, for I am destruction. I am what my master intended for me to be. I am not what I was before, I am a completely different being. I am no human, neither am I a demon. I am the Light of Destruction. We will destroy everything, for that is what we are meant to do. That was why I was created."

Haou clenched his fist. "Your story goes deeper then this."

"It does. But I am not going to stay here and prattle away to you. There is something you know, but at the same time you do not know. In your heart of hearts, you remember."

Haou nodded. "I was destined to destroy the Light of Destruction."

"But the thing here is, you were raised with the attitude that destruction is an evil and terrible thing. You were a prince of Neo Space, a place of pure good and peace. No one knows what happened to you after that. I do, however."

The two locked eyes. The tension was unimaginable. "You were protected by a being known as Yubel. She was originally a human girl who offered to be transformed into a dragon in order to protect you. Your love and dedication for her grew. Your positive attitude was changed when you found out that your father forced Yubel to be transformed and undergo uncomprehendable pain during the process, all the while making her lie about doing so willingly. Your hatred and negative emotions grew, until you finally snapped and killed your family. You were lost to the darkness after that, and you were so absorbed by evil that you gave up on your destiny. Your soul was absorbed by the shadows and no one heard of Prince Haou again."

Blight paused. "You do not know this, do you?"

The Supreme King said nothing. "You were reincarnated in the form of Jaden Yuki. It was necessary, for you were required to fulfill your destiny and destroy the Light of Destruction, namely me. Subconsciously, you succeeded in aiding him in stopping me from destroying the planet and foiled my plan of manipulating the human known as Sartorius. Of course, you did not destroy me. However, I was badly beaten, and retreated to space. There, most of my essence was captured my scientists of the Kaiba Corporation, leaving a small and pathetic body for me on Earth. Meanwhile, your negative emotions grew within Jaden Yuki, until you developed two personalities. Jaden Yuki himself was a naïve and foolish child who believed in good. You were his dark side, who hated all life and wished only for destruction."

Haou continued to stay silent.

"Your dark side was shown in your duel against one Darren Hirugashi in the recent Tournament of Shadows. When he find out about the taking of the soul of Alexis Rhodes, Yuki's personality gave out and you took control, showing off your insane anger and hatred. Eventually, he took control again, but it was too late. You were then truly free of him, and it was only a matter of time before you broke out. Had Yuki not lose to Darren Hirugashi, you would have broken out during the Tournament of Shadows. However, the God of Death Anubis put a small portion of his dark soul in your body, in order for it to battle Seto Kaiba and the Thief King Bakura. Unknowingly, he made it more difficult for you to come out, because his essence was quite powerful. Eventually, the part of his soul and its army were defeated, and it returned. However, Yuki's body was in a bad condition, and taking control at that point would have killed it. After the Pharaoh won the Tournament, Yuki was in considerably better shape, and the two of you were struggling for control. I had gone to the Kaiba Corporation satellite and released the Light of Destruction, regaining all of my lost power. I sent out men to kidnap him, and provided you with the edge you needed to finally break free and take permanent control. Now, the question is whether or now you will join our cause."

Haou fixed him with a hard glare. "I am meant to destroy you."

"But I know you will not. I'd say we're about equal in power, and a battle would get us nowhere. And besides, you do not care for your ridiculous destiny. You _love_ the darkness. It is within you, it is around you, you _are _darkness. You cannot deny that. That foolish cause is beneath you. Joining my Master will give you a kingdom of death, all for some services you must render. Those services are things that you enjoy doing, namely killing people. You will be able to exact revenge on people you hate. Don't you see? There is now downside to joining my Master. If you decline, I cannot destroy you now, and you cannot destroy me. But my Master will crush you, and even though you will claim that you are stronger then him, I know that in your heart of hearts you are aware of your power compared to his."

Haou finally spoke. "I am no one's servant."

"You are not… You are a Horseman," grinned Blight. "So, do you accept?"

With a long stare, he spoke in a distant voice. "I work for no one. This is a common cause that I am aiding. In doing so, I will do certain things that your Master, yes, your Master, not mine, wishes to be done. If I wish, I will abandon you.

"Excellent," chuckled Blight. "I knew you'd see it my way. You are now the Haou, Supreme King of the Dark World and the Second Horseman of Apocalypse."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kaiba tore towards the New York Palace. "_If they so much as touch her, I will make them pay_!" he thought wildly as he ran through the doors. He sighed in relief, for everything around them seemed quite normal. "Nothing has happened to Serenity," sighed Yugi in relief. "I'm pretty sure they would leave a hell of a mess here if they were actually going to kidnap her."

Kaiba went up to the receptionist. "Call Room 717. Tell the occupant that Seto Kaiba is requesting her to come down." The receptionist looked at him blankly. "Do it!" commanded Kaiba. The man continued to look at him.

"What is it with you?!" roared Kaiba, leaning forward. Suddenly, the man spoke up in a cheerful voice, not one you would expect from the receptionist of a five-star hotel. "Hello again, Yugi and Kaiba. I assume you're here to find your girlfriend. I'm afraid this guy won't be able to call up, because no one is really in that room. Have fun trying to find her. I'll see you sooner or later, but you'd better pray that I don't. Oh, and by the way, this place will explode in ten seconds."

The man collapsed. Yugi and Kaiba looked at each other. Kaiba took an involuntary step towards the elevator, but Yugi stopped him. "There's no one there," he hissed. "We have to get out. We can find Serenity later."

He yelled, "BOMB!" There was nothing else he could do. The people in their rooms could not be saved in anyway. The people in the lobby could at least make for the door. He hated it, he loathed it….. He didn't want to leave so many innocent lives here to await their fate. But trying anything to save them would guarantee is own death, and even then it would be useless.

Screaming in fear, a good fifty people rushed for the door as others looked around in confusion. The last of them was barely able to squeeze out and rush across the crowded street until an explosion that shook the very ground beneath their feet occurred.

Kaiba fell to his knees, screaming in anguish as the building across the street literally collapsed. Rubble fell everywhere, smashing into cars as people ran screaming. The despairing Kaiba and the helpless Yugi simply stood on the other side of the street, like two well-behaved children in a crowd of those rushing for the open exit of school.

He saw Rikuo and Zane running towards them. The Wolf Demon General saw the wreckage and whispered, "Oh… Crap."

"It was that freak Blight!" snarled Kaiba, getting to his feet. "I swear, when I get my hands on him, I am going to kill him."

He pulled out his cell phone, and dialed his chopper pilot. "5th Avenue, 22nd Street," hissed Kaiba. "You have five minutes." Slowly, the foursome made their way past the wreckage, sadly staring at the screaming civilians. They did not deserve this. And they would make sure Apocalypse paid.


	4. Welcome to Hell

CHAPTER THREE: Welcome to Hell

CHAPTER THREE: Welcome to Hell

**HimeAmelie: Honestly, you wouldn't say that if you were Yami. Nicholas is fairly small fry, one of my weakest OC duelists. Sarah is better, I'd say she's better then all of the small-time duelists like Weevil and Rex, but weaker then Jason, who pales in comparison to Rikuo, Daniel and the canon characters, other then maybe Joey.**

**Candyman123: Well, then enjoy it.**

**SolarMoon59: She might have one or two duels in the fic, but that's it.**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: Wow, you got it. Well, enjoy your cookie! Yeah, I've stuck to Haou's history from the series, and filled in the empty plot holes, like how he became evil. Blight is very complex, easily one of my most complex OC's. I was thinking of Nicholas being killed by You-Know-Who close-up, but this was far more eerie… Anyway, enjoy the chapter, and thanks a lot for the review.**

**Shadowcat: Thanks, and I hope you enjoy it. **

"He has agreed to serve you, Master," said Blight, rising from his bow. The dark figure on the throne was shrouded in shadows.

"Very well. He will serve his purpose."

"When do you wish to excecute your plan to acquire your Third Horseman, Master?" asked the white-armored man, keeping the respectful tone in his voice. "I will need to regain a considerable amount of strength in order to combat whom I need to," replied Apocalypse coldly. "It will take some time. Until then, I wish for the Infinity Council's duelists to be dealt with."

Blight nodded. "Unless I deal with them personally, Master, it will be difficult for our limited forces. I do, however, have a humble suggestion. No doubt, the foolish Council will use them to go after your holy Seals of Immortality. The obstacles to the Seals will be very powerful, and they will be drained. One by one, we will be able to pick them off."

"See to it," said the emotionless voice. Blight bowed, and left.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Joey's fist slammed into the wall. His knuckles were sore from doing this many times, but he didn't care. His mind was an insane mixture of all kinds of emotions. He didn't know what to think. Those creeps had his sister…. If they so much as _touched_ her, they would pay. Kaiba could try what he wanted, but Joey would definitely give them what they deserved.

He gave another scream that echoed throughout his empty room. It was all he could do to stop himself from leaving the base now and tear New York apart to try and find his sister, but the small amount of logic still in his mind stopped him from doing so. They had probably already left New York, and trying to find them would be worthless. Until those Council people spoke to them, his hands were tied.

Suddenly, his cell phone rang. He ignored it, and kicked the wall. He didn't care how it hurt: the physical exertion helped him.

It continued to ring, and he didn't pick it up. Finally, it was stopped. He fell onto his bed, and sighed. Clenching his fist, he closed his eyes. "_Don't worry, Ren. I'm going to find these guys, and get you back_."

Suddenly, there was a knock on his door. "Joey," said Yugi's cautious voice. "We're gonna need you to come down. The Infinity Council has sent an envoy down here." Slowly, very slowly, Joey got up and opened the door. Yugi noticed Joey's red knuckles, and sighed.

"I swear to god, Joey, we will find Serenity if it's the last thing we do." Joey gave a brief nod, but said nothing else. Slowly, the two moved down to the conference room.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"The facts are simple," said the Archangel Zerato. No one had said anything about his name, but it was evident that they found it to be quite unusual. "An organization exists which is codenamed Eagle. I do not know the real name myself, very few do. In any case, it was started by a retired Japanese law enforcement agent, and a man who was once former head of the DEA."

"Both were worried by the alarming growth of the Paradias Corporation. Soon, Eagle gathered support, and became a force to rival Paradias itself. To combat Paradias' use of magic, the Japanese man, who was very unorthodox, began to research into it. He developed a secret force of powerful Shadow duelists, and after this it was inevitable that they would learn of the Infinity Council. Rather then wipe their memory, we allowed them to continue their work, for it would be useful to have a powerful liaison on the planet."

Rikuo spoke up. "And what does all this have to do with us?"

"I'm getting there," replied Zerato calmly. "We have recently recruited a task force of five duelists from Eagle in order to strengthen your group. They are waiting in Eagle's New York base, and will join you when possible. However, it is advisable to only send out only a few duelists at a time to recover each Seal, as you will need to maintain a strong defense around this base at all times. I myself will be putting enchantments around it, which will prevent a mass attack by Apocalypse's grunts. Anyway, I am here to brief you for the quest to recover the first Seal of Immortality against physical harm, probably one of the weakest. The defenses around it are very strong, for the Council meant to protect it for an eternity."

"Why can't the Council just destroy the enchantments?" asked Tea. She was sitting next to Yugi and Kyle.

"The bond between the six members of the Infinity Council is very complex," sighed Zerato. He was sitting at the head of the table, with the tips of his fingers dressed together. "I myself do not understand it. They have set up the defenses so that no one can disable them. I mean, _no one_. When the Council was formed, the magic that bound them together was ancient and divine. They are meant to be equals, for the Universe must be exactly balanced, light and darkness, life and death, order and chaos, creation and apocalypse. They are all equally powerful. All have the same kinds of immortality. It was by the absolute, maximum combined strength of all other five members were they able to deprive Apocalypse of his immortality and break that one rule. If they can disable their own defenses, Apocalypse can too. The workings of it are very complex, and date back to the deepest magic from before the dawn of time."

There was silence. It was Alexis who broke it, in a small voice. One could tell that the loss of Jaden had shattered her. When the four had grimly returned and announced Jaden's transformation, she had taken it the hardest. Tea, Kyle and Joey had been sympathetic as well, for they had grown to know and like the young man. To the others, Haou was simply just another foe to be defeated.

She kept her grief inside, no one knew what her true feelings about having to now fight her loved one were. But it was evident that she was a different person. "Where do we have to go?"

Zerato took a breath. "The Seal against physical harm is located in Necropolis, City of the Dead."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Do you believe that the duelists will be able to recover the first Seal in Necropolis?" Life asked, as her delicate fingers gently stroked a squirrel that had gotten itself onto her shoulder. The sun was shining even brighter in the paradise where the two had last met, but Death's dark aura seemed to dilute it.

"It is our only hope," he replied. "For if they are unable to recover this one, then there is no chance of the others being found."

Life nodded absently, distracted by the cooing of the squirrel. "There are times like this when I wish we were able to disable the defenses ourselves."

"You do realize that would allow Apocalypse equally easy access."

"Of course," sighed Life. "I forgot. I just hope…. I just hope that these duelists live up to the trust we have placed in them."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kyle raised an eyebrow. "Necropolis? Isn't that another word for a burial ground or something like that?"

Zerato nodded. "It is. But what I speak off is a truly terrible place. It is a realm that exists parallel to this one, but completely different. I could be dramatic and say it is made of fire and brimstone, but it is not. It is made up of the echoes of lost souls, truly dark beings that lost their lives in their attempts to gain power. Lord Death has control over it, but he cannot control all their activities, for that negates the purpose of Lord Chaos and emphasizes too strongly on Lord Order. Hence, it is a dark kingdom ruled by an evil monarchy, filled with all kinds of horrible creatures. The monarchy provides some element of order, but it is quite a murderous place. The Seal was unknowingly placed within the care of the king of the city, who believes it to be an artifact that will ultimately provide him with a great deal of power if he discovers its secrets. You will need to make your way to the king and defeat him if you are to acquire the Seal."

Deondre groaned. "Man, this is even worse then the Shadow Tournament."

"The defenses behind this one are actually rather strong in comparison to one or two of the others, but that is not to say it will be easy to get through. I suggest you pick some of your more strong-willed and experienced duelists, for it will not be easy to resist the negative effect of the city."

"I'll go," said Yugi immediately. "Me too," put in Daniel. Kyle was about to volunteer, but Zerato shook his head. "The gesture is appreciated, but a one as young as you would not easily be able to control his emotions in Necropolis."

Kyle scowled, but said nothing. CJ grunted, "I'd might as well accompany you guys."

"I'll help," piped up Tea. Kaiba was about to say something coldly, and Zerato shook his head. "Seto Kaiba… I am aware of your loss, as well as yours, Joey Wheeler. I therefore think it prudent that you'll should stay here, and focus on finding Serenity Wheeler so that it will be easier for you to concentrate on the task at hand when the time comes." The two simply nodded.

Ryu and Rikuo both spoke up next, but Zerato spoke softly, "Rikuo Amero… I am aware that you dueled one of Apocalypse's minions. I suggest you save your energy for after this, for you are among one of the three strongest duelists on our side."

Rikuo grudgingly sat down. "Well, that is it," said Zerato. "Yugi Moto, Tea Gardner, CJ Andersen, Daniel Pilkington, and Ryu Zaytel will be making the journey to Necropolis in order to retrieve the Seal of Immortality."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"They have begun," intoned Apocalypse in his dark, cold voice. Blight bowed his head. "Shall I follow them, Master?"

Apocalypse shook his head. "This Seal is too weak to waste you on it. I will require you for finding my two remaining Horsemen. Instead, it is time you confront the Atlantian."

Blight's eyebrows shot up in excitement. "Of course, Master," he said. "This should be interesting."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The five of them were standing on the top of the twenty storey Kaiba Corp.'s offshore base, along with Archangel Zerato. They had said their goodbyes, preparing themselves for what was sure to be a treacherous journey.

"We have a contact in Necropolis," Zerato had said. "He is not exactly the most efficient and brightest agent we had, but one must need to act like the denizens of that city to blend in. He's decently popular, he'll be able to get things done, but only up until a limit. You can depend on him for clean provisions: he grows his own food that is not polluted by Necropolis' foulness. He will wait for you there. Also, we have spoken to the taskforce from Eagle, and they have sent two agents. They will leave at the same time as you, and will meet you there. They are Jason Becker and Brian Palmer."

"How do we find them?" asked Yugi.

"Recognizing them should be easy," chuckled Zerato. That was all he said.

He had already told them that there were a number of evil Duel Spirits and demons there, but the main challenge was to actually confront the King of Necropolis and duel him.

"Anyways, the journey there is going to be a bit…. Unpleasant. I'm opening a portal for you, and you will need to go through it. The effects on your digestive system are less then desirable, but there is no way around it."

With that, he placed a hand on a parapet. His eyes closed in deep concentration, and his hand began to glow. A hole began to appear in it. It was unlike a regular hole, for when they looked in, they saw not the concrete of that made up the parapet, but a black void. As Zerato's brow furrowed in concentration, the hole grew bigger. Still, it could barely fit a fox in it. Zerato gave a small gasp of exertion, and pointed a hand to the sky. He murmured something under his breath, and a bolt of lightning struck him. The sky was darkening, and it looked like it was beginning to rain. Suddenly, the portal quadrupled in size.

He gasped, and opened his eyes. "Quickly!" he choked. "I cannot hold it for long. Lord Death has given me some energy, but it will close very soon." Ryu nodded grimly, and entered. He was followed by CJ, who muttered, "Here goes nothing." Both of them seemed to disappear into the void, and if they were yelling, they could not be heard.

"See you on the other side, Yugi," Daniel said lightly, and leapt in after his friends. Yugi nodded at Tea, and gripping her hand tightly, the two walked in together. The last feeling he was aware of was her nails digging into his knuckles, before he blacked out.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Dartz was mad. Mad was putting it lightly.

He screamed in rage as he let lose a blast of green energy from his hand. It struck the dirty sand of the New York beach, and a large hole was formed. Smoke began to rise as he collapsed onto a rock, thinking about all that had happened to him.

After his loss to that foolish child in the Tournament of Shadows, he had been unconscious. Of course, he had come to as the Pharaoh had once again defeated Ishtar, and had then run for it. The Orichalcos had once again been soundly defeated, and this time, it was surely gone for good. That final attack by the Dark Magician of Chaos had shattered his Orichalcos stone, which was the only remaining one. Going back to Atlantis would be of no help, he was a fugitive and a criminal there. He had returned to the Paradias headquarters, only to find that without his ancient magic, he wasn't a very popular figure there.

He clenched his fist as he remembered the sardonic grin on the face of _him_ as he dealt the final blow in that deciding duel…. The duel that determined the change of Paradias from a puppet company with the simple purpose of furthering Dartz's cause to an international crime organization, so powerful that it merited the creation of a secret society just to combat it.

"_You will pay for turning on me_."

A laugh was heard from behind him. He snarled in anger, and stood up. Whichever fool would irritate him at this moment would pay. He turned around to see a man dressed in platinum armor. The crest was finely crafted, and one could tell that the armor was not anything ever seen on the Earth. His face was that of a middle-aged man, and he was bald, with wisps of blonde hair on his head. He raised a gauntlet-covered hand.

"Hello, Atlantian," sneered the other man. Dartz's eyes glowed red. "How dare you speak to me like that! You will pay."

"No, I really think I do not."

Dartz snarled, and raised his hand in an attempt to fire off a blast of green energy at the new arrival. No power came forth. "What the-…"

"Your pitiful magic is no match for mine, Atlantian," smirked his intended target. He raised a hand, and an orb of white light appeared about twenty feet above them. It let lose a wave of flashing light, which descended all over the field in the form of a dome. Soon, the two were encased in a dome of light. Dartz touched it, and snarled in pain as it burnt his hand.

"What the-…"

"We duel," replied the other man curtly. "Your reward, if you win, is your freedom."

"Fine," snapped the Atlantian prince, as his Chaos Duel Disk activated. "You will regret challenging me."

"Oh, I believe you will be doing the regretting here."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Yugi came to with a throbbing pain in his temples. "What the hell was tha-….Oh damn!" He keeled over and retched, emptying his stomach of whatever he had eaten for dinner and then some. The ride between the two dimensions had indeed been a horrible one, and the only thing he seemed to remember was the feeling of wanting to puke his guts out.

He finally looked up, and gasped in shock.

Their surroundings resembled a cross between a space-age city and a dark city full of demons. There were a number of black skyscrapers around them, which resembled ancient towers more then modern buildings. There were some small gaps between the buildings that formed alleys, and they had landed in those alleys. Yugi peered out into the streets to see black-cloaked figures hobbling back and forth on the pavements. Some carriages graced the streets, drawn by dark horses.

"So this is Necropolis," he muttered to himself as he looked at a now retching Daniel. "There goes the spaghetti," he heard the other duelist muttering, and winced. Somehow, with all the puking and of course the bleak exterior of Necropolis, he felt glad that he had already emptied his stomach.

CJ, Ryu and Tea were all done with the side-effects of the journey by now. The dragon demon looked at the streets and sighed. "What a place. I'm sure the locals will be very friendly."

"That's what I'm afraid of," muttered CJ. "For some reason, I think we might stand out here."

"We could, of course, retreat to a more empty area," put in Tea, brushing dust off her skirt.

"We don't have time for that," replied Daniel. "We need to find that Seal and give it to the Infinity Council to destroy as soon as possible."

"Daniel is correct," sighed Yugi. "Listen up, let me go out and get some information about this place, like where their ruler is."

Daniel shook his head. "I'll go. Somehow, I think they'll find a demon a bit more intimidating then a five foot five human, no offense intended, Yugi."

"None taken. In that case, go on ahead."

"Hold on," interjected Ryu. "If need be, I can make a quick escape by transforming into a dragon."

"That would leave the rest of us defenseless if _we _need to escape," retorted Daniel. "Seriously, let me go. I'll take care of it." He flexed his fingers for emphasis. His claw-like nails, which reflected the barely existent Sun's light had the desired effect.

"Very well," said the dragon demon, defeated. "Just don't get yourself killed."

"I won't," grinned Daniel and disappeared out the corner.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

As he entered the city proper, Daniel realized just how gloomy Necropolis was. The towers were quite tall, with brilliant architecture, but the fact that they were jet-black and no light was present in any of them tended to put him off a bit. The people around him looked forlorn and lost. Even the younger ones were as thin as rakes, and their eyes had sunk into their faces. There was a kind of sadness and hopelessness around them as they went about their lives that made Daniel feel sorry for them.

He noticed two people in the middle of a pavement lying on the ground. One was about eight, and female, the other an adult, and male. Above them was a towering figure, clad completely in black armor. He held a whip, and was continuously flogging the two. The man was trying to shield the girl, presumably his daughter, with his own body.

Daniel felt a burning rage rise up as he heard the attacker continuously bellow, "Filthy slaves! You are not worth anything!" The man screamed in pain and his endurance began to waver. No one in the streets even tried to help the victims.

Daniel couldn't control himself. He rushed forward, and dealt the attacker a resounding blow to the chin. The sheer force of the punch knocked the brute off his feet, and at that second, Daniel saw that he was not human.

The man's face was shadowy, and his eye were oddly red in color. He glared at Daniel. "Filthy, mangy cur! How dare you attack me! You will now suffer the same fate as these slaves of mine." He raised his whip, and Daniel caught it in his hand. Using his considerable, demonic strength, he ripped it out of the brute's hands, and threw it down.

"Now, I could beat the crap out of you and let these people go, or you could let them go yourself." In reply, the offender swung out, and caught Daniel's face. He stood his ground though, and lashed out with a foot as the pair cowered in the background, the man trying to shield his daughter.

The man's eyes burned a murderous red. "You… You will wish you never heard of me!" An evil smile graced his face as he noticed the Duel Disk on Daniel's arm. "Ah… I see you know how to engage in that game."

Daniel raised his eyebrows. So now evil weirdoes in different dimensions knew how to duel?

"Seeing as you are probably an ignorant fool not of noble birth, you do not know my position of power in Necropolis, neither do you know of the role that this game plays in this city…. I have a proposition for you. You will not be forgiven for your deeds in attacking me, one of the most powerful men in Necropolis, and you will be given a death sentence for such heresy. I also find myself wondering why you would be foolish enough to attack me."

Daniel narrowed his eyes.

"Now, I could challenge you to physical combat, but it is unbefitting for me, as a being of noble stature. Instead, if you duel me, and win, I will set these pathetic slaves free. If you lose, we will not go to the courts, and instead, I will torture and kill you by my own means. After all, a swift death by an axe is not enough vengeance for me. You look strong and young… It shall be fun to break you."

Without thinking, Daniel accepted. "There is, however, an additional clause. If you lose, you will give me any information I need. And if you break you word… There will be hell to pay."

"Believe me, I would never do that," replied the man, as a jet-black Duel Disk appeared on his arm. His eyes shone.

"You got a name, sicko?" asked the wolf demon, as he fired off his holo projectors. The commoners all around them backed away. It seemed like it was an uncommon thing to see a duel, and this gave them a wide, open space to duel.

"Call me Ieyasu… human."

"The name is Daniel," snapped the duelist. They glared at each other, and shouted…. "LET'S DUEL!"

(Daniel: 8000, Ieyasu: 8000)

Daniel snapped the top five cards off his deck. He smirked. Terrific opening hand. "I play Polymerization, to fuse Elemental Hero Avian (1000/1000) and Elemental Hero Burstinatrix (1200/800) to form Elemental Hero Flame Wingman (2100/1200)!"

Appearing onto the field was a green feathered warrior and a woman in a red jump suit. The two swirled together, forming a creature that had a red dragon head for a right arm, a mostly green and black body, with a long red tail, and a white wing on it's left shoulder. The creature's head was mostly black with some red, and its eyes were red.

"Elemental… Hero?!" said Ieyasu, confused. Daniel nodded.

"I then set a card and end my turn."

A dark smile graced Ieyasu's face. "Human… You have no idea what you have done by accepting this duel. My deck will tear you apart, and then I will take your battered body to my personal torture chambers, where hell itself will be opened on you. Your foolish righteousness has done you no good, and when I am done with you, you will be literally begging for death!"

"Are you done yet?" sighed Daniel.

"Foolish commoner! You dare to mock me?!" snarled Ieyasu, outraged. "Watch, as I open the gate for you to walk down the road to your demise with this! I will set a monster in defense mode, and then add one facedown card. Let us see if your warriors of nature are able to stand up to my wrath!"

Daniel snapped the top card off his deck. "I summon Elemental Hero Sparkman (1600/1400) in attack mode!" Appearing onto the field was a blue and gold warrior with electricity striking his body. He wore a full face mask, and had a strange set of golden like metal wings on his back.

"Now, Flame Wingman, take it to his facedown with Infernal Rage!"

Leaping into the air, the black and green creature took aim with its dragon arm, which opened its jaws and released a stream of flames. The facedown card was encompassed by the flames, and flipped up to reveal a small man dressed in black robes. He had shoulder and knee pads with blood-red designs on them, and brown gauntlets. A blue mask with two golden spikes on either end covered his face, and he held a long staff with a scythe-like blade on one end. He gave an inhuman yell as he was burned away to nothingness.

"You destroyed Armed Ninja (300/300)," said Ieyasu nastily. "When he's flipped, I can destroy one spell card on the field. I choose my own facedown, which was none other then Repayment of Losses, meaning I can draw one card!"

He snapped the top card off his deck, giving him five.

Daniel shrugged. "Well, Flame Wingman's effect deals you damage equal to your monster's attack points."

Landing in front of Ieyasu, the black and green monster moved its dragon arm to be targeting him. Opening it's jaws, the dragon arm released a stream of flames, making him growl in pain. Other then that, he seemed unaffected by the attack.

(Daniel: 8000, Ieyasu: 7700)

"Sparkman, attack with Static Shockwave!" Leaping into the air, the gold and blue warrior launched an electrical blast of energy from his right palm. Ieyasu shrank back slightly from the blast, making him grunt out in pain.

(Daniel: 8000, Ieyasu: 6100)

The little girl was beginning to cry, and her father was trying to calm her, but Daniel could see the desperate fear in his eyes. His face contorted in anger… This man was no better then Kilomet Sestros himself, who had enslaved Rikuo and taken away his life.

"I end my turn," he growled.

Ieyasu drew. ""I summon White Ninja (1500/800) in attack mode!" The new monster was just as slender and lithe as the first one, and dressed in white clothes. It had on a blue belt, with a strange helmet of the same color. It covered everything but the animalistic yellow eyes, and had two long spikes extending from each side. Strips of cloth whipped up behind it, and it held a held a strange, spiked star in each hand.

"Then I equip it with Fuhma Shuriken, which increases its attack points by seven hundred!"

"Damn," muttered Daniel as the ninja began to glow (1500 + 700 2200/800). "Attack his Flame Wingman now!"

Daniel grunted in anger as the ninja let lose the two spiked stars, which slammed into his fusion monster. They ripped through its torso, inciting a cry of pain as they left two pieces of the corpse hanging, before they disappeared.

(Daniel: 7900, Ieyasu: 6100)

"I end my turn," he smirked.

Daniel drew confidently, and smirked. "I equip Sparkman with the equip spell Spark Blaster!"

A light glow appeared above the blue and gold warrior who glanced up. The glow soon died down and a blaster weapon dropped into the blue and gold warrior's right hand. "This card allows me to switch the battle position of one monster on the field. I get three opportunities. Coincidentally, I choose your White Ninja for my first shot!"

Aiming his blaster at the ninja, the warrior fired a blast of electrical energy. The blast struck the ancient assassin, making it growl in anger while it slowly shifted into a defensive stance. A horizontal card image instantly formed under it, signifying the switch.

"Static Shockwave!" Extending his left arm towards the ninja, the warrior began pouring electrical bolts of energy out of his palm. The bolts struck its target, making it howl in pain while Ieyasu covered his face from the small explosion that ensued from the dog's destruction.

"You…. You will pay for that!"

Daniel shrugged. "Yeah, well, I hope you take American Express."

The statement, was, of course, unintelligible to Ieyasu, and he retorted with an angry, "When Fuhma Shuriken is sent to the graveyard, you take seven hundred points of damage!" A spiked-star hit Daniel in the gut as it rocketed out off Ieyasu's graveyard. He grunted in pain.

(Daniel: 7200, Ieyasu: 6100)

"Make your move."

The brute drew his next card, raising his hand size to five. "I play the magic card, Ties of the Brethren! At the cost of a thousand life-points, I can special summon two level four or lower monsters of the same attribute from my deck to the field, in either battle position. They cannot be used as tributes. I choose Strike Ninja (1700/1200) and Katana Ninja (1500/1600)!"

The first ninja to appear was dressed in a black jumpsuit, and had a golden face mask. It had pure gold gauntlets for its arms and legs, along with a ruby belt, as well as blood red knee pads. Its face was not visible, but one could tell it was not the nicest guy in town. In both hands it held two, long, deathly sharp daggers.

The other was a man wearing a black and brown ninja mask. He holds a sharp katana in his hand, and there is a black leather sheath on its back. He wears a dark, brown ninja costume.

(Daniel: 7200, Ieyasu: 5100)

"Finally comes my field magic card, Ninja Palace!"

"What the-…." began Daniel, as Ieyasu held his Duel Disk vertical, and tapped the end of his Duel Disk, which opened. Placing a card within the slot, the slot closed and the field instantly began to change. Bit by bit, a tall and shadowy form began to rise up behind him.

Soon, the shadow took shape, which was off a large and daunting castle, with a number of turrets and towers. Most of them had balconies, in which many dark forms stood, looking at the dusky sky in a brooding manner. The Katana Ninja and Strike Ninja both leapt towards the palace, and entered it. A few seconds later, they were visible on the forward most turrets, hanging off the spires.

"Ninja Palace is a very powerful field magic card," said Ieyasu imperiously. "It has many effects, the first of which grants all ninjas on the field a bonus three hundred attack points!" (2000/1200) (1800/1600)

Daniel frowned. Now both of them were stronger then his Sparkman. "Also, when Katana Ninja is special summoned from my deck, he gains two Katana Counters." Two small rings of light appeared around the ninja's long blade.

"He gains additional effects with these counters, but I'll get into that later. First of all, I think it's time to get rid of your Elemental Hero."

Daniel chuckled. "I don't think that's possible. In case you've forgotten, Ties of the Brethren stops your monsters from attacking."

"Who said I was talking about attacking? I play the magic card, Dark Assassination! Now, I can skip the attack of one ninja, in order to destroy one card on your field. Since these monsters can't attack anyway, it doesn't matter." The katana ninja leapt forward, and lashed out with his sword, slicing the shining hero in half.

"Damn," muttered Daniel. "I end," boomed Ieyasu.

Daniel drew slowly. "I play Card of Demise! Now, I can draw until I hold five cards, but I must discard my hand in five turns." He snapped the top three cards off his deck, and grinned. "I set a card facedown, and add one monster facedown in defense mode. End turn."

Ieyasu drew. "I play Allied Forces, which grants all warrior-type monsters on my field two hundred extra attack points for every other warrior or spellcaster on my field. Since I have two warriors, each one gains four hundred attack points!"

Both ninjas began to glow as their attack points went up to a now respectable level (2400/1200) (2200/1600).

"Not bad," grunted Daniel. "Then comes the magic card, Quick Attack! Now, one monster who cannot attack this turn is allowed to attack! Strike Ninja, destroy his pathetic facedown!" The cloaked assassin leapt into the air, his knives flashing. Suddenly, a large totem pole stopped it.

"Command Silencer lets me negate your attack, and then draw." Ieyasu didn't seem to like it. "Very well. My turn is over."

Suddenly, he grinned. "At the end of the turn during one ninja on my field, besides Katana Ninja himself, attacked, he gains his final Katana Counter. By removing all three, I can draw two cards instead of one during my next draw phase."

Daniel shrugged and snapped the top card off his deck as the three rings of light disappeared from the ninja's sword.

"I flip Elemental Hero Clayman (800/2000)!" Materializing onto the field was a large round grey and black like creature with golden trim on his feet and a red dome head. His body was built thickly. He took a one knee position and crossed his arms, showing his impressive defensive strength.

"Then comes Polymerization, allowing me to fuse it with the Elemental Hero Burstinatrix (1200/800) in my hand, to summon a monster known as Elemental Hero Rampart Blaster (2000/2500) in defense!"

A female creature with pale white skin in a red body suit that covered most of her body except part of her arms appeared. She had red gloves that came up to her elbows, but the fingers of the gloves were cut off revealing her skin instead. She had long black hair that fanned out with a bit of white at the ends. On her head was a golden flared out helmet, and her face was partially covered with a red mask that didn't cover her cheeks or mouth.

The two then swirled together, vanishing completely. From the swirling came a new figure in grey with golden feet and some on its shoulders and its domed helmet. In the creatures left hand was a red plate like shield, and its right arm consisted of a large blaster looking gun instead of a hand. The creature was easily seen that it was female by its chest and face underneath of its helmet. For the most part, the creature's body was covered in dull grey armor. Once fully on the field, the monster took a one knee position and placed its shield protectively in front of its body.

"With twenty-five hundred defense points, it's far too strong for your ninjas," chuckled Daniel. "Then there's more…. She allows me to hit you with a direct attack while in defense mode, with the condition that its attack points are halved."

Nodding, the female warrior took aim with her right arm. Several missiles soon came firing out of the gun, each streaking by the two ninjas and striking the brutish man, who grunted in pain. "You _will _pay for that, human!"

(Daniel: 7200, Ieyasu: 4100)

"I think I'll call it a turn," said the Elemental Hero duelist, folding his arms.

"Very well…." grunted Ieyasu, as he glanced at his next card. "I call upon Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke (1800/1000)!"

The ninja duelist's newest monster was taller and more well built then the others. He was dressed in a white outfit that almost made him look like he had been wrapped in cloth to be mummified. He wore a lose green overcoat on top of it, which went down to his knees and elbows. Even his face was covered, leaving two small slits for his eyes. A blue strip of cloth trailed behind his head, and he held two dangerous looking daggers in each hand.

"Thanks to Allied Forces, and Ninja Palace, he gains a power bonus!" The grandmaster of the ninjas began to glow as his power quickly hit twenty-seven hundred, making him far too overwhelming for Rampart Blaster to stand up to. The others were now at twenty-six hundred and twenty-four hundred respectively.

"It doesn't matter anyway; he can destroy a face-up defense position monster no matter what its defense points. Dagger Burst!" The gigantic hero screamed in pain as the ninja spun around and let lose his two daggers. They slammed into her chest, ripping through her body as she was shattered into many tiny pixels.

"Luckily for you, Katana Ninja and Strike Ninja can't attack," growled Ieyasu. "But sooner or later, you will fall before me! But meh, it doesn't matter, for Katana Ninja gains another Katana Counter!"

Daniel frowned. Twenty-seven hundred attack points was not the easiest factor to get around, but he would do it. He noticed one of the cards in his hands, and an idiotic grin lit up his face. "I summon Elemental Hero Bubbleman (800/1200)!"

In a spray of bubbles, a man in a blue costume outfit with a long white cape, light blue boots, gloves, shoulder pads, and a helmet that covered all but his mouth. On his right wrist was a small gun attached that looked like the end of a water hose, and on his back was a set of water tanks.

"Since Bubbleman is all alone on my field, his effect kicks in, which allows me to draw two new cards."

Picking up two cards, Daniel examined them before grinning once more. "I play the magic card, Miracle Fusion! This lets me fuse Elemental Heroes in my field and graveyard by removing them from play. So I'll remove Bubbleman, along with Elemental Heroes Avian (1000/1000) and Sparkman (1600/1400) to create Elemental Hero Tempest (2800/2800)!"

With a small whirlwind, a green human like creature with white wings, a clawed left hand, a feather like armor appeared. On his head, he wore a crown of feathers that covered all but his mouth and cheeks. Beside of the green creature appeared a small electrical storm, from which came a blue human like creature with some gold armor. The man in blue wore a helmet that covered his entire head, but showed now signs of eye holes. On his back were two wing like structures that were mostly blue.

Once the two had appeared onto the field, the man in light blue leapt up to join the two and the three together began to swirl. A bright light filled the area, blinding everyone. The light finally began to dim and revealed a new figure where three once stood. The new figure had green hair, a blue visor that covered his face except for his mouth and cheeks, a pair of metallic wings on his back, and his right hand was replaced by some sort of blaster. His body was covered in blue metallic armor, with traces of some gold in places. The new figure let out a small battle cry and landed softly onto the field.

"Tempest?!" gasped Ieyasu, taking a step back. Daniel nodded.

"That's right! Now, why don't you show him why you're called one of the strongest Elemental Heroes by attacking his Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke with Glider Strike!"

Leaping into the air, the green haired warrior took aim and released a stream of blue energy from his blaster arm. The blast quickly traveled the length of the dueling field and struck the mighty ninja hard in the chest, making him cry out loudly in pain. Without warning, the assassin simply shattered. The other two ninjas lost power, looking sadly as their teacher was destroyed (2200/1600) (2400/1200).

(Daniel: 7200, Ieyasu: 4000)

"Still want to continue?" taunted Daniel. It was a wrong thing to do.

Ieyasu lost it. "You foolish human!! Pathetic commoner! I WILL MAKE YOU PAY FOR CHALLENGING ME! THOSE SLAVES WILL NEVER GO FREE, FOR I AM THEIR MASTER, AND THEY ARE MINE! YOUR LIFE WILL BE MINE VERY SOON!"

The half-demon wasn't very perturbed by the outburst. "Take your best shot. I set a card and end my turn."

Ieyasu drew ferociously. "I summon Goe Goe the Gallant Ninja (1500/1000)!" The new monster was dressed in a red bodysuit, with his head uncovered. He was brimming with self-confidence; a very arrogant look was on his face. He had blue, spiky hair, along with golden gauntlets and a similar colored karate belt. He wore black boots that went up just below his knee, and a long and strange staff with what looked like a port-hole on the top was clutched in his right hand.

Daniel sweat-dropped. "_Gallant_ Ninja?" Ieyasu ignored him as the new ninja's attack points soared to twenty-four hundred.

"Now all three of my ninjas are at least as a strong as a Red Eyes Black Dragon (2400/2000)!" boomed Ieyasu. "You cannot hope to contend with this kind of power!"

Daniel chuckled. "Really? From what I can tell, even a Red Eyes is not strong enough to take on Elemental Hero Tempest."

"You're forgetting Allied Forces!" pressed Ieyasu, as he held up another card. "Apprentice Ninja (400/200) can be special summoned from my hand when I have at least two ninjas on my field! If I have three, he lets me draw another card."

A small ninja materialized onto the field, dressed in a messily done up black bodysuit, with a single dagger clutched warily in both hands. He looked up at Tempest, and gulped. His attack points were increased thanks to Ninja Palace and Allied Forces, putting him at a respectable fifteen hundred.

Meanwhile, the other ninjas all gained from his presence on the field, so much so that now the Strike Ninja (2800/1200) was now equal to Tempest in attack points. "Nice move," chuckled Daniel. "But you've said it yourself; he can't attack."

"Who said anything about _him _attacking?" said Ieyasu, an evil smile spreading across his face. "Have you forgotten about Katana Ninja and his Katana Counter? Did you think that removing all three to draw was the only effect it gave me? I can sacrifice him and one counter in order to transfer half his attack points to one monster on the field till the end of the turn. I choose Goe Goe the Gallant Ninja (3700/1000)!"

The katana wielding assassin pointed his sword at the second newest arrival, and a stream of energy shot forth, hitting the gallant ninja's chest. He raised his staff to the sky, and a look of pure madness eclipsed his features as his ally then exploded.

"Attack Tempest now!" The supposedly gallant ninja raised his staff, and the golden part of it began to glow. With a cry, he let lose a wave of golden energy in the direction of the fusion Elemental Hero. The super-hero crossed his arms in defense, but it would not be enough to defend against the powerful attack.

The blast struck the green haired warrior, who held his ground, but the remainder of the blast bypassed him and struck Daniel, making him scream out in pain. Once the blast ended, he stood with smoke coming off of his body, but he looked up with a smile.

"How… How is this possible?!" snarled Ieyasu. "Simple," panted Daniel. "I activated Tempest's ability. By sending one card on the field to my graveyard, I can prevent his destruction in one way. I do, however, take damage."

(Daniel: 6300, Ieyasu: 4000)

"End turn," growled Ieyasu angrily. At that moment, Goe Goe's attack points fell back to twenty-four hundred.

A bright smile spread over Daniel's face. "I sent A Second Chance to my graveyard when I activated Tempest's effect. By removing it from play, I can draw two cards." The Elemental Hero duelist now held a grand total of seven cards in his hand, large by any standards.

"I summon Elemental Hero Wildheart (1500/1600)!" said Daniel, setting the card down on his Duel Disk.

A tanned warrior with a tied back black pony tail, a goatee, a strange red set of tattoos on his chest and shoulders, a bare chest and arms, a large sword on his back in a sheath, and a white loin cloth.

"Then I add my powerful field magic card, the one and only Skyscraper!" Tapping the end slot on his Duel Disk, Daniel placed the card into the slot, which instantly caused the ground to begin changing. Blacktop formed on the ground, along with large buildings shooting out of the ground. The sky darkened till a moon shown above with all the large buildings surrounding everyone. The Ninja Palace shattered, causing Ieyasu to growl in anger.

"Now, when Elemental Heroes attack monsters stronger then them, they gain a bonus of one thousand attack points. Wildheart, attack his Gallant Ninja now!"

Letting out a battle cry, the warrior unsheathed his sword and rushed forward (1500 + 1000 2500/1600). With a leap, the warrior brought the sword down hard through the ninja, slashing it completely in half. A large explosion followed from the slash while the warrior leapt back to Daniel's field.

(Daniel: 6300, Ieyasu: 3600)

The other two ninjas groaned as they lost power (1000/200) (2100/1200).

"Tempest, destroy his Ninja Apprentice with Glider Strike!" Leaping into the air, the green haired warrior brought his right arm forward and aimed his blaster arm at the weaker creature. White energy instantly began to fill the end of the blaster while the warrior made sure his aim was true. With perfect aim, the warrior launched the blast from his blaster hand straight for the scared ninja.

It hit him with pinpoint accuracy, completely frying him to a crisp. "I set a card and end my turn."

(Daniel: 6300, Ieyasu: 1800)

"You know, you could just surrender and set them free," said Daniel sympathetically. "I don't like hurting people… You're lucky to be facing me instead of Rikuo. Now, Rikuo, man, he has issues with people turning others into slaves. He's had a lot of personal experience…."

As he continued on humorously, Ieyasu drew savagely. "I play the magic card, Ninja Stronghold! For every two ninjas in my graveyard, I can draw one card. I have six, meaning I draw three cards." He now had a total of six cards in his hand. He gave a sick smile. "I play the magic card, Magic Shard Excavation! By discarding two cards from my hand, I can bring back one magic card. I discard my remaining two Repayment of Losses, in order to bring back Ninja Palace, which I play immediately!"

The tall dark palace reappeared, and Daniel frowned as it shattered the skyscrapers around it.

"Right now, Strike Ninja is useless, as he cannot attack. That is why I sacrifice him for Ninja Master Shogun (1600/1400)!" The newest ninja was dressed in a red and white coat, with a re mask over his face. He had long strings of fur all over his body, and he held a single card in one hand. Suddenly, he flicked his fingers, and it became apparent that he held two cards.

"When tribute summoned, Ninja Master Shogun lets me special summon two level four or lower ninjas from my deck. I summon Ninja Commando Kabuki (700/700), and Ninja Commander Ikusa (750/700)!"

The first monster to appear was dressed in a white top, that fit tightly over his body. He also had a white helmet, with spiked gauntlets. A braided pony-tail hung out behind his head. He wore pitch black pants, with a flap of yellow cloth hanging over it. He held his hands together, as if praying.

The other one was very different, dressed in green samurai armor. It looked like they were made of the strongest metal. He had a helmet that fit perfectly over his head, and a black mask covered his entire face except for his eyes. He held a long sword in both hands.

Suddenly, all three of them gained power (2500/1400) (1600/700) (1650/700).

"Now, their respective effects activate. Ikusa allows me to summon one Ninja Soldier Katana (400/400) from my deck, and Kabuki allows me to special summon any one ninja from my deck. I choose the one and only Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke (1800/1000)!"

The newest ninja to appear was a real assassin, dressed in pitch black clothes. Everything was covered, even his eyes had a gray mask over them with tiny slits to allow vision. He held a sword in one hand, and his other hand was level with his face, two fingers pointing upwards.

The other was identical to the monster Ieyasu had summoned earlier, dressed in a white outfit that almost made him look like he had been wrapped in cloth to be mummified. He wore a lose green overcoat on top of it, which went down to his knees and elbows. Even his face was covered, leaving two small slits for his eyes. A blue strip of cloth trailed behind his head, and he held two dangerous looking daggers in each hand.

"Since I have five monsters in play, and thanks to my field magic card, all of my ninjas gain thirteen hundred attack points!"

The monsters on Ieyasu's field all began to glow as their power rose to respectable levels for some, and unusually powerful for others (2900/1400) (2000/700) (2050/700) (1700/400) (3100/1000).

"Ouch," muttered Daniel. Now, two of Ieyasu's monsters were stronger then Tempest, and all were stronger then Wildheart.

"Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke, destroy his Tempest!" The strongest ninja on Ieyasu's field leapt into the air, pointing both arms forward. He aimed for the green warrior on Daniel's field, and unfortunately for Tempest, his aim was true. With surgical presicion, he let lose both knives in his hand. They slammed into Tempest's chest, causing him to cry out in pain as he was shattered.

Daniel frowned as his life-points dropped.

(Daniel: 6000, Ieyasu: 1800)

"Nina Master Shogun, make his Wildheart pay!" A long pike appeared in the hands of the first ninja that Ieyasu had summoned in the turn. It was extremely sharp, and the light glinted off it. With a cry, it charged the barbaric man on Daniel's field. The spike slammed into his chest, inciting a cry of pain as he was shattered.

"You may have taken down Wildheart, but you triggered my trap as well! Go Hero Signal!"

The face down card in front of Daniel instantly rose up, revealing it's image. A flash of light then filled the sky with a strange looking H shaped light.

"When Hero Signal is activated, I can automatically special summon one Elemental Hero from my hand or Deck to the field, so long as it's level four or lower. My pick is this, Elemental Hero Clayman (800/2000) in defense!"

Materializing onto the field was a large round grey and black like creature with golden trim on his feet and a red dome head. His body was built thickly. He took a one knee position and crossed his arms, showing his impressive defensive strength.

"Arghh…" Ieyasu growled in anger. "Ninja Commander Ikusa (2050/700) destroy his pathetic excuse for a monster with Ancient Samurai Sword!" With a cry of anger, the ninja that was dressed in armor rushed forward, drawing his long and razor sharp katana at the same time. With a cry, he slammed his sword into his opponent's side. It seemed like it had gotten stuck in the tough rock, but eventually, he was able to cleave his opponent in half.

"This is going to hurt…" growled Daniel to himself, even as Ieyasu cried out, "Ninja Commando Kabuki and Ninja Soldier Katana, attack him directly!" Daniel braced himself for the eventual assault. Fortunately, his demonic strength helped him withstand the hail of throw-knives, as well as the slash of the razor sharp katana. His life-points, however, were not so lucky.

(Daniel: 900, Ieyasu: 1800)

"I end my turn," boomed Ieyasu.

"Is that all you have? Now do you realize how foolish it was of you to challenge me, the Ninja Lord, to a duel? Surrender now, and I will spare you a tiny fraction of the pain I was originally going to inflict upon you for committing such heresy!"

Daniel patience was waning thin. "And what kind of god are you that gives you the right to treat them like that?!" He pointed a finger at the frightened father and his whimpering daughter.

Ieyasu chuckled to himself. "You fool… My story goes beyond your mortal understanding. Death is beyond me… I do not have to speak of my secrets to a fool such as yourself."

"Fine!" snapped Daniel, as he drew. "I don't care enough to beat it out of you; I'll just defeat you this turn and set those people free."

"You cannot destroy my army of ninjas!" crowed Ieyasu. "Even to defeat my weakest one and eliminate my life-points, you will need a monster with thirty-five hundred attack points! None of the cards in your pathetic deck can stand up to my monster."

"Really? Well, this guy here says differently. I activate the spell Fake Hero, allowing me to special summon this, my newest Elemental Hero, Elemental Hero Neos (2500/2000)!"

A flash of light appeared in the sky and suddenly a powerful white warrior with a slicked back horn on his head and spikes coming out from his elbow joints. He had a bit of red lining on his body, along with a bit of blue as well. On his chest was a blue circle.

"Neos can't attack this turn, and he goes back to my hand when this turn is over, but it doesn't matter because I have another plan for him. I summon Neo Spacian Glow Moss (300/900)!"

A glowing light green creature, which looked like a strange alien, with only two black holes for eyes appeared onto the field.

"Contact Fusion!" exclaimed Daniel.

Both the alien-like monster and the white warrior launched themselves into the air. Hovering over top of the white warrior, the Neo-Spacian slowly lowered into the warrior. A bright blinding light then filled the room to reveal a new warrior. Slowly forming within the light, was a warrior in glowing white and grey armor. He had a helmet that covered most of his face, except for his mouth and cheeks, and under his helmet, white tendrils of hair flowed out.

"Elemental Hero Glow Neos (2500/2000)!" said Daniel confidently.

"Pathetic!" scoffed Ieyasu, folding his arms. "It's too weak to challenge my two strongest monsters, and destroying the other three will get you absolutely nowhere!"

"You sound awfully confident about that, without knowing about Glow Neos' effect," pointed out Daniel. "Once per turn, I can destroy a monster, magic, or trap card on your field. Destroying a monster means he can't attack this turn. Destroying a trap switches him to defense mode. But destroying a magic card….. Well, you'll see."

With a cry, the new Elemental Hero raised his hand, and a bolt of glowing lightning appeared in it. He flung it at the Ninja Palace. There was a bright glow of light, and when it cleared, the palace was gone. Each of the ninjas lost three hundred attack points.

Before Ieyasu could speak again, as he was obviously eager to criticize each of Daniel's move, the duelist spoke again, in a flat and decisive tone. "When Glow Neos destroys a magic card, he can attack you directly."

Ieyasu's eyes shot open. Although the statement was unintelligible to the frightened family of two, instinct told them it was a good thing.

"End it." Even as Ieyasu shrieked, "I WILL NOT LOSE TO THE LIKES OF YOU, MORTAL!", the hero raised his hand, and let lose another bolt of glowing lightning at the brutish duelist. It bypassed his army of ninjas, and slammed into his chest. He was knocked off his feet by the explosion, and smoke began to rise up from his chest as he slowly got up, watching in horror as his life-points trickled down to zero.

As the ninjas disappeared, Daniel looked kindly at the father and his daughter. "You're free to go now," he said softly.

Before they could reply, Daniel whipped around and slammed his fist into Ieyasu's face. A knife dropped out of his hand. "Do you think I didn't expect that?!" hissed the half-demon. "Scum like you always try that."

Ieyasu didn't reply. Instead, he made an oddly choking sound. "What the-…" gasped Daniel as the brute got to his feet. His eyes were blank, and he spoke in a cold, silky voice that was far different from his regular, deep voice.

"Yesss…. I expected this fool to lose. Congratulations on your victory, demon."

"Who are you?" said Daniel, raising his eyebrow. It seemed like a number of villains enjoyed taking over their subordinate's minds, rather then speaking to their foes in person.

"Me? Why, you know who I am. I know why you are here… And let me tell you, what I have in my possession will never be yours."

Daniel narrowed his eyes. So this was the ruler of Necropolis?

The voice continued. "You have impressed me by your skills. The game of Duel Monsters is one that is a measure of one's power, and while you are no doubt strong, you are not strong enough to take from me what is mine."

"You do not know that that Seal is," retorted Daniel. "I need to take it for the greater good-…"

"SILENCE!" shrieked the mouth of Ieyasu. "If you will leave now, safe passage will be granted to you. Otherwise, you will fall before me. I have possessed what you seek for eight decades. Soon, I will discover the secret to unlocking its power. Before that, none will take it from me!"

Daniel replied coldly, in a voice devoid of emotion. "I do not accept. I need that Seal, and I will take it from you, no matter what you say. I do not wish for a battle, but I will do what I must."

"Then you will die." With that, Ieyasu's body collapsed again. Daniel checked his pulse. It was gone. The half demon walked off into the darkness, leaving a stunned father and daughter staring at the retreating duelist in shock.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Dartz fell to the ground, gasping in pain. This was too much… He couldn't stand the pain. Attack after attack he had taken, but no matter what he had done, he had been unable to fell this monstrosity.

(Blight: 8000, Dartz: 0)

As the holograms faded away, the middle-aged man walked forward, a broad grin on his face. "Very well, Dartz. Now do you see your weakness? Join us, and you will have unimaginable power."

"Never…" spat Dartz, barely able to talk from exhaustion.

Blight's face darkened. "Shall I…. _persuade_ him, Master?"

"**No**," said a voice. Dartz froze, his breathing quickened. The voice sounded like it came from someone who had ice water in his veins. As the voice spoke again, fear began to cloud Dartz's mind. He had never felt so afraid.

"**He is not worthy of being a Horsemen. However, he will have his use.**" A dark figure raised a hand, and Dartz felt his mind go numb. Somehow, the words tumbled out of his mouth, even as his little remaining sense told him not to speak.

"I will do as you say, Master Apocalypse."

"Good," chuckled Blight. "We don't need him right now, Master. I will resurrect him when the time comes."

"**Good**," said the dark voice. As he did, every sense organ of Dartz's body began to lose its power. All he could hear was a continuous buzzing noise. He could not taste the saliva in his mouth, and try as he might, his vision went black. He couldn't feel the touch of sand against his body, and the last thing he smelt was the salty sea air before he was gone.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Well, I hope you enjoyed it. Up until now, all the duels have been fairly boring. That's going to change in the next chapter, when I unveil a deck that is truly to be reckoned with. Instead of these small, fifteen turn duels every chapter, the next chapter will have at least two duels, much more like my original style.**

**Anyway, I'm accepting OC submissions, if anyone is interested in doing so. Please review….**


	5. Rise of Twilight

CHAPTER FOUR: Rise of Twilight

**Heh, it's been a while. But the chapter is over fourteen thousand words, so enjoy it.**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: Compared to what's coming up, that really is small. I replied to your e-mail btw. Excellent ending to Dream Duel, once again!**

**DuelistBlake1852: Enjoy it, my friend.**

**SolarMoon59: Wow, these compliments are really overwhelming. I'm honored you like my stuff so much.**

**Wolf General: It's a lockdown strategy based on negating her opponents spell and trap cards before pulling out her big guns. Apocalypse may be as powerful as a god, but he's no god. His true nature won't be explained for a while, not until more light is thrown on the origin of the Infinity Council.**

Kaiba angrily kicked the wall. This was getting to him. Both Mokuba and Serenity had been placed in danger, just because of him. He had sent Kaiba Corp. men into the ruins of the Empire State Building to find his little brother. He was there, but in a bad state. There was no physical harm to him, but spending so much time surrounded by Shadow magic had taken its toll on his body. He was in a coma from which he would eventually recover, but it still hurt Seto.

Now, he was trying to use all his resources to find Serenity. But it seemed hopeless. Strangely enough, one of the Kaiba Corp. satellites that actually had coverage of the area had been destroyed. That was the same satellite which contained that strange energy form that had been discovered floating outside the Earth's gravitational pull.

He clenched his fist.

If normal methods wouldn't do, he would just have to think out of the box. He picked up his cell phone, which was lying on the desk. He spoke into it coldly. "Wheeler." The conversation, as he expected was to be short and curt.

"I'm going back to that blasted city to look at a few things. Are you interested in coming?" Of course, he knew the answer. As much as he thought Wheeler was an ignorant mutt, he did have a grudging respect for his devotion to his sister, just as Seto himself always looked out for his own brother.

Within minutes, the two were ready, and at the exit of the building. As they prepared to board the Kaiba Corp. chopper, the remaining duelists ran up to them. "Where do you think you're going, Kaiba?" barked Rikuo.

"For the past day I've been sitting in this blasted building of yours with nothing to do. If there's even the slightest chance that I can catch some action downtown, I'm taking it." Kaiba shrugged. "Come if you want. But I want at least two people keeping base here. We can't afford to leave this place empty."

Quickly, Ryou jumped on the chopper as well. Kyle, Siegfried, Alexis, Zane, and the rest decided to wait back.

Suddenly, the innocent, English boy's hair spiked up. His eyes gained a violet quality. "Ah, it's good to stretch," drawled the ancient Thief King. Kaiba frowned; he didn't particularly like the ancient duelist. But then again, he was probably the most powerful of the remaining members of their little group.

As the pilot stared it up, Kaiba opened his laptop. Joey leaned over, curiosity in his eyes. "I'm hacking into the NYPD system," he grunted. "I want to find out the make of the bomb in that hotel. If I can trace it back to some sort of triad or particular organization, that could be a lead to where this man Blight has sourced thugs from. Invariably, we might be able to beat his location out of them."

Rikuo gave a hollow laugh. "Honestly, Kaiba. Do you think that he's foolish enough to simply hang around here? I have a feeling him and his master are far away by now, plotting their next move."

Kaiba spoke in a cold voice. "Wherever they are, I don't give a damn. They can't hide from me."

He sounded so scary that no one said a word, not even Rikuo.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The man sat in the fine, leather chair, an amused look on his face. He was about six feet tall, and fairly well built. He looked like he was in his fifties, although he still had mostly black hair. He wasn't bad looking, but for a nasty looking scar on the side of his neck. Piercing green eyes reflected the image of the younger man sitting opposite him.

"So Dartz is finished?" he said testily.

The younger man nodded. "Yes. One of our spies saw him challenged to a duel by one of Apocalypse's Horsemen. It was quick, and Dartz was dominated throughout the duel. He lost without even harming his opponent's life-points. After that, for some reason, the spy was knocked out. He couldn't explain it. He simply said that he felt extremely cold, and his mind seemed to be going haywire. When he woke up, he saw that Dartz and his conqueror were gone."

He relaxed. "You have done well, Gabriel. Truly, this is the beginning of a new age for Paradias."

Gabriel was similar in build and height to the other man. He had dark, thick brown hair, and black, void like eyes. He was dressed in a casual shirt and jeans.

"Thank you, Master Reflect. Such praise is truly satisfying, for I know that I have served this organization well. Now that that superstitious fool has been dealt with, Paradias will rise to new heights. Truly, he was too narrow minded to see that his magic would not be enough to turn the tide against our many foes."

Reflect nodded. "Yes… Of course, I don't plan to completely abandon the use of magic. Shadow magic is extremely useful, especially if you initiate a Shadow Game and go ahead to win it. It always provides information that is otherwise unobtainable."

"On that topic, sir, I am sorry to say that Li's assassin failed. He was foolish enough to challenge one of Eagle's top duelists to a Shadow Game, and was defeated. Even though he was taken care of before he gave away Li's identity, Eagle may now suspect the presence of a traitor within their ranks."

Reflect shook his head. "It's no matter. Eagle is a mere annoyance. Eventually, we will crush them, traitor or no traitor. It is only a matter of time. However, I am more concerned with a more pressing issue. Right now, I think it is time to eliminate another one of our foes. Right now, we have to deal with Eagle, the Infinity Council's force of duelists, Apocalypse himself, and the survivors of the Tournament of Shadows."

"From what I know, only the one known as Kagemaru is still active. Ishtar is weak and finished. He is no threat," put in Gabriel.

"Well, then, I think we should knock the former off our list, shouldn't we? However, that can be taken care of later. What I want right now, Gabriel, is for you to make your journey to Necropolis. No doubt, it shall prove profitable. The Infinity Council has its duelists there right now. If you could eliminate one of their group, we are one step closer to obtaining the Seal of Immortality," said Reflect, a frightening smile on his face.

Gabriel nodded. "I shall see to it, Master Reflect."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Yugi snarled in frustration. Daniel had been gone a while. While all of them, other then Tea, had taken turns scouting their surroundings, it had been useless. Their apparent contact was no where to be seen, and even though the Infinity Council had probably informed him of their arrival, he had not shown up yet.

He leant back against a wall, while CJ kept watch at the mouth of the alley. Necropolis was a strange place, and few, if any, were interested in the affairs of others. Scarcely any of the civilians that passed by even glanced at them, let alone find out why they were moping about in an alley.

He sighed. Then there was of course, Yami. Even though the ancient Pharaoh had agreed to pull himself together and continue fighting, Yugi had shared a body for long enough with him to know when he was as he said he was. Right now, the guilt of sparking Apocalypse's summon was weighing down on him intensely. Yugi had tried to talk to him about it, but he got nothing in return.

Not only was Yugi personally concerned for Yami, who was now closer to him then a brother, but also worried that it might affect Yami's dueling performance. In competition as brutal as this, they couldn't afford to play it easy. The fate of the Universe depended on every single duel that they played, and one loss could very well be their last.

Suddenly, he was broken out of his thoughts by a shout from CJ. "They're coming!" thundered the aggressive duelist. The others got their feet, and their Duel Disks activated. "At the very worst, we'll have to summon monsters to take them on," growled Ryu. "Otherwise, I think CJ and myself can use our strength as demons to fight, while Yugi can use his Millennium Puzzle."

The King of Games nodded. Then they appeared.

The mouth of the alley was surrounded by a number of fiendish monsters. There were four that were clad in strong, metallic armor, with dark capes floating down to their knees. They clenched long staffs with spikes at the end in both hands, and had demonic faces with long, deadly teeth. They were Archfiend Soldiers (1900/1500).

There was a mage with blue hair, a white mask with only red eye holes, a yellow collar, and a green set of robes appeared onto the field. The mage had his white hands with long red finger nails held out with a sick grin on his face. This was Aqua Madoor (1200/2000).

There was a trio of clowns with white and black striped faces, yellow and blue-green baggy clothing, a blue vest with a white collar, large red hats with a long pink flowing wig materialized that were scampering around the others, freakish smiles on their faces; and each was easily recognizable as Peten the Dark Clown (500/1200).

At the lead was one of the most infamous spellcasters in the game. This monster had a strange cylinder like hat that was gold and maroon with spikes on the ends of the cylinder. The creature's skin was light purple, and only her head and hands were exposed. On her shoulders was a green and gold set of shoulder pads. The rest of her robes were maroon. She was none other then the Cosmo Queen (2900/2450) herself.

They were backed into an alley. The Cosmo Queen spoke in a deep and strangely croaky voice for a female. "You are trespassing in the kingdom of His Highness, the King of Necropolis. Your compatriot has received a personal warning for His Highness to leave, but has refused. Therefore, you have now committed a criminal act, and will be executed."

CJ gave her a dirty look. "And this is, under the assumption that… Eh, what is that phrase? Ah yes, 'come quietly'?"

Meanwhile, Yugi found himself thinking that these monsters had definitely found them fast. Zerato had said it would be no cakewalk, but Yugi only found himself thinking how difficult it would be to find the later Seals of Immortality.

The Cosmo Queen responded in her throaty voice. "Attack." Her robes swished forward as the four Archfiend Soldiers rushed forward at blinding speed, causing wind to erupt in their wake. Ryu and CJ held their ground, while Yugi and Tea waited calmly behind them.

The first demon's staff swung around. He was aiming for Ryu. For a second, it looked like the blade had sliced off the dragon demon's head, but it turned out that he had caught it in his hand. He had a look of slight exertion on his face, but he didn't look too bothered otherwise.

CJ, on the other hand, had taken an offensive position, and slammed his fist into his attacker's face. His immense size, combined with his terrific demonic strength drove the fiend back, allowing him to swing around and slam his foot into his attacker's face. Moving at inhuman speed, he head butted the one who was aiming for Tea, and knocked him off his feet.

Meanwhile, Yugi's Millennium Puzzle began to glow, and he let lose a burst of golden energy at the final one. It slammed into his chest, frying the armor and causing smoke to begin rising up.

Ryu was effortlessly dealing with the first one. He drove his fist into the demon's chin, as it let lose a shriek of pain. It whirled around, and slammed its staff into him. This time, however, its aim was true. Even though he had raised a magical barrier in time, the sheer force of it still hurt him. He grimaced in pain and then fired another sphere of red energy at his opponent. It hit the Archfiend Soldier full in the face, knocking it off its feet.

CJ was having more trouble fighting two at a time. He used his left limbs to defend against one, while trying to force the other to lose ground. Strong as he was, it would only work to a certain point. He had taken a few hits, with bleeding scratches on his arm.

It seemed like Yugi's blast had not affected the Archfiend Soldier too badly. He continued firing attacks, but it was continuously draining him. He panted to Tea. "We have no choice. If those others join in the attack, then we're doomed. We have to summon monsters."

Tea nodded, and held up a card. "Come on out, Guardian Angel Joan (2800/2000)!" A female angel with pink skin, a white dress that showed her many curves and golden wings materialized in front of Tea. She gasped in shock from the exertion of summoning the powerful monster, but shook it off.

The Archfiend Soldier was almost upon Yugi. He had created a barrier around himself, but the fiend was determinedly hacking away at it, bit by bit. "Destroy that monster with Golden Wing Burst!" cried Tea.

The pink skinned angel's wings instantly began to glow a bright golden color as energy began building within them. Bolts of energy instantly began pouring off of the wings and into a sphere in front of the pink skinned angel. Slowly, the golden sphere formed and began to glow brightly. Pushing her hands behind the sphere, the angel gave a shove, sending it hurtling towards the weaker demon. The sphere scored a direct hit, making the Archfiend Soldier howl out in pain before shattering into millions of pieces.

"And for those of you who don't know Joan's effect, she gives me life-points equal to the strength of the monster she destroyed. So I'm back at one hundred percent now." She closed her eyes as a glow of energy washed over her. The power she had used to summon Joan was back now.

Yugi was free of his attacker, and allowed himself the opporunity of ripping out the first card on his deck. "Summoned Skull (2500/1200), lend me a hand with this mess!"

Lightning suddenly struck the alley without warning, and from it came a demon like creature made of white bone with red muscle surrounding most of its body. Its hands had three claws, its feet the same way, and on it's back were a pair of blue wings. The head of the creature had a pair of horns, and looked mostly like a skull.

Yugi, who was more used to Shadow Games, wasn't so badly affected by the summoning of his monster.

"Lightning Strike! Destroy one of CJ's attackers!"

Raising it's arms, lightning began flowing out of the white bone creature into a huge sphere above the field. The electricity was instantly drawn towards the demon that CJ had barely been able to knock away in time to avoid a slash to the head from another. It struck it over and over again, causing it to shriek in pain as it shattered.

CJ's eyes were blazing as he lashed around with a brutal kick. He raised a card. "I call upon Berserk Gorilla (2000/100)!" A tall gorilla appeared in front of its master. It had blue skin, but its hide seemed different from that of regular silverbacks. It looked like it was covered in blue fire. As the gorilla howled an beat its chest, a small wisp of flames escaped its mouth.

"Take it to him with Death Bodyslam!"

That was all the gorilla needed. With a loud roar, it leapt forward, and slammed into the Archfiend Soldier. The poor fiend was pulverized. Actually, what was done to it was worse then that. It was completely crushed, atomized, and destroyed all in one. Then again, that is what normally happens to anything that is hit by five hundred kilos of fiery gorilla.

Finally, Ryu let lose a roar of anger. Being rivals with Rikuo for the place of the strongest demon alive, he didn't even need to summon a monster to deal with the opposition. All he did was raise a hand, and let lose a final, devastating, energy blast that completely incinerated the Archfiend Soldier.

The four glared at the Cosmo Queen and her cohorts. "Now, if you know what's good for you, leave now," said Yugi savagely.

The giant, female spellcaster frowned. "I had not expected such resistance. Very well. Do as you were ordered."

The three clowns scampered forward, sharp knives glinting in the darkness. The four duelists steadied themselves. "Berserk Gorilla, take em' out!" snarled CJ. The gorilla leapt into the air, ready to bodyslam all three of them, when a tall wall of water erupted out of the ground. CJ's monster slammed into it, and the sheer force of it threw him into the air. He was airborne for a minute, before he came crashing down.

"What the-…" gasped a bewildered CJ. Then he noticed the Aqua Madoor, who had raised both hands and was chanting in an arcane tongue. A malicious glint entered his eyes. "That damn magician…" swore the horse demon.

Distracted by the Aqua Madoor, CJ didn't notice the three clowns landing on his gorilla. They unsheathed their knives as one. The roar of agony of the unfortunate gorilla echoed throughout the area. The trio leapt off, as the gorilla rocked to and fro, unable to stand up to the pain of the knife wounds. With a final howl, it toppled over and shattered into pixels.

The towering duelist snarled in pain, dropping to one knee. He lay like that for a moment, before slowly dragging himself up.

But the clowns were unrelentless. They charged again, this time targeting the Summoned Skull. Of course, it let lose another ball of lightning. This time, Yugi was confident that it would be enough, for his demon's twenty-five hundred attack points far surpassed the two thousand defense points of the Aqua Madoor.

Once again, the wall of water erupted from the ground in front of the clowns. This time, Yugi expected his monster's attack to shatter it, but instead, the water turned to ice, for some reason. The Summoned Skull put more effort into it, but the attack still wouldn't go through. Finally, it stopped trying.

A bewildered Yugi looked over at the Aqua Madoor. Suddenly, his clothes were brown, and his hair was longer and more spiky. He was taller, leaner, and had an overall more brutal look. "That's… That's…"

"This is my true form," hissed the mage. "I am now Neo Aqua Madoor (1200/3000)!"

Yugi fell back in pain, for his Summoned Skull had been weaker then the new mage's defense points. He could, of course, summon Obelisk the Tormentor (4000/4000) itself, for it had more then enough base attack points to crush the mage, but he didn't want to summon an Egyptian God card here. The attack might even hurt his allies.

"I'm sick of this," said the dragon demon calmly. He held up another card. "One of the dragon lords rises. Come, Tyrant Dragon (2900/2500)!"

Materializing in front of its master was a dark orange dragon with a massive set of wings, powerful claws, sharp fangs, a strange skin hood around its face, and a strong tail. It gave a strange, serpentine hiss, and the air around it seemed to ripple. It could barely fit in the alley, even though it was quite wide.

"It is not strong enough to defeat me!" cried the Neo Aqua Madoor. "I didn't plan on taking you out," retorted Ryu. "Imperial Flame Burst!"

With a massive roar, the dragon let lose a stream of searing flames at the trio of clowns. Two of them were completely incinerated on impact. The third avoided the attack, and attempted to stab the dragon's leg. But the leviathan flapped its wings once, and the resulting burst of wind knocked the unfortunate harlequin away. It fired off another burst of flames, which scorched the clown, destroying it for good.

The four duelists stood facing the remaining two spellcasters.

"You can't defend forever," said Yugi calmly, folding his arms. "You had might as well surrender."

The Cosmo Queen looked at him. "I do not think so. You see, I have one last ace. Even though those lowly servants are no more, all I need to do is perform one spell." Yugi frowned as she raised her hands. None of the monsters were strong enough to destroy her without being destroyed themselves, and it would take a decent amount of effort to summon a stronger monster. His Sorcerer of Dark Magic (3200/2800) was powerful enough to do the job, as well as take care of the Neo Aqua Madoor, but due to its complex summoning effect, Yugi doubted he had the strength to summon it.

She began to chant, and a stream of energy left her hands. It formed a single form in front of them, which took the shape of a Duel Monsters card. It turned around. The remaining duelists gasped. It was Polymerization.

A vortex appeared on the field. "Tyrant Dragon, end this!" cried Ryu, pointing at the vortex as both spellcasters were sucked in. The wave of orange flames slammed into the spinning void, but it had no effect. Slowly, the vortex slowed down, and a new figure appeared.

It seemed to be humanoid, just like its components, but it was definitely not a human. It looked fiendish, and was lightly armored. Its armor was a blazing red, and it had a long, tattered cape flowing down its back. The dark spellcaster's entire figure was thin as well, though its arms flexed with noticeable muscles. Claw-like hands grappled onto a long trident that glowed with otherworldly, multicolored energy. It hissed at its rivals.

"I am Elemental Cosmic Sentinel (3500/2900)," intoned the spellcaster, a satisfied grin on his face. His voice was the echo of the deep drone of the Cosmo Queen, and the curious rasp of the Neo Aqua Madoor.

Tea gulped. Thirty-five hundred? No monster in her deck had base attack points strong enough to match that.

A Duel Disk materialized onto the magician's arm out of thin air. It was a sharp green in color, and was shaped like a lightning bolt.

"I confess that I would much rather settle this in a more civilized manner," he hissed. "If you duel me and win, then you go free. If not, then by the rules set down by the shadows, you will have to accompany me quietly."

Ryu stepped forward. "No deal. I'll duel you, and the others can leave. This shouldn't take more then five minutes."

The mighty monster shrugged. "Very well. It will not take long for me to catch up with you fools, after I have dealt with the arrogance of this dragon demon."

The mighty duelist and the Shadow creature stared down each other, as their Duel Disks activated. CJ, Yugi, and Tea all made a break for it. Yugi could actually feel the power radiating from the Elemental Cosmic Sentinel as he passed the fusion monster. This monster was really, truly powerful…. Could Ryu actually do this?

"Let's duel," the two shouted at once.

(Ryu: 8000, ECS: 8000)

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The trio rushed past the streets of Necropolis. Their primary aim would be to find Daniel, and then hopefully Ryu would catch up with them. Splitting up was not a good idea, but the way this was going, what could they do?

The Summoned Skull and Guardian Angel Joan were floating high above them, watching to see if their controllers would need help.

People stared at them as they ran past, from wealthy aristocrats, to bulky warriors, and lowly slaves. No one seemed to be bothered about stopping them. They darted around people in their path, but suddenly, a single man stood in the middle of the pavement, refusing to move.

He was, shockingly, dressed just like them. He was six feet tall, and relatively muscular in build. He had wild, thick, brown hair, and his eyes were jet black. They held no emotion at all, except perhaps a bit of arrogance. He wore a coat over a blood red T-shirt and blue jeans.

"It's interesting to meet some of my own kind in this godforsaken place," he drawled. "Unfortunately, the reasons that bring me here are less then desirable. Less then desirable for you, that is. It's just that eliminating one of you is very beneficial for my aims. Specifically you, Yugi Moto."

The King of Games narrowed his eyes. "And exactly who are you?"

"Right now, I'll give you the liberty of calling me Gabriel."

"And who has sent you?" shot back Yugi. "That's a terrific question; one that I can actually answer. I was sent here by my Master."

"And who is this 'Master' you speak of?" put in Tea sarcastically.

Gabriel replied with a serious tone in his voice. "My master is the new leader of the Paradias Corporation."

All three gasped at this. Paradias? New leader? "But what about Da-…?" "Dartz? He is no longer involved with our magnificent organization," scoffed Gabriel. "He was a superstitious and arrogant fool, and his overconfidence led to him being defeated by a mere child. No, he was not fit to lead an organization that once free of his narrow-minded excuse for leadership would soar to new heights."

Yugi was silent for a moment. "I accept."

"What?" said Tea wildly, fear in her eyes. "No, Yugi, you can't duel him! We have to find Daniel and then-…"

"Shh… Don't worry, Tea," said Yugi quietly, his eyes never leaving Gabriel. "I don't intend to lose, don't worry. If I duel him and win, I could get some valuable information. We don't know anything about Paradias right now, and it would help to understand their aims and purposes, as well as their standing against our other enemies."

The angel duelist was silent. "Please… Don't lose."

"As I said, I don't intend to. Now, go and find Daniel. When you do, go back to Ryu. Regroup, and then I'll join you guys." He looked directly at CJ. "Take care of her."

The tall duelist nodded. "Don't worry. Concentrate on trashing this guy." Tea gave Yugi one, last fleeting glance before she continued on with CJ. The bystanders around Yugi and Gabriel were whispering among themselves, and slowly backed away.

"Do you think it will be that easy to duel me, Yugi Moto?" sneered Gabriel, as he activated his Duel Disk. "I have studied your deck strategy. You use moderate rush and beatdown tactics, such as summoning monsters like Valkyrion the Magna Warrior as well as the Tri-Knights. You either sacrifice your monsters to summon your Egyptian God cards, or you simply use your spellcasters. Believe me, that kind of mismatched deck will not work against me."

Yugi have him an odd smile. "Do you honestly believe that that deck was my only deck?" He raised his jacket, and pulled out one of two decks. He inserted it into his deck slot.

Gabriel's eyes narrowed as he began to draw his opening hand. "What do you mean?"

Yugi's eyes flashed. "You will see."

(Gabriel: 8000, Yugi: 8000)

Gabriel snapped the top card off his deck. "I summon Victory Viper XX03 (1200/1000) in attack mode!" A sleek and cool spaceship appeared on her field. It was obviously from some kind of science fiction story, for it was about twenty feet long and the metal from which it was constructed was extremely shiny. Its tip was split in half, and a small missile launcher was present there. It had two wings near the end.

"Then I set a card and end my turn."

Yugi's eyes flashed. "Now, I am going to show you the power of my new deck. I summon Twilight Shadow Soldier (1600/1200)!" Yugi's new monster was dressed in platinum armor. He was about the size and build of a normal man, but the sword in his hand made him seem more intimidating. He had a simple helmet, and he raised his head to reveal a determined and calm face.

"Twilight Shadow?" gasped Gabriel in confusion. "Ten years I have been dueling, and I have never heard of such a monster!"

"Times change," responded Yugi coolly. "Now, when Twilight Shadow Soldier is summoned, I can reduce the attack points of one monster on your field by one hundred for each of its level stars. Since your Victory Viper XX03 is a level four, he loses four hundred attack points (1200 – 400 800/1000)."

Gabriel shrugged. "Your monster was stronger anyway. All that's going to happen is that you will inflict another four hundred points of damage."

Yugi ignored him. At this point, he was locked in mental conversation with Yami.

"_I can duel him,_" insisted the ancient spirit. "_No_,' replied Yugi softly. "_As much as you say you are, I've known you long enough to know you're not ready to pick up a Duel Disk again. Please, Yami, just relax. I'll deal with him. You can duel when you're ready_."

With that, he looked back at his opponent. "Twilight Shadow Soldier, attack his monster!" The first monster of Yugi's new deck theme rushed across the field, and its sword whizzed through the air. Just before it could connect, Gabriel's facedown card flipped up.

"I activate the trap known as Victory Viper Protection! By sacrificing one Victory Viper on my field, I can special summon one copy of each Victory Viper in my deck that is of a lower grade then the sacrificed one. Then your battle phase is ended. So come out, Victory Viper XX01 (1800/600) and Victory Viper XX02 (1700/1200)!"

The single fighter plane disappeared, and a shield of energy erupted around Gabriel's field. Twilight Shadow Soldier's blade slammed into it, but he was thrown off. Deftly, he landed on his feet, and watched in amazement as two new fighters appeared on his master's opponent's field.

Both of them didn't look as powerful as the first one, with armor that was not as thick or detailed. The first one barely had any weapons on it, although the three or four that it did were rather big. The other one had at least twice as many weapons, and its armor was stronger.

Yugi frowned. "You're pretty good. I end my turn."

Gabriel took a breath as he drew. "Here goes my magic card, Gradius Attack Formation! Now, all Victory Vipers and Gradiai gain two hundred attack points for every one of the same on my side of the field. Due to that, each of my Victory Vipers gains four hundred attack points!"

Both fighters began to glow as their power soared (1800 + 400 2200/1200) (1700 + 400 2100/1200).

"Now, Victory Viper XX01, show him why you are to be feared by destroying his Twilight Shadow Soldier!" A hatch opened on top of the jet, and a blaster forced its way out. It let lose a missile, which hit the soldier in the chest, causing an explosion. As the smoke cleared, he was gone.

(Gabriel: 8000, Yugi: 7400)

"When Victory Viper XX01 destroys a monster in battle, I can special summon one Victory Viper XX01 Option Token (?/?) to the field." Next to her monster appeared a red cylinder, rather small compared to the fighter jet. However, that would soon change, as the cylinder shifted around and expanded, finally turning into an exact copy of the monster she'd summoned earlier.

"My Option Token has exactly the same stats as my original Victory Viper, but he cannot attack the turn he is summoned. Don't forget about Gradius Attack Formation. Now all of my monsters have a boost of six hundred from their base attack score." (2400/1200) (x2) (2300/1200)

Yugi frowned. Gabriel's deck was unusually powerful, especially since he was using otherwise weak cards.

"Victory Viper XX02, activate your effect! Now, I can sacrifice his attack to deal you damage equal to half his attack points." The fighter let lose two missiles, both of which slammed into Yugi's chest. The damage was, however, minimal. He stared strangely at Gabriel.

(Gabriel: 8000, Yugi: 6250)

"Why do that? I was wide open. You could have dealt double that damage."

"That is because of Victory Viper XX02's other effect. By doing this, I can add one magic or trap card in my deck with 'Gradius' or 'Victory Viper' in its name, from my deck to my hand. I choose the magic card known as Gradius – Infinity."

He found the card in his deck and slid it into his hand. "Now, I set one card and end my turn."

Yugi drew, giving him six cards. "Well, I've barely scratched the surface of my deck's true power. I'll give you a taste of it with this: the effect of my Twilight Shadow Shield Guardian (200/2200). By discarding him from my hand to the graveyard, I can special summon one level four or lower Twilight Shadow from my graveyard. Return now, Twilight Shadow Soldier (1600/1200)!"

A spectral form appeared on Yugi's field. It was kneeling, and about five feet tall. It wore blue armor, and a dome-like helmet. A futuristic shield was attached to one arm. It was pitch black in color, but in the center was a single, shining blue jewel, with cracks extending all around it. The cracks glowed in a similar manner.

It soon disappeared, and the original swordsman appeared on Yugi's field. "Now that he's summoned, his effect activates." The Victory Viper XX02 groaned slightly, as its attack points fell (2300 – 400 1900/1200).

"It doesn't make a difference," retorted Gabriel. "I have an advantage of nearly two thousand life-points, and your soldier can't stand up to any of my Victory Vipers."

Yugi held up another card. "I haven't completed my move. I play Premature Burial, reviving Twilight Shadow Shield Guardian (200/2200)." The large monster that had just been sent to the graveyard reappeared next to the soldier.

(Gabriel: 8000, Yugi: 5450)

"Even in defense mode, your Shield Guardian is just too weak. In attack mode, its basically a target that's begging to be attacked. As weak as your old deck was, your new deck is even more pathetic. I find myself wandering how you gained the title of King of Games…"

Yugi ignored him. "I activate Polymerization." At this, Gabriel decided to shut up and take notice. The two monsters slammed into each other. There was a blinding light that enveloped Yugi's field, and from it emerged a new form.

It looked like something out of a science-fiction/fantasy movie. The new monster wore futuristic silver armor that looked like something from Star Wars. The armor looked rock solid, and fitted tightly over the monster's body. On either side of his back, energy wings cracked open. One of his arms was mechanical, and he held a glowing sword in the other hand. Floating into the air, he glared down at the Victory Vipers on Gabriel's field.

"Twilight Shadow Swordmaster (2500/2000) rises," intoned Yugi. As he said this, the fused monster slammed his sword into the ground. Ten different streaks of white energy appeared and flew across the field. Most of them whizzed off in different directions, but two of them slammed into Victory Viper XX01 and its Option Token. Both were destroyed.

"When Swordmaster is summoned, I can destroy one card on your field. Since Victory Viper XX01 was destroyed, he took his Option Token with him. Plus, his other effect now activates. If he destroys a spell or trap card, you're hit with a thousand points of damage flat. Otherwise, you lose two hundred life-points for every level star of the targeted monster."

Gabriel braced himself as the futuristic warrior swung his sword in an arc. It generated a wave of emerald energy which struck the duelist straight on the chest. He grunted in pain as part of his coat disintegrated.

(Gabriel: 7200, Yugi: 5450) (Victory Viper XX02: 1900/1200)

"Twilight Shadow Swordmaster, destroy his Victory Viper with Twilight Blade!" The powerful fusion leapt through the air, and its sword came down on the unfortunate Victory Viper, whose computers buzzed into overload as they realized what was going to happen. The last thing it echoed was '_system failure, system failure_' as it was sliced in half.

(Gabriel: 6600, Yugi: 5450)

"I set a card and end."

Gabriel slammed a card onto his Duel Disk. "Gradius (1200/800)!" The monster he summoned was perhaps the most simplistic of those he had played thus far, it's body smooth and shining, meaning it had very thin plating. The forward part of it was split down the middle as well, a few gun turrets visible in the space between the two halves.

Yugi scowled. He remembered Duke Devlin using this card against Joey. It was a normal, level four monster with miniscule stats. The only reason Devlin had been able to use it effectively was because of the deadly combination of Limiter Removal and Fairy Meteor Crush. Other then that, it was a relatively weak monster.

"Then comes Machine Triplication! I can now special summon all copies of one level four or lower normal machine on my field. So I call out the other two Gradiai (1200/800) (x2)!" Two fighters, identical to the one already on Gabriel's field materialized out of nowhere. Now, Gradius Attack Formation would really start working, for each one gained six hundred attack points (1800/800) (x3).

Yugi started feeling uneasy. "As strong as your Gradiai are, they can't hold a candle to Twilight Shadow Swordmaster."

Gabriel folded his arms. "Honestly Yugi… Tell me about these Twilight Shadows. From what I've researched about you, you're supposed to be very loyal to that deck given to you by your grandfather. Why the sudden change of heart? It interests me."

Yugi closed his eyes. He was silent for a moment. Then he opened them.

"Fine? You want to know why? I'll tell you." He held up Twilight Shadow Swordmaster. "As a kid, I wasn't very popular at school. I was picked upon for being a nerdy gamer, and being of Japanese descent never helped things. I buried myself in gaming, especially Duel Monsters. But I also liked certain video-games, such as Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy, and yes, of course, Gradius," he motioned to the monster on Gabriel's field.

"Well, eventually I became successful as a duelist. Pegasus invited me to a private tournament in his castle, which was about five years after Battle City. I won the tournament. Pegasus was going to give me the prize money worth about five million dollars, but I didn't need it. He then insisted that I give him my card designs. Strangely enough, I had designed the rudimentary basics for the set that would go on to become the Twilight Shadows. Pegasus eventually finished the set, and I kept it as a separate deck."

"So why use it now?" sneered Gabriel. "Why not that mismatched pack of cards that a five year old could have put together?"

The Millennium Puzzle glowed slightly, and Yugi's face hardened. "That deck represents a bond that you couldn't ever hope to understand. While you and your master skulk behind the face of a business organization, and try and get your dirty work done, you can never comprehend what I am saying. That bond is strong, just not as much as before. The Twilight Shadows are just as special to me, for they represent a part of me that never had friends, the part that had to fend for himself. Right now, I've decided that until I can fully regain that bond, I will use these."

"What a touching story," said the Gradius duelist sarcastically. "I was expecting a fun tale about how you broke into a vault to steal them… But no, I guess Yugi Moto is the goodie-goodie kid everyone makes him out to be. And guess what? My Gradiai don't like goodie-goodies."

Yugi glared. "Well, they can't do a thing about it while Twilight Shadow Swordmaster is on the field."

Gabriel held up the first of his four remaining cards. "Then I play the continuous magic card I added to my hand a little while ago… Gradius – Infinity!" A symbol appeared behind the three Gradiai. It resembled the black and white infinity symbol, and the Gradiai seemed empowered by it.

"Now, Yugi Moto… You will face the true wrath of the Gradiai," sneered Gabriel. Yugi looked him directly in the eye. "Bring it."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I will allow you to make the first move," rumbled the fused magician. Ryu nodded. "I call upon the very old, but very reliable Cave Dragon (2000/1000) in attack mode." A large, green dragon appeared on Ryu's field. It was very largely built, and its scales glinted in the mist of Necropolis. It had no wings, but to compensate, it possessed a number of spikes on its back, along with two glinting red eyes. Its spiked tail waved about as it growled in anger.

"Then I will set one card facedown. Make your move." He slid the card into his spell/trap card zone, and folded his arms.

"I will," rasped the Sentinel, picking up his sixth card. "I summon Gigobyte (350/300) in attack mode!" A small, turquoise and green monster rose onto the field. It had large, green teeth in its mouth, and large, innocent-looking orange and bulgy eyes. It had light-pink claws for feet and hands, and had a couple similar-colored spikes sticking out of its knee caps.

Ryu raised his eyebrows. "Three hundred and fifty attack points? That's almost as weak as a Kuriboh (300/200)."

His opponent ignored him. "I activate Double Summon. Now I can make one more normal summon this turn. Giant Soldier of Stone (1300/2000), summon!" The monster that had appeared in front of the dueling monster was about ten feet tall. It was a humanoid, and, as its name suggested, was made completely of stone. Its limbs looked like missiles, and its features were so broad and sharp, that they were barely discernible. In one hand, it held a long, stone sword.

"I set one card." A brown-backed card appeared behind the duo of relatively weak monsters. The Duel Spirit gestured, indicating that Ryu was free to continue his move.

The dragon demon was bewildered. Together, the two monsters were weaker then Cave Dragon. Both were normal monsters that had existed since the beginning of the game, and although Giant Soldier of Stone was used in decks that utilized certain defensive strategies, Gigobyte was all but useless in the current metagame. What was she playing at? She had empty over half her hand for what seemed to be an unproductive move. Shaking his head, Ryu slapped a card onto his Duel Disk.

"I summon Luster Dragon (1900/1600) in attack mode."

A sapphire dragon with strong powerful arms and legs, bone like wings, and ruby colored eyes appeared onto the field with a small roar.

"Counter Shield, activate!" cackled the Elemental Cosmic Sentinel. The Giant Soldier of Stone disappeared, and the Gigobyte's claws started to grow to sword-like lengths, and it had now grown to the size of a saltwater crocodile (2350/300).

"Impressive," said Ryu. "But you used a grand total of four cards to get a monster that is weaker then a monarch. In any case, I will then set a card and end my turn." A brown backed, vertical card appeared in behind the duo of powerful wyverns.

The Sentinel drew. "I summon Tidal Mage (700/400) in attack mode."

A short, male magician rose to the field, riding on what appeared to be a wave of water. The magician had a large diamond set in his long, green staff. His robes were a light blue in color, with a deep blue hat.

"Seven hundred?" chuckled Ryu.

"Attack points aren't everything," retorted the Sentinel. "When summoned, Tidal Mage allows me to special summon two Tsunami Tokens (100/100)." Two human like shapes, made completely of water materialized onto the Sentinel's field, joining the Tidal Mage and Gigobyte.

Ryu still didn't seem worried. In fact, he barely seemed to notice. "Then I set one card facedown. Gigobyte, destroy Cave Dragon!" The small reptile leapt forward and buried its claws in the chest of the green dragon, which gave a howl of pain as it was shattered.

(Ryu: 7650, ECS: 8000)

"End turn," finished the Sentinel.

As Ryu drew another card, the Sentinel pressed a button on his Duel Disk. "Two-Pronged Attack, activate! At the cost of destroying two monsters on my field, I can blow away one of your monsters. So I will destroy my two Tsunami Tokens to destroy your Luster Dragon."

Even as he said these words, the two humanoid statues of water began to glow. The blue liquid blazed yellow, and there was an explosion as they started across the field, crashing into the dragon. Their bodies dissolved into water, and the wyvern was trapped in an overwhelming, icy cold wave of water. It let lose one last defiant roar before it was shattered. The water faded away soon after.

"When a Tsunami Token is destroyed, I draw one card." Saying this, the Sentinel snapped the top two cards off his deck.

Ryu frowned, but drew anyway. "I set one monster in defense mode. End turn."

The spellcaster drew, and laughed maliciously. Its dark aura pulsated. "I summon Gagagigo (1850/1000)!"

A two-legged, green reptile like being came from a mud puddle in the ground, rising up and flexing with its large muscles. Several pink-like spikes stuck out of its arms, legs and back as defensive mechanisms. It had a fairly small, bald head, with pink fang-like teeth. It had a type of yellow cloth wrapped around both of its forearms, held shut with a pink band.

"Now my Tidal Mage's second effect activates. When I have two water monsters on my field, he can attack your life-points directly, and at the same time, I can send one random card in your deck to your graveyard. Tidal Mage, attack him directly!" The mage raised its staff, and a sphere of pulsating water slammed into Ryu. He grunted in pain, and shook it off as a card forced its way out of his deck.

"You forced me to send Luster Dragon #2 (2400/1400) to the graveyard," shrugged the dragon demon.

"Gagagigo, demonstrate your viciousness by attacking his facedown monster!" The reptilian beast shrieked, and leapt towards Ryu's field. The card flipped over to reveal a green dragon warrior with a sword in his left hand and a shield in his right. The dragon wore brown armor with a silver round chest plate. On the dragonoid's back were two wings that were furled inwards.

It screamed in pain as it was rent apart by the vicious Gagagigo. Its remains splattered all over the field, and suddenly reformed. "What the-…" began the Sentinel, but Ryu cut him off with a flippant remark. "You were unfortunate enough to destroy Troop Dragon (700/800). When taken out, I can special summon another copy of him to my field. I choose him to be in defense mode, which means you'll have to use your Gigobyte as compared to Tidal Mage."

The fused spellcaster shrugged. "I would not suicide Tidal Mage in any case. I have plans involving it… Anyway, my Gigobyte can now rip your dragon to shreds!" The animated reptile gave an animalistic roar, and leapt towards the dragon. Similar to its comrade, it was ripped apart and then reformed.

The Sentinel nodded, and said, "End turn."

The Grand Dragon General drew. "Ah… Now you will find yourself in a position that is unpleasant, least to say. I sacrifice Troop Dragon for one of my newest dragons, the mighty White-Horned Dragon (2200/1400)!"

Vanishing from the field in a light glow was the weaker green dragon warrior, but in its place appeared a powerful red dragon with a sharp white horn sticking out of its head. It had powerful clawed hand and feet, a long tail, and mighty wings on its back that were black on the inside. Landing on the field, the dragon opened its jaws, revealing sharp teeth and let out a loud roar.

The Sentinel did not seem bothered. "No matter how many of these wyverns you summon, it will not be enough to escape from your punishment. You have deliberately disregarded our ruler's kind offer. For that, you will pay the price."

Ryu rolled his eyes. "When summoned, White-Horned Dragon allows me to remove from play up to five magic cards in your graveyard. Since you right now have only two, Double Summon and Counter Shield, I will remove both of them from your graveyard. Then, its secondary effect gives it three hundred attack points per magic card."

The red dragon roared loudly as its horn glowed with intensity (2200 + 600 2800/1400).

"White-Horned Dragon, destroy his Gigobyte, thereby ridding you of your strongest monster!" Roaring loudly, the mighty red dragon flapped its wings a few times before flying straight towards the weaker silver dragon.

Without warning, the dragon quickly sliced through the weaker silver dragon's body, making it howl in pain before exploding into millions of pieces.

(Ryu: 7650, ECS: 7550)

"I set a card and end my turn."

The Sentinel began his move by snapping the top card off his deck. With a powerful monster on Ryu's field, his confidence had begun to wane slightly, but he still had a hate-filled glare in his round, wide eyes.

His eyes floated open wider as an arrogant sneer crossed his face. "I summon the monster known as Ice Lancer (1400/1000)!" A man in light-blue armor materialized onto the field next to the Tidal Mage. It held a double-edged sword in both hands, and he had a calm and icily disdainful look on his face.

"Ice Lancer gives every monster with 'Ice' in its name five hundred points. Normally, it would have been in only an Ice deck, but since its effect applies to itself as well, it now has nineteen hundred attack points." The warrior began to glow lightly, and its eyes narrowed, a small smirk setting on its face.

"Then I play the magic card, Elemental Sniper! If I have two monsters of the same attribute on the field, I can sacrifice my battle phase in order to deal you damage equal to the combined levels of the monsters multiplied by one hundred, and I can destroy one monster on your field. Then I draw one card."

The Tidal Mage nodded at the Ice Lancer. The warrior raised his sword, which began to glow eerily. Blue beads of energy hung around it like Christmas decorations, and an orb of blue energy appeared on the sorcerer's staff. With a cry, they fired off the attacks at the powerful dragon, which roared in pain as the two assaults hit it, shattering it into millions of tiny pixels. The attack went on to hit Ryu, causing him to grunt softly in pain.

(Ryu: 6950, ECS: 7550)

"Impressive move," said Ryu, completely unworried. The Sentinel snarled in anger.

"Don't keep acting like you've been unaffected! I will defeat you, and every one of my moves makes a difference!"

The dragon demon shrugged. "Then by all means, please do continue."

The spellcaster slipped another card into his Duel Disk. "I set a card and end my turn."

Ryu drew slowly. "First I play Pot of Greed." He snapped two cards off the top of his deck.

"Then I summon Gaius the Earth Dragon (500/2200) in attack mode." The wyrm that appeared resembled a boulder more then a living creature. Its skin was a pebbly gray, and its entire torso was about the size of an SUV. It had two medium sized wings, as well as four stumpy limbs. It roared softly at the Tidal Mage and Ice Lancer.

"Then I play Polymerization, fusing Gaius with Infernus the Pyro Dragon (2200/2000) in my hand to call upon the deadly wrath of Magmus the Lava Dragon (2300/2200)!" The wraith like form of a dragon appeared on the field. It seemed to be made completely of flames, and was easily about as large as Gaius, other then the fact that its bulk was not spread out all over its body, and it seemed to be a regular dragon.

Slowly, the two melded together in a vortex. The Sentinel watched in angry frustration as a large new form appeared on Ryu's field. It was easily thirty to forty percent bigger then Gaius, and although it seemed to have a similar, stone-like build to the Earth Dragon, it had ripping muscles all over its body, and its limbs were long with deadly claws. Blood red veins bulged out, and its otherwise grayish brown skin had a lava-like, orange tone to it.

"Magmus, destroy his Ice Lancer with Molten Lava Blaze!" The wyvern opened its mouth, and a blaze of thick, red lava sprayed out at the imperious looking lancer, which simply stood there, its eyes widening in shock of the fact that its end was upon it. It gave a final cry of agony as its icy body was very literally melted away, leaving nothing but a puddle of water.

"But that's not all. Are you familiar with Elemental Hero Flame Wingman (2100/1200)?" The Sentinel's eyes widened. "You mean…"

Ryu raised his hand, and the dragon spat out another red hot fireball, which nearly knocked the Elemental Cosmic Sentinel of his feet. "He deals you damage equal to the attack points of the monster he destroyed. In other words, he's guaranteed to do you twenty-three hundred points of damage every time he destroys a monster in attack mode."

(Ryu: 6950, ECS: 5250)

"I set a card and end my turn," concluded the dragon demon.

The fused Duel Spirit drew. "I summon Harpie Lady (1300/1400) in attack mode." The familiar monster appeared on the Sentinel's field. It was a fierce, blue-skinned, human/bird hybrid, dressed in a loose bodysuit. It had blazing red hair, and deathly long talons on each hand. Long wings snapped open.

Ryu frowned. This card brought back a horrible memory. His nails dug into his palm as he remembered his fateful duel with Seren Teska all those years ago…. That same, deranged demon who had put an end to Daniel only to have him revived by Sestros used a Wind deck that utilized Harpie Ladies. His swarm strategy had been deadly, but Ryu had eventually prevailed against it, and then been completely destroyed in a battle with Sestros himself.

"Then I play a second Double Summon! This card allows me to special summon a monster from my hand. I choose UFO Turtle (1400/1200) in attack mode!" The monster that had now appeared on the Sentinel's field was a large turtle, about ten feet long and roughly five feet high at the top of its futuristic shell. The shell resembled an actual UFO, made of shining metal with a sharp top and a number of blazing yellow windows on the lower part.

"UFO Turtle, attack Magmus the Lava Dragon now!" Ryu watched in mild surprise as the turtle leapt towards the dragon. It began to shine intensely as it body slammed the dragon, only to bounce off. It had begun to catch fire, and was easily burned away by a single fireball which continued on and struck the Sentinel.

(Ryu: 6950, ECS: 2950)

"When UFO Turtle is destroyed, I can special summon one pyro type monster from my deck with fifteen hundred or less attack points. I choose my Flame Sprit of the Wasteland (1100/1300)!" An old man appeared on the Sentinel's field. He was Japanese, and wore a long, flowing white robe. He had a gentle look on his face, and sadly shook his head as he saw the growling dragon.

"When Flame Spirit of the Wasteland is summoned, I can special summon one monster with fifteen hundred or less attack points from my deck, as long as I have three monsters on my field with different attributes. Come out, my Ancient Earth Summoner (1300/600)!"

A fourth monster joined the Harpie Lady, Tidal Mage, and the Flame Spirit of the Wasteland. He was a human dressed in similar robes to the monster that had just called upon him. He stood about five feet tall, and one noticed that a tree had just grown next to him. Calmly, he touched the tree, and the Sentinel smiled maliciously.

"When summoned, Ancient Earth Summoner will do just that… Summon the forces of nature. I can now add one trap card with the word 'Elemental' in its name to my hand. Also, I can draw one card for every non Earth monster on my field. I have three, so I draw three cards."

Suddenly, the Sentinel held four cards. He set two, and gestured to Ryu to make his move.

Ryu drew calmly, unfazed by the Sentinel's complicated but seemingly meaningless move. "Magmus, att-…"

"Not so fast!" crowed the Sentinel. "I activate my facedown trap card, Elemental Burst! By sacrificing an Earth, Wind, Water and Fire monster, I can destroy every single card on your field!"

Instantly, the bird hybrid transformed into a gusting wind, followed by the oceanic sorcerer transforming into water. Beside of the two, one old man turned into dirt, and the other transformed into flames. The four immediately streaked across the field in a tight formation. Each of the four struck dragon, shattering it on impact. Once the strikes were over, a large cloud of smoke filled the field, leaving an eerie silence. Slowly, the smoke cleared, revealing an empty field in front of both Ryu and the Sentinel.

"An impressive move," chuckled Ryu. "But to do that, you set up an elaborate combo that could have easily been achieved by using a single card, like Smashing Ground. Plus, the facedown card you destroyed was Repayment of Losses, meaning I can draw one other card."

He now had three cards in hand. The Sentinel smirked at him. "Is that what you think? Do you believe that I would use so many resources to destroy one monster? Bah! I will show you differently. by activating my second trap card. Mirage Ruler, go!"

Reappearing onto the field were the two old men, the Harpie Lady, as well as the mage dressed in blue robes. "Mirage Ruler returns all monsters that were destroyed this turn to my field. If life-point damage was done, that is reverted as well. I am just too good for you to handle, dragon demon!"

Ryu gave a sigh. "Why do all you villains have the same clichéd lines? In case you haven't noticed, your strongest monster has thirteen hundred attack points. While some of them have useful effects, they're pretty much useless in any other case."

The Sentinel laughed again. "I play the quick-play magic card, Elemental Gathering! When I have monsters of four different attributes on the field, I can double my monster card spaces. Now, my monster's effects go off! Tidal Mage allows me to special summon two Tsunami Tokens (100/100), and Flame Spirit of the Wasteland will allow me to special summon a monster that has fifteen hundred attack points or less to the field, since I have monsters of three different attributes on my field!"

His field was an explosion of color. Two columns of water shaped like humans appeared next to the Tidal Mage. Next came a monster identical to the Ancient Earth Spirit.

"I used my Flame Spirit's effect to call upon another Ancient Earth Spirit. He lets me draw three cards, since my Tsunami Tokens don't count towards his effect. My previous Ancient Earth Spirit's effect also activates, meaning I can draw a grand total of six cards!"

Ryu seemed mildly impressed by the amazing combos that the spellcaster was pulling off. "You have impressed me. But it does not matter. I play Soul Exchange, sacrificing your Tidal Mage to call upon Crystallis the Ice Dragon (2200/2000)!"

The mage on the Sentinel's field vanished, and a towering dragon appeared on Ryu's field. It was about fifteen feet tall, and seemed to be made completely of ice. Otherwise, it was pretty much identical to Infernus the Pyro Dragon.

"I end my turn," concluded the dragon demon.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Yugi and Gabriel locked eyes as the Gradius duelist slammed another card onto his deck. "I play the magic card known as Limitless Options! Now, I can special summon one Gradius Option from my deck for every Gradius on my field, and for every one originally on my field, I can equip either the Gradius or the Gradius Option with one Cyclon Laser each!"

Yugi watched in amazement as Gabriel dug into his deck, and pulled out six cards. He flipped them around for Yugi to see that they were three identical monsters, and three identical spell cards.

"That's cheating!" protested Yugi. "You'd have six monsters on your field, if that's the case, while the maximum is five."

"By God, you're right," replied Gabriel, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "But truth be told, Gradius – Infinity has an effect, that of course allows me to get around that. Options Tokens, and monsters named 'Gradius' Option' do not take up monster card zones. Also, Gradius equip cards like Cyclon Laser don't fill up my spell and trap card zones as well. Sorry, but you're now out of luck!"

Three more fighters appeared next to the three that were already in play. All six were identical, and seemed to gain power from each other's presence. This was, unfortunately, true in the literal sense as well. "Remember… Gradius Attack Formation gives each one twelve hundred attack points now!" (2400/800) (x6).

"Don't forget about Cyclon Laser. It can only be equipped to Gradius or Gradius' Option, but due to the effect of Gradius Option, it doesn't matter! You see, when Gradius gains a power bonus, the same applies to the Option. Now, Cyclon Laser will boost the equipped monster's attack points by three hundred, and also give it the effect of doing Piercing damage!"

Once again, the six jets began to glow as their power went up another notch (2700/800) (x6).

Yugi took a step back, slightly perturbed. Six monsters with twenty-seven hundred attack points each was definitely a force to reckon with. Twilight Shadow Swordmaster itself had only twenty-five hundred, which meant that if it wasn't for his facedown card, Yugi would have already lost the duel to over sixteen thousand attack points of devastating force.

"Now, your end is here. Gradius, lead the charge and blow away his Twilight Shadow Swordmaster with Missile Decimation!"

Seconds after the command was issued the twin lasers mounted to the bottom of one of the Gradiai swiveled around for a moment, locking onto Yugi's defending monster. In a burst of light it fired two blue lasers at the mighty fusion. The warrior calmly watched as the attack plummeted towards it, and at the last second snapped its blade around and send the burst of energy flying towards a patch on the ground next to Gabriel. There was an explosion, which left a black spot on the ground.

"Impossible!" snarled Gabriel.

"Unfortunately for you, it is very possible. I activated my facedown card, Twilight Signal. It acts a lot like Hero Signal for Elemental Heroes, but it allows me to end your battle phase, and special summon a level five or lower Twilight Shadow from my deck, instead of my hand. However, I can only activate it when I already have a Twilight Shadow in play. Come out, Twilight Shadow Mercenary (2200/1500)!"

Joining the futuristic sword wielder on Yugi's field was a man dressed in rusty, black armor. The protection wasn't much, for it only covered his chest, elbows and knees. It had a blue bodysuit on, and on a belt clipped to its waste was a dangerous looking, futuristic blaster. It held a long axe in one hand, which, like the blaster looked quite futuristic with a number of buttons all over its handle.

Gabriel snarled in frustration. "You won't escape again! I swear it! I set a card and end my turn."

Yugi drew casually. "On the draw phase after he's summoned, Twilight Shadow Mercenary allows me to draw one extra card." Looking at the new card, he immediately slid it into his Duel Disk. "I play Graceful Charity." He slowly drew three more cards, and held up one of the original cards, and one of the new ones.

"I discard two Repayment of Losses. Now I draw two more, for a net total of four." He gave a harsh chuckle.

"I play the magic card known as Final Rays of Twilight! I can now special summon as many level four or lower Twilight Shadows from my hand as possible. I choose Twilight Shadow Avenger (1900/1200) and Twilight Shadow Reaper (1700/1500)!"

Two new, deadly looking monsters appeared on Yugi's field. The first was a man dressed in a black bodysuit. He had a flowing cape as well, with a color that matched his attire. In one hand he held a long, dangerous looking dagger. He looked up, to reveal a terrible scar which had blinded him in one eye. His face was marred by a snarl of hatred.

The second was a true Grim Reaper. It resembled Death himself, dressed in a tattered black robe, with two, skeletal arms extending out to clutch a long scythe that glowed with unholy power. Its head was hooded, and one could only see a pair of blood red eyes that would strike fear in the hearts of those weak-minded fools who dared challenge him.

"Twilight Shadow Avenger boosts the attack points of all Twilight Shadows by five hundred. As for Reaper, you don't need to know his ability now."

Thanks to the effect of the Avenger, all four monsters began to grow stronger until each one was at a respectable level of strength, and one of them could match a Blue Eyes White Dragon (2200/1500) (2400/1200) (2700/1500) (3000/2000).

"Now, Swordmaster is easily strong enough to take on your Gradiai. Attack one of the original ones now!"

The warrior nodded, and once again, his blade began to crackle with energy. Instead of using it like a regular sword, he waited for the electricity to crackle even more, until bolts of blue light were hovering around it continuously, like some violent Christmas decorations. With a grunt, he swung it forward, and the lightning blasted off in the direction of one of the fighters. It was struck head on, and its system went into overload as the heat began to increase. It exploded, and at the same time, so did another one just next to it.

"Upon your original monster's destruction, your Gradius' Option was destroyed as well," said Yugi, "thereby weakening all the others by four hundred attack points each!" (2300/800) (x4).

(Gabriel: 6300, Yugi: 5450)

"Thanks to that, Avenger and Mercenary are now both strong enough to take down your machines. Mercenary, it's your turn first. Twilight Axe!" The rusty axe in the mercenary's hand began to glow as he tapped a button on it. With a bloody grin, he leapt towards the plane, and his axe began to rise and fall with surgical presicion. It cut through the metal that made up the plane like a hot knife through butter. Soon, the remains exploded, as did the fighter next to it.

(Gabriel: 5900, Yugi: 5450)

"Meanwhile, your Gradius and Gradius' Option both lose four hundred attack points," pointed out Yugi. It was true, for now the final two Gradiai were both as weak as the average level four beatstick (1900/800) (x2).

"Avenger, take revenge for your fallen comrades by decimating his final Gradius!" The cloaked man silently leapt towards the ship, drawing his dagger in the same movement. Before the computers of the fighter could even register what was happening, he had already opened a hatch, and used his dagger to slice through some wires. There were two simultaneous explosions that now left the field clear.

(Gabriel: 5400, Yugi: 5450)

"Now, Reaper…" commanded Yugi, when Gabriel smugly raised a hand. "I'm sorry, but I can't allow that. Command Silencer, activate! Now, I can negate the attack and draw one card!" A totem pole appeared on Gabriel's field, and let lose a sonic screech which stopped the Reaper in its tracks. Slowly, it glided back to Yugi's field.

The King of Games shrugged. "Very well. Make your move."

"I will," retorted Gabriel, now holding three cards. "Hah! I play Pot of Avarice. By returning five monsters in my graveyard to my deck, I can draw two cards. I'll send Victory Viper XX01, Victory Viper XX02, Victory Viper XX03, and two Gradius' Option." He found the cards and slotted them back into his deck, and then shuffled. Snapping the top two cards off, he smirked and held up another card.

"Feel the wrath of my Gradiai once again with the magic card Renewal of Triplets! When I have three monsters in my graveyard with the same name, I can special summon them to the field. Rise again, my mighty Gradiai (1200 + 600 1800/900) (x3)!"

The three sleek fighters reappeared on Gabriel's field, shinier then ever. The few gun turrets that were present where its forward part was split down the middle began to shine more then ever, and the ships looked deadlier then before, for some reason.

"Then I play the magic continuous card known as Gradius - Creator! It comes on the field with one counter for every Gradius I have in play. Then, I can remove from play one Victory Viper, Gradius or Gradius' Option in my graveyard to special summon one Gradius Option Token whose stats mimic those of a Gradius or Victory Viper in play. So I remove from play my final Gradius' Option to call upon one Gradius Option Token!"

A fighter identical to the three already on the field appeared, and its presence boosted not only its own strength, but the strength of every monster in play (2000/900) (x4).

"Thanks to Gradius – Infinity, it doesn't take up my monster zones at all," said Gabriel smugly. "Then comes a powerful card known as Victory Viper Recharge! I can draw one card for every monster on my field with the name Victory Viper or Gradius."

He snapped off his top four cards, giving him five cards. "Then I play Foolish Burial, sending one Gradius' Option from my deck to my graveyard." Going through his deck, he found the necessary card and slid it into his graveyard.

"Then I remove it from play, along with one counter from Gradius – Creator, to call upon yet another Option Token!" Joining the four already on his field was yet another fighter, and all five began to glow as it appeared, their power increasing thanks to Gradius Attack Formation (2200/900) (x5).

Yugi shrugged. "As strong as they are, each and every one of my Twilight Shadows are stronger."

"Really?" snarled Gabriel, slamming another card onto his Duel Disk. "I play Dimension Fusion, sacrificing two thousand life-points to special summon the two removed from play Gradius' Options!" Even as he said these words, he grunted in pain as the magic card's huge cost took its toll on him. However, the grin did not leave his face.

(Gabriel: 3400, Yugi: 5450)

Now, there were seven fighters on Gabriel's field, and all of them were very powerful indeed, with twenty-six hundred attack points each. "And thanks to Gradius – Infinity, all of them but three don't occupy any monster card zones, leaving the field open for more swarming. Not that I need more," chuckled the Gradius duelist.

Yugi frowned. Gabriel was, unfortunately, right. By destroying Twilight Shadow Avenger, Gabriel would ensure that all of Yugi's monsters lost five hundred attack points, meaning that Twilight Shadow Swordmaster, his strongest monster, would be unable to protect him from the devastating direct attacks the remaining Gradiai would inflict.

"It's over, Yugi Moto!" roared Gabriel with laughter, pointing at the Avenger. "ATTACK!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Apocalypse and Blight ignored the clap of thunder. They were currently hovering at over thirty thousand feet, and the clouds beneath them had turned a rather unpleasant shade of black. But their attention was fixated upon the floating orb between them.

It depicted the Dragon Demon Lord, Jourgen Politamus, engaged in a duel with the Duel Spirit, the Elemental Cosmic Sentinel.

"This duel will be short, Master," cackled Blight. "The dragon demon is a strong duelist, and I doubt that the King's foolish minion will be able to defeat him. I implore you, let me step in now. The King will be no match for me. I will acquire the Seal, and thus we will be one step further to restoring you to your glorious might."

"**No**," responded Apocalypse. "**This is an opportunity that goes beyond what you may think. Politamus is a powerful adversary. Indeed, he would make a good Horseman if he was not such a naïve fool. A chance to eliminate him is indeed valuable. Take control of the Sentinel. I am sure that he does not possess the power to defeat Politamus, but you will give it to him.**"

"But, Master…" Before Blight could complete the sentence, Apocalypse had raised a hand. A black sphere of energy appeared, and a bolt of unholy power zigzagged towards Blight, hitting him in the chest. He tried to bite back his scream of agony, but couldn't. It echoed through the sky as his master mercilessly continued to allow the energy the plow on.

Eventually, he stopped. "**Was that… questioning?"** said Apocalypse in a dangerously low voice.

Blight spoke softly. "No, Master. Forgive my impertinence."

"**Know your place, Blight. Now do what I command**."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Drawing, the Sentinel now held a grand total of eight cards. Combined with his full field of four monsters and two Tsunami Tokens, it was indeed a force to be reckoned with. At least, if his monsters had been stronger. With their effects used up, they were all simply weak monsters with minimal attack points. That didn't seem to occur their owner, however.

He raised a card. "Now, face the _real _power of the elements! I sacrifice my two Tsunami Tokens to call upon Elemental Titan – Volcanus (2900/2300)!" The two humanoids made of water disappeared, and Ryu looked around uneasily.

"No… Something big is coming."

The Sentinel almost screamed with laughter. "You scorned the power of my Elemental Energy deck! Now, face its true wrath as one of my Titans rises!" As he said these words, the stone buildings around them began to quiver. From beneath the ground, a huge form began to rise up. It resembled a massive, blood red spider, but the sheer power it gave off was far more.

Its head was like that of a dragon, but much more distorted and larger. It was set on a scaled, orange body, with long legs extending out in all directions. It looked almost like a robot than anything else. At full height, the beast was perhaps fifty feet high.

Ryu took an involuntary step back. "What the hell is that?"

The Sentinel almost sneered at him. "The history of the Elemental Titans dates back far beyond your understanding. I will not confuse your weak demon mind by explaining it right now. But watch as its true power now comes into action. So great is its strength, that I am barred from attacking with other monsters on the turn it is summoned."

Ryu heaved a mental sigh of relief. At least the other monsters wouldn't go open season on his life-points.

"Volcanus, destroy his weak wyvern of ice with Lava Burst!" With a swift motion, Volcanus moved one of its head from left to right, sending a beam of dark red, extremely powerful energy out at the ice dragon on Ryu's field. It struck it in the chest, inciting a cry of pain. Soon, it was melted to nothing but a puddle of water.

"When it destroys a monster in battle, Volcanus will deal you the attack points of one pyro type monster on my field as damage. Luckily for you, my Flame Spirit of the Wasteland has only eleven hundred attack points. In any case, you are still dealt a grand total of eighteen hundred points of damage!"

(Ryu: 5150, ECS: 2950)

Ryu fell to one knee in pain. "_Shake it off… You've dealt with worse power before_."

"There is no hope for you!" cried the Sentinel. "I set a card and end my turn… Your end is coming soon… Very soon!"

Ignoring him, Ryu slowly drew. Holding only one card held him at a disadvantage, but it was the perfect card for the situation. "Go, Card of Sanctity!" he cried, holding up the powerful magic card. The Sentinel frowned at this. Since he held no cards, he didn't draw anything, while Ryu did.

"I play Pot of Avarice. I choose to send Luster Dragon, Luster Dragon #2, and my three Troop Dragons back to my deck. Then I draw two cards." He gave a small smirk as he noticed what he had drawn.

"Ah, perfect! I set one card facedown and add a facedown monster as well. Show me if your Titan is really as powerful as you claim."

"You will pay for such insolence!" snarled the Sentinel. "Elemental Titan – Volcanus allows me to remove one pyro monster on my field from play in order to destroy one set magic or trap card on your field. I remove from play my Flame Spirit of the Wasteland in order to blow away your facedown card."

The old man knelt before the behemoth on the Sentinel's field, and began to pray. As he did so, he began to disappear, and Volcanus fired out a blast at the facedown card. "Hmm…. Sakuretsu Armor? I was expecting a low blow such as that from you. Anyhow, I can now attack with not only my Titan, but the two Ancient Earth Spirits, and Harpie Lady as well. Now, my Elemental Titan, show this fool why the elements are to be feared by attacking his monster now!"

Once again, one of the heads began to glow. A thin, laser like beam of red energy slammed into the facedown monster, slicing the card in half. "Sorry, but you flipped my Masked Dragon (1400/1100)," laughed Ryu, as the tiny dragon with the stumpy wings and metal mask was incinerated.

"Now I can special summon another dragon with fifteen hundred or less attack points from my deck in attack mode. Normally, that would be weak, but considering that all your other three monsters are weaker then that, it makes no difference. So come out, another Masked Dragon!"

A dragon identical to the one that had just been destroyed appeared on Ryu's field and growled at the trio of humanoids, but then noticed the gigantic titan. He gave a low whimper and looked at Ryu, who calmly nodded. He turned back and tried to put on a brave face, if this was possible for a dragon.

The Sentinel swore. "I end my turn."

Ryu drew slowly. "I switch Masked Dragon to defense mode. I then set a card and end my turn." He wasn't a fan of playing defensively, but considering the circumstances, he had no choice. Frankly, the fact that his opponent had mentioned the Elemental Titans, in plural, worried him a bit. Volcanus was quite a nasty piece of work itself. If there were more, he was in trouble.

The Sentinel snapped the top card off his deck. "I sacrifice Harpie Lady for Sky Hero – Lord of Winds (2400/1700)!" The blue skinned human/bird hybrid vanished, and was replaced by a tall man dressed in blue robes. He had a young, ruggedly handsome face, and long, flowing black hair. As he descended from the sky, winds started blowing all around him, whipping up his robes and hair. He looked impressive next to the two Ancient Earth Summoners, but was quite puny in comparison to the Elemental Titan.

"He boosts the attack points of all monsters of earth, water, wind and fire attributes by five hundred, including himself!" The four monsters on the field began to glow with energy. The two old men were now at an acceptable level of strength, while the Sky Hero and Elemental Titan were both far beyond the strength of conventional monsters now (1800/600) (x2) (2900/1700) (3400/2300).

Ryu's smile grew a bit wider. "_C'mon… Take the bait and attack_."

"Ancient Earth Spirit, do the needful and attack his Masked Dragon now!" commanded the Sentinel, his eyes flashing. Ryu gave a sordid laugh.

"You're sorely mistaken if you thought I'd be that careless. Mirror Force, activate!"

Even as the Sentinel screamed, "NO!", the glowing blue barrier appeared as the elderly man began to pray. A sphere of green energy shot forward, and crashed into the barrier. It was immediately absorbed, and for a second it seemed like that was all their was to it. Then, the barrier spat out a huge wave of energy, which struck every single monster on the Sentinel's field, shattering them. The Titan was the last to go, but even it was soon incinerated by the powerful trap card.

Calming down, the Sentinel replied hoarsely. "You destroyed one Elemental Titan. But do you realize that you now have five left the combat, and each one is more powerful than Volcanus?"

Ryu was taken aback. Four more, and they were all more powerful then the already obscenely strong Volcanus? His fist tightened a bit, and he glared at the Sentinel. "Make your move," he said harshly, determined not to let the Duel Spirit's bravado faze him.

"Very well," she rasped. "I summon Ice Blader (1700/1600) in attack mode." A man that looked very similar to the Ice Lancer appeared. He carried two swords instead of one, and his helmet was more ornate. Otherwise, the two monsters could have looked like the same.

"He allows me to take one water monster in my deck and remove it from play. Two standby phases from now, if Ice Blader is not himself removed from play, I may add that monster to my hand," said the Sentinel with a wicked smile.

"Since I can't attack now, I end my turn."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Reflect watched the orb intently. "Interesting, to say the least," he murmured to himself. "This Duel Spirit is showing far more competence then I thought. Yugi Moto's new deck also may prove troublesome for Gabriel, but I am quite sure that he will cope."

He paused for a while, and then said aloud, "Come!" From within the shadows of his large room, a young man stepped out. His hair was a very bright red, and his eyes a piercing green. He was about five foot six, and decently well built.

"So, are you finally going to let me get Kyle?" said the teenager in a whiny voice.

Reflect shook his head. "That can wait. You will get your chance, sooner or later. But there is a more pressing matter at hand. A certain duelist's success in the Pro League has been worrying me. I was considering inducting him into our organization, but he has proved to be far too idealistic. He has many times spoken out against our grip on some of the tournaments. I want him silenced."

The teenage boy's eyes widened. "Do you mean-…"

Reflect nodded.

The young man smiled. "Watch out, Aster Phoenix."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Well, that's that. I may not update for some time now, for I may be going to Camp Lakers on the 4****th**** to the 10****th********. Magmus, Crystallis, and Infernus all belong to WG. The Twilight Shadows and Elemental Titans are mine.**

**Anyway, review!**


	6. Call of Destiny

CHAPTER FIVE: Call of Destiny

CHAPTER FIVE: Call of Destiny

**Well, the story has just begun and we have already jumped into the action. Yugi faces the deadly Gradius duelist known as Gabriel, while Ryu is locked in an intense duel against a Duel Spirit who wields some of the most powerful Elemental monsters in the game. Meanwhile, the mysterious Reflect has targeted Aster Phoenix himself. What will happen? Read on!**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: A special surprise for you, in this chapter, senor. I'm glad you like Yugi's deck, you'll definitely see some of the better cards this chapter. Then of course there's the whole vista of unexplored fusions and other cards… I haven't even gotten into Synchros, lol. Nah, Yugi won't use Synchros but expect them to make an appearance very, very soon, by a character you probably won't expect.**

**HimmeAmeile: He certainly is. You don't want Reflect on your tail, no sirie.**

**SolarMoon59: Thanks a lot. I do appreciate the compliment. I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

Aster Phoenix's hotel room in New York was luxurious, to say the least. It was the least a pro-duelist could get from making in excess of two hundred thousand dollars for every tournament victory. Ever since Zane Truesdale returned to Duel Academy with a part-time teaching job, Aster had been flourishing. He was the official reigning French champion, and had just won the Central Division championships. In short, people were claiming that he could one day be reigning World Champion after Yugi, Kaiba and Joey retired.

But the young duelist didn't want that. He had a very different agenda in mind, one that kept him deeply occupied. After a short stint in the Underworld League as an undercover spy for their illegal activities, he had been shocked by the cruel brutality of it all. He had then began to ask questions as to who really controlled these dark tournaments.

The answer was very shocking, but not wholly unexpected. It was the shadowy organization known as Paradias.

Aster had begun looking deeper into it. He found out about the various atrocities committed by the company, the many organizations that had gone bankrupt because of Paradias' ruthless ways. Its grip on the European stock market was tight, and its dark tendrils were now snaking their way into the dueling world.

Aster's indignation surpassed his apprehension about the fact that every duelist who had stood against Paradias had mysteriously disappeared. He began a large campaign, openly speaking out against Paradias in various tournaments, looking deeper into the organization's dark past. As deep as he dug, he found nothing. It was like its entire history had been somehow wiped clean. No government agency seemed to have any record about its formation. It was truly frustrating.

Right now, he was sitting at the mahogany desk of his hotel room, furiously pounding away at his laptop. He had been in contact with a very low level employee of Paradias, who seemed to have been too dissatisfied with his salary to stay quiet about their more shadow activities. As much as he could reveal, it was still not enough for Aster to build a case.

'What can you tell me about this man called Sigma?' typed Aster, as he leaned back, waiting for a reply.

The reply was short. 'Where have you heard the name?' Aster sighed. He had explained many times that it was a secure channel. Even the most advanced hackers couldn't get through such a firewall.

'My sources are not important. What do you know?'

'He's the guy who takes care of those whom the Big Man says need to be silenced. I don't really know anything much about him.'

Aster frowned. Well, the word of a single employee that part of Paradias' staff was involved with murder was in no way enough. Before he could type, a new message entered the chat room. However, it was not the same screen name as his informant. The screen name read 'Black Devil'.

Aster read the message, frowning. 'Naughty, naughty…. It isn't nice to tell on your employers.'

The informant must have been stunned, for there was no reply. Aster took the initiative. 'Who are you? This is a secure server. You have no right to intrude upon this.'

The reply was fast and immediate. 'I don't think your little friend can do anything about it, because he is deader then a dead duck by now. Never seen deader. As for you, it's coming soon.'

Aster narrowed his eyes. 'What do you mean?'

'Look around, would you?' Aster swiveled his chair around, and was shocked to see a teenage boy standing there. He was dressed in a red T-Shirt, with baggy blue jeans. He wore black sunglasses, even though it was eight p.m. His hair was flaming red, and he would have been called handsome by some. On one hand was a Chaos Duel Disk, and in the other he held a cell phone. It seemed like he had been typing in messages through the phone.

He spoke in a drawl. "Well, Phoenix, it is indeed a surprise to see you here. I thought you'd be up and about, trying to sink Paradias." Aster narrowed his eyes. So this was a Paradias agent… Had he actually had his informant killed? If so, would he be prepared to do the same to him?

"Who are you?"

"Well, you can call me James for now," replied the young man in an even voice. "A bit melodramatic, yes, but once you see how powerful I truly am, you'll agree that the name fits perfectly. Oh, and don't try to make a dash for the door," he continued in his drawling voice, as Aster tried to edge towards the entrance.

"There are two hundred and six bones in the human body, and I could break one of up to twenty six of them to end your miserable life. Unfortunately for you, I wouldn't make it that painless, and subject you t even further pain. Therefore, it'd be wiser of you to simply stay put, and listen to Plan A and Plan B."

Aster simply frowned, and nodded.

"Here we go: Plan A. I wouldn't want to kill you just like that, as it would really be no fun, and it would be messy to leave your body lying around. I'll challenge you to a Shadow Game instead. Winner takes all."

"And what if I don't agree?" snarled Aster.

"Well, Plan B is that we don't duel and I kill you anyway," smiled James, folding his arms. Aster frowned. Well, it was a win-lose situation. If this guy was actually able to break into his hotel room, dealing with Aster's personal security guard as well, the duelist really didn't stand a chance in a physical fight.

"Fine," he snapped, pulling up his Duel Disk. James grinned. "Fun. But I warn you, the chances of you winning are in negative figures."

There was a crack, and an explosion of mist. "What about me?" said a third voice. A middle-aged man dressed in platinum armor appeared. He grinned at James, who seemed to recognize him immediately. "You…" he hissed, his expression changing.

"He told me about you…. Blight."

Blight nodded. "Yes… Paradias never liked my Master Apocalypse or any of his followers after they heard of our intentions from their connections in higher places. Well, he was actually planning on sending me to finish off Reflect here and now, but I'd already spent some energy after taking out your pathetic, former master. To pass the time, I decided to come here after I realized that you were after Mr. Phoenix, and join in the fun."

Meanwhile, Aster was getting increasingly irritated at being left out of the conversation. "Umm…. How do you people get into my hotel room?!" he shouted angrily.

Blight glanced over at him carelessly. "Ah yes, Mr. Phoenix. Well, I was considering settling this in a more civilized way, and was planning to duel James here instead of a battle. You could join in to make it a three-way, or I'll just wait until James kills you and settle my business with him. After all, it isn't very nice of him or his boss to be so unsympathetic to the aims of my Master."

Most of what they said was unintelligible to the duelist. He had no idea who this Blight, or Apocalypse was, but from the way Blight had simply teleported in, Aster knew that this was a guy on level with Kagemaru and Sartorius. It would be wiser to duel, with a chance of winning.

"I'll duel," he replied tersely, as he activated his Duel Disk, sliding his deck into his deck slot. "_Guys… Don't fail me this time_."

A white Duel Disk shaped like a dragon's wing appeared on Blight's arm. He sneered inwardly at Aster and James. They moved around to form a sort of triangle. The suite was quite spacious, with enough space for a decently sized dueling field. The dark fog began floating in, and Aster recognized it as a Shadow Game

"LET'S DUEL!"

(Aster: 8000, Blight: 8000, James: 8000)

Drawing his sixth card, Aster considered. ""I play Destiny Hero – Defender (100/2700) in defense mode."

A large grey brick like monster appeared onto the field in a kneeling position with his arms up as shields. On the creature's head, there was a small golden grate that revealed only a pair of red eyes.

"_Despite its effect that allows them to draw during their standby phase, it's better to have a strong defensive monster ready, as I have no idea what their strategies are like. But considering the trend of Paradias' representatives in tournaments, James's will probably be a violent, quick beatdown strategy. Blight, I have no idea though._"

"I set a card and end my turn."

Blight drew slowly. "Well, well, well…. This is a rather special deck. It's one of many, but I have a soft spot for this one especially. I'll start off by summoning Gagagigo (1850/1000) in attack mode."

A two-legged, green reptile like being came from a mud puddle in the ground, rising up and flexing with its large muscles. Several pink-like spikes stuck out of its arms, legs and back as defensive mechanisms. It had a fairly small, bald head, with pink fang-like teeth. It had a type of yellow cloth wrapped around both of its forearms, held shut with a pink band.

"Then I'll set a facedown card, just like you. Please make your move, James."

The teenager drew fast. "I play Graceful Charity, and in the process discard Beiige, Vanguard of the Dark World (1600/1300)!"

A tinted, blue-skinned warrior holding a long, twisted, beige staff spear with a sword-like blade extending at the end of it rose onto the field. It had sinister-looking and rusted, light-beige armor on its upper-body, with spikes on the shoulders. It had a skull-like helmet across its face, flashing its dirty, yellow teeth from the inside. The top-center of the skull helmet appeared as though it could have been made from a slain enemy's spine. Similar kneepads were worn on it, with more sharp points sticking out.

"When discarded from my hand, I can special summon this bad boy to the field," chuckled James. "And then, I sacrifice him to summon the one and only Airknight Parshath (1900/1400)!"

Beiige vanished off the field, making room for a mystical-looking fairy, having white wing all around it, as well as blue armor for clothing. On its arms, it had golden-type armor, with a round and fit design. It wore white boots, and a type of golden helmet. The helmet also had a jewel. The right arm contained an extra angel wing, whereas the left arm contained a golden blade-like attachment to the round and fit design.

"Not bad," commented Blight. "But the rules of a three-way duel state that no one can attack until everyone has taken a turn. Be spared my wrath temporarily… Soon, you will wish you never even knew of my existence."

Aster had heard the tough guy banter many times. It didn't affect him, and he calmly drew as James ended his turn.

"I set one card facedown in defense mode," he said, softly. "Then I end my turn." The brown backed card appeared tiny compared to the other hero which dominated Aster's field.

Blight was up next. He chuckled at what he saw in his hand. "Very well….. First I will draw another card, courtesy of Destiny Hero Defender…. Then I summon the true cornerstone of this strategy… The one and only Kozaky (400/400)!"

A purple skinned, human like creature in an opened white lab coat with black slacks, with a pink tie around his neck, glasses, and lower neck length black hair appeared. The creature had small purple spikes sticking out of his coat on his back and elbows and pointed ears.

"Four hundred attack points, and he's a normal monster?" said James, mildly amused.

"He is strange, but powerful," replied Blight, not at all perturbed by the criticism. "Then I will set one card facedown and end my turn. Please, James, show me your true power. Mr. Phoenix is a mere annoyance…. I wish to dispose of him quickly so that I can them focus on the ones who dare defy my Master."

Aster frowned at the way Blight had just dismissed him as a minor threat. Obviously, he hadn't seen him take on deadly duelists like The 'D' himself, as well as Sartorius. True, that last one hadn't gone as planned, but he had summoned his most powerful monster and had come within inches of victory, but then Sartorius had defeated him.

Shaking his head, he watched as James drew. "Very well…. I call upon Don Zaloog (1400/1500) in attack mode!"

A muscular man with nearly shoulder length grey hair, a golden eye patch, a brown-grey sleeveless shirt with matching pants, a strap that went around his body full of bullets, and a pair of guns on his hips appeared with a small yell.

Aster smirked. Now all he had to do was take the bait and attack his facedown monster.

"Hmm… I could attack Phoenix's facedown, but I have no idea what it is. That's why I'll target you now, Blight. Airknight Parshath, I want you to take down that Gagagigo!" The fairy leapt into the air, and the reptile steadied itself. Even then, it was simply shattered as the centaur flapped its wings, sending out a wave of energy that seemed to rip through the unfortunate monster.

(Aster: 8000, Blight: 7950, James: 8000)

James continued. "When he deals you battle damage, Parshath in turn allows me to draw one card." The red-haired teenager now held seven cards, and his grin grew broader as he pointed at the maddened scientist.

"Don Zaloog, destroy his little freak with Artillery Decimation!"

Focusing his attention onto the weaker scientist, Don spun pulled both blasters from his hips. In a succession of shots, he hit his target, making Kozaky cry out in pain before he was shattered. Blight didn't even seem to feel it as the bullets continued on and struck him.

(Aster: 8000, Blight: 6950, James: 8000)

"Doubtless, a good move, but you seem to have forgotten all about my facedown card… Flat Level 4! When one monster on the field is destroyed in battle, we can all special summon one level four or lower monster from our decks. I will begin by summoning a monster known as Catnipped Kitty (0/500)!"

Emerging onto the field was a purple furred cat with a red bow around its neck with a bell on it's collar. It had strange yellow swirls in its fur, giving it a strange look.

"Weak though she may seem, she is actually at her very best when Kozaky is present as well. You will see what I mean soon enough. In the meantime, why don't you two benefit from my Flat Level 4's effect?"

Aster shrugged. "Fine. I'll summon my Destiny Hero – Captain Tenacious (800/800)!"

With a mighty battle cry, a man with long orange hair, a black mask that covered half of his face, a bare chest that was well toned, with powerful arms that had some sort of set of shields strapped on, and strong legs in blue green armor appeared.

James smirked. "Fine. I call upon End Soldier (1700/1500)!" A man dressed in a black bodysuit appeared. He hoisted up a long spear, with a ruby blade that seemed to glint in the darkness. His face was covered by a grille. Inside, two eyes flashed open.

"When he's special summoned, I can add one ritual card named 'End of the World' from my deck to my hand, at the cost of sacrificing his attack. I'll choose to do so." Eagerly finding the necessary card in his deck, James added it to his hand. "Meanwhile, Don Zaloog's effect allows me to force you to discard a card from your hand, Blight."

The Horseman shrugged. "Ah very well. I'll send Repayment of Losses to the graveyard and in exchange immediately draw another card."

James frowned at this, but it didn't seem like he would lose sleep over it. "I set two cards facedown and end my turn."

It was, of course, back to Aster. "Fine… I'll sacrifice Destiny Hero Defender to call upon one of my stronger Heroes, Destiny Hero Dasher (2100/1000)!" The large, stone, rock-like monster disappeared, and was replaced by a much stranger looking monster. It was jet-black in color and looked mechanical. Its limbs were long and broad, and seemed to have scrubbers instead of hands and feet. Its face was covered by a helmet.

"Then I flip my facedown Destiny Hero – Doom Lord (600/800)!"

A black armored figure with a tattered red cape, long clawed hands, a white head in which only his eyes were revealed, and a set of curved up shoulder spikes materialized onto the field.

"Now I activate Doom Lord's effect. By sacrificing his attack for this turn, I can remove from play one monster on the field. However, that monster will return on my second standby phase after activation. I think I'll choose the Airknight Parshath!"

The inhuman monster shrieked and leapt towards the centaur-like fairy. The two grappled for a few minutes, before the Doom Lord slammed its claws in the angel's chest, drawing blood. "He'll be back, just not right now," smirked Aster.

He then looked from Blight to James. "_Blight's strategy doesn't seem to make sense at all. As for James, he seems to play very aggressively. I think it would be wiser to clear his field now. That way, I'll be protected next turn in case Blight pulls of a big move, and it'll just be easier for me if he chooses to attack James instead_."

Chuckling at this, he pointed at Don Zaloog. "Dasher, destroy his Don Zaloog!" The strange hero whizzed forward, and its front arm slammed into the King of Thieves, which cried out in pain. His simple shirt was not enough to stop the futuristic attack of Aster's Hero, and he was easily shattered.

(Aster: 8000, Blight: 6950, James: 7300)

"No problem," shrugged James.

Aster continued. "I then switch Captain Tenacious and Doom Lord to defense mode and end my turn." The warrior dropped to his knees and crossed his large arms across his chest defensively, and the strange demonic monster followed suit.

Blight drew slowly, giving him five cards in his hand. "I activate my facedown Call of the Haunted to summon Kozaky (400/400) in attack mode!" The violent humanoid appeared once again in his tattered lab coat. The Catnipped Kitty meowed softly, and he gave a slight blush before turning to look at his opponents, in the form of the Destiny Heroes and the various monsters on James' field.

"Then I play Polymerization, fusing Catnipped Kitty with Kozaky to summon Kozaky's Sexy Kitty (1000/1000)!"

The two monsters on Blight's field swirled together, sending out a small blinding light. The light soon died down, revealing a young woman with purple fur covering her body, wearing a tight red skirt with a white lab coat that opened near the top of her chest, revealing her cleavage. She had cat ears on her head, fangs, and a purple tail twitching behind her.

Aster closed his eyes. "_I am really going to need therapy after this duel…_"

James was amused. "Interesting monster. What does it do? I assume it is quite deadly, no doubt." The sarcasm in his voice was very apparent, but Blight did not seem bothered.

"As long as she is on the field, all monsters with the word 'Kozaky' in their name gain five hundred attack and defense points." (1000 + 500 1500/1000 + 500 1500)

"Is that all?" sighed James. "No, not really. No other monsters with Kozaky in their name can be targeted with attacks while she is in play. Since I don't happen to have a Kozaky monster, I think I'll remedy that by normal summoning a second Kozaky (400/400)!"

The mad scientist appeared on Blight's field, a wild grin on his face. The Kozaky's Sexy Kitty cooed as she saw him, and he flushed furiously. She huddled close to him, and his attack points suddenly shot up a little bit (400 + 500 900/400 + 500 900).

He then held up one of his three remaining cards. "I then play the equip magic card, Ring of Magnetism!" he declared, sliding it into his Duel Disk. Kozaky looked at his hand in wonder as an emerald green ring of pure energy appeared on it. Suddenly, he gasped as his attack points took a dip (900 – 500 400/900 – 500 400).

"Ring of Magnetism decreases his stats by five hundred each," explained the Horseman. "Also, you can only attack him if you choose to target my field. Conveniently enough, Kozaky's Sexy Kitty prevents him from being targeted, meaning I have the perfect lock for my Kozaky monsters."

He turned to Aster. "Oh, I know that you're thinking about removing Kozaky's Sexy Kitty from play with your Doom Lord. You seem to have forgotten that since I don't have to fear attack, I placed both monsters in attack mode. Although Kozaky himself is too weak, his fusion will more then make up for it! Attack Doom Lord with Cat Scratch Fever!"

Letting out a small feral growl, the female purple furred cat creature rushed forward and leapt into the air. Coming down hard, she struck the demonic beast across the chest with both sets of claws, making it whimper in pain while clutching the fresh marks across its chest. It then shattered.

"You make me very angry, you know that?" hissed Aster. Blight shrugged. "Ah well, all's fair in war and war. I think I'll end my turn."

It was finally James turn. His face darkened. "Now, you are about to have a taste of my true power. I activate my facedown End of the World, sacrificing End Soldier and Ruin-Princess of Destruction (1800/600) from my hand in order to call upon one of my favorite monsters… Come forth, Ruin, Queen of Oblivion (2300/2000)!"

In spectral form, a female warrior with ebony black hair appeared. She was dressed in red satin robes, and carried an evil looking dagger. Along with the warrior summoned by James the previous turn, she disappeared. Aster took a step back as a bright light filled the field. As it disappeared, a new form was present on James' field.

A tall, slender lady was now present. She wore a red and beige-like top, and black, skin-tight pants going all the way down to her feet, which were covered by black boots. Her shirt was sleeveless, but she had very long, black, skin-tight gloves on her arms reaching all the way to her upper arm, where two gold patterns ended the glove. Near the wrist of her left arm were two golden bracelets. In her right hand, she carried a very long, but thin staff with a golden color to it. The upper portion and V-shaped point of the staff were pinkish. She had very long, white hair, which reached down to the back of her knees, as well as a V-shaped, pointed head dress, pink.

James laugh bounced off the walls of the room, and Aster stared intensely at him. Suddenly, he gasped. "I know you!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

One of the fighters on Yugi's field opened a hatch on its top, and a laser cannon appeared. A blast of red energy slammed into the Twilight Shadow Avenger, and it howled in pain. Try as it might, it was unable to stand up the continuous stream of energy, and was then completely shattered. (1700/1500) (2200/1500) (2500/2000)

(Gabriel: 3400, Yugi: 5250)

Yugi snorted. "Idiot. I knew you'd take the bait. Twilight Shadow Avenger has his name for a reason, you know…. When he's destroyed in battle, I can take out the monster that did it."

Even as he said these words, the spectral form of the monster Gabriel had just destroyed reappeared. It leapt across the field and slammed its dagger into one of the fighters. The arcane properties of the weapon easily cut through the futuristic steel, and the Gradius exploded.

Gabriel frowned. With one Option Token gone, all of his monsters lost two hundred attack points. (2400/800) (x6).

"Damn it!" he snarled in anger. Of course, Twilight Shadow Swordmaster now retained his position as the field's strongest monster. That wouldn't stop his Gradiai from destroying Twilight Shadow Mercenary and Reaper.

"Fine!" he snapped. "I'll have two of my six remaining Gradiai destroy your two weaker Twilight Shadows!" The powerful fighters each fired off columns of blazing energy at the axe-wielding warrior, and the demon like reaper. The first one was incinerated on impact, but the second battle was stranger, to say the least.

Instead of being incinerated by the assault, the Reaper instead lashed out with its monstrous scythe. The devilish blade glowed black, and a wave of black energy was spouted out. It slammed into the attack of its mechanical opponent, and the two struggled for a while. Then, there was a sudden explosion, and both monsters were destroyed.

"Explain!" demanded Gabriel, as the remaining Gradiai grew weaker (2200/800) (x5).

"As you wish," replied Yugi calmly, folding his arms. "Twilight Shadow Reaper may be more subtle then Avenger, but is by no means less vindictive towards my opponent. When he is destroyed in battle, _or_ by a card effect, I can remove from play one card in my graveyard to activate his effect. One level four or lower monster on your field is destroyed, and I can special summon a Twilight Shadow from my graveyard. I can't think of a better one then Twilight Shadow Avenger (1900/1200)!"

The black cloaked man appeared, clutching his dagger as he cast a look filled with hatred at the remaining Gradiai (2400/1200) (3000/2000).

Gabriel snarled in anger. "Fine! I play the last card in my hand, Gradius Refuel! For every Gradius, Victory Viper, or Option Token in play, I can draw one card, but only if Gradius – Infinity is active. So I draw five cards." Quickly drawing all five cards, he fanned out his full hand, and an evil grin spread across his face.

"Well, you are truly in trouble now… I activate one more effect of Gradius – Infinity. By paying one thousand life-points, I can place one counter on Gradius – Creator for every Gradius monster, and by this I mean the original Gradius card, I have in play. I count three, meaning it now has five. I then activate its effect. I remove two counters, and at the same time remove the two Gradius' Options from play to special summon two more Option Tokens!"

Once again, Gabriel's army was back at seven. Each one was just as strong as before, and luckily, they couldn't attack at this point, since Gabriel's battle phase had already ended (2600/800) (x7). "But I'm not done yet!" declared Gabriel.

"I play Victory Viper Power Up! I divide the total number of Gradiai and Option Tokens on my field by two, rounded off to the higher number, and special summon the same number of Victory Vipers from my graveyard. Since I have only three, I'll summon them all! Victory Viper XX01 (1800/600), Victory Viper XX02 (1700/1200) and Victory Viper (1200/1000)!"

Even as he said these words, the sleek and cool Victory Vipers ascended in the midst of the army of Gradiai. They seemed to shine even more in the midst of the seemingly less fancy Gradiai. Hatches opened all over them, revealing laser cannons, missiles and all kinds of other weapons. As this happened, the attack points of every monster on the field skyrocketed once more. (3200/800) (x7) (3800/600) (3700/1200) (3200/800).

"That's cheating, isn't it?" pointed out Yugi. "Even with Gradius – Infinity active, you have three Gradiai and three Victory Viper cards occupying monster card zones."

Gabriel sneered. "Fool! Victory Viper Power Up has an additional effect, which ensures that I would never run into such a ridiculous problem. All Victory Vipers special summoned to the field are considered to be Option Tokens. Then when you add in the effect of Gradius – Infinity, there are still only three monsters occupying my actual monster card zones."

Yugi frowned, but said nothing. Gabriel ended his turn with a facedown, and the young King of Games drew.

At this point, he only had Twilight Shadow Avenger and Twilight Shadow Swordmaster in play. Unfortunately, both were weaker then Gabriel's Gradiai, Victory Vipers and Option Tokens, strong as they were. Then he noticed another certain card in his hand, and smiled. He hadn't expected to be able to play this monster so soon, but he needed something of its level of power at the moment.

"I play De-Fusion, splitting Twilight Shadow Swordmaster back down into Twilight Shadow Soldier (1600/1200) and Twilight Shadow Shield Guardian (200/2200)!"

The cybernetic, angelic warrior on Yugi's field began to glow. It transformed into a ball of light, which split up into two more spheres. The spheres began to take the shape of the man in platinum armor, wielding a sword, and then the larger warrior with a shining, large shield fixed onto one arm (1600 + 500 2100/1200) (200 + 500 700/2200).

"Then I'll sacrifice both to call upon Twilight Shadow Skull Warlock (2600/2000)!"

The two monsters vanished and were replaced by a much larger form that was taking shape on Yugi's field. It was vaguely humanoid, but looked more like a demon. In fact, its features could not be discerned due to a terrifying, skull-like mask that covered its face. It wore a black cloak and armor over a skeletal like body. Its shoulder and knee pads were made of ancient metal, and creaked as it moved. In one hand, it held a long staff with two spikes on each end. The spikes crackled with electricity.

It gave a huge shriek as its attack points went up to a massive thirty-one hundred.

"3100 may be strong, but it can't compete with my Gradiai!" thundered Gabriel, crossing his arms. Yugi sighed at this.

"Twilight Shadow Skull Warlock has two effects. First, he boosts the attack points of all Twilight Shadows in play by one hundred times their level. Since he's a level seven, it's pretty safe to say that it's a substantial boost." The Warlock began to glow, as did the Avenger, until both of them were far more powerful then normal (2800/1200) (3800/2000).

"I'm not done yet," continued Yugi, holding up another card. "Fusion Recovery allows me to add a fusion material monster and one Polymerization from my graveyard back to my hand. I'll return Twilight Shadow Shield Guardian (200/2200)."

Finding the two cards in his graveyard, he smirked and added them to his hand. "I then play Polymerization to fuse Twilight Shadow Shield Guardian (200/2200) with Twilight Shadow Blade Sentinel (1900/1300) in my hand!"

The guardian appeared on the field, grasping his pitch-black shield that glowed with its futuristic power source in the jewel in the center of it. The other monster was a knight dressed in a futuristic suit of armor. The suit of armor war metallic-toned, with dark-red metallic shoulder pads and designs all about it, down the arms and down the legs. The gloves were red and dark, silver metallic-colored, with extendible, pink beam swords on the tops of them. It had shining boots as well, and a helmet covered its head with a grille that extended down its face.

Soon, the two began to swirl together in a vortex. The vortex began to spin, and lights and shadows flashed across the field. Soon, the vortex slowed down, and a new monster stepped out.

This warrior was much larger then either of its fusion components. It was about eight feet tall, and its armor looked similar to that of the Marvel Comics superhero Iron Man in all aspects but color. Its chest armor looked like it could take a missile head on, and yet stretched with ease as the fusion moved about. Its shoulder pads were finely crafted with spikes on either end. In one hand it held a large shield, about five feet wide. It was similar to the Shield Guardian's shield, but for the fact that it was silver in color and the jewel was a stunning emerald. Instead of a right hand, it had a monstrous cannon sprouting out of the wrist of its armor. The mouth of it glowed green. The monster was red and dark silver in color. On his head was a futuristic looking helmet with a sheet of black glass that covered his entire face.

"Twilight Shadow Alpha Titan (2000/2000)!" said Yugi triumphantly.

"You fused a monster with nineteen hundred attack points and one with two hundred to fusion summon one with two thousand? A ridiculously waste of resources, indeed," sneered Gabriel.

"Well, you haven't exactly heard his effect yet, have you?" chuckled Yugi. "He'll first gain five hundred attack points, thanks to the effect of my Avenger."

The Alpha Titan began to glow as his power now reached a level that allowed him to go toe to toe with a Dark Magician (2500/2100).

"Then, he allows me to place one Alpha Counter on him when summoned. For every Alpha counter he has, he gains two hundred attack points. When he has five Alpha counters, something big happens." The Titan began to glow again as a ring of energy appeared around his cannon (2700/2000).

"Then, I forgot to mention that Skull Warlock grants him eight hundred extra attack points, since he's a level eight!" Now, the Alpha Titan had a very deadly thirty-five hundred attack points, meaning less then ten monsters had the base attack points to deal with it.

"Now I have my own trio of powerful monsters! Skull Warlock, lead the charge and take care of one of the original Gradiai!" The warlock shrieked, and there was a buzz from the fighters. It was apparent that the technology of the jets was not equipped to defend against such a powerful attack. Grasping its knarled staff around the middle, the Twilight Shadow raised its staff into the air, and a swirl of energy appeared around each blade. With a sonic screech, the warlock thrust the staff forward and let lose a massive storm of energy at the jet.

The fighter, obviously, never stood a chance. It attempted a weak attempt at an attack, but it was immediatley absorbed by the oncoming attack which doubled in size as it literally tore through the unfortunate monster. At that second, a Gradius' Option next to it exploded.

"Now Alpha Titan can take down your Victory Viper XX01!" said Yugi triumphantly, pointing at the unfortunate jet.

He thought he actually heard the moan of a human inside the space fighter as the newest and most brutal looking fusion turned its gaze to the monster. With a howl of anger, it raised its cannon, which began to glow with energy. The titan could barely control it as it was literally bursting with power, wildly vibrating as he fought to steady it. When he was sure, he let it lose, and a massive sphere of green energy was spat out. It shot across the field and slammed into the Victory Viper XX01, shattering it on impact.

(Gabriel: 2500, Yugi: 5250)

The remaining fighters were now considerably weakened (2600/800) (x5) (3100/1200) (2600/800).

"Since my Avenger is still unfortunately too weak to destroy any of your monsters, I'm forced to set a card and end my turn." As Yugi slid a card into his magic/trap card slot, the Skull Warlock gave a shriek and pointed its staff to a point on Yugi's field. It shot out a column of light, which began to fade and revealed a new monster.

"Twilight Shadow Skull Warlock is an especially powerful monster mostly because of his deadly second effect. Once per turn if I have destroyed two monsters in battle with a Twilight Shadow, I can special summon one level four or lower Twilight Shadow from my deck to the field during the end phase. I choose Twilight Shadow Ninja (650/350) in defense mode!"

The newest monster was quite like the original Armed Ninja, but for the fact that instead of regular throw-knives, he had two metal rings on his wrists. He snapped his arms around, and two pink, energy blades snapped out. He crossed them across his chest defensively. Thanks to the other two effects, his attack points went up to fourteen hundred and fifty, since he was a level three monster.

"And by the effect of my Alpha Titan, he gains one more Alpha counter when I summon a level four or lower Twilight Shadow to the field." Another ring of energy appeared around the fusion monster's cannon, and his attack points increased slightly to thirty-seven hundred.

"Now, make your move," said Yugi.

"With pleasure," sneered Gabriel. He drew, and held up another card. "I play the Card of Demise."

As he drew, his face turned pale. First, Yugi thought that it was out of pure fright, but then he noticed a maniacal grin spreading across his face. Sweat poured down his brow, but it seemed to be rather out of nervous excitement then fright.

"Moto… You have really pushed me further then any duelist I have ever faced," he rasped. He held up a card.

"I have never, _ever_ had the chance to play this card. You should consider it an honor to face it."

Yugi's eyes locked with his. "Bring it, metal-head."

Gabriel ignored the comment. "The mother ship is coming, Yugi Moto." He held up a card. It was Polymerization.

Yugi was slightly disconcerted. He wasn't expecting this. "I must now fuse as Victory Viper and Gradius cards on my field to summon the ultimate Gradius monster…" trailed off Gabriel. "I choose my two Victory Vipers and three Gradiai."

Two of the more advanced fighters, and three of the more simplistic ones began to glow. The other monsters moved away slightly as they began to swirl together in a vortex of pure power. There was a lot of mechanical buzzing, but Yugi simply folded his arms and watched with an impassive face as a titanic shadow fell across Gabriel's field.

It was easily bigger then any of the other fighters the duelist had used prior to this turn. The armor was obviously very thick, and the bleak light that lit up the godforsaken city shone off it. Its wings were each like massive, evil looking clouds that seemed to cover the entire place. As for the armaments, there were at least sixty laser barrels popping out everywhere.

"Meet Ultimate Victory Viper - Star Destroyer (?/?)!"

The three monsters on Yugi's field did not in the least seem intimidated. The young King of Games shrugged. "I'd be intimidated if it had attack points."

"Oh, it does. You see, when I fuse Gradiai or Victory Vipers to summon it, my Star Destroyer gains seven hundred attack and defense points for each one I sent into the abyss!" The massive starship began to glow as its attack points skyrocketed (3500/3500).

"Then of course, the effect of Gradius Attack Formation comes into play." The smaller fighters also began to glow (4100/4100) (x3).

"Wait," frowned Yugi. "The Option Tokens should've been destroyed when your original Gradiai left the field!"

Gabriel gave him a nasty leer. "My Ultimate Victory Viper is very difficult to summon, and it gains a powerful effect thanks to this. All Option Tokens get converted to versions of my strongest fusion, and gain identical stats to it." As he said this, the other Option Tokens began to morph and became larger, with more guns sprouting out.

"Strong as they are, they're about to get stronger," he said snidely. "I activate another effect of Gradius – Infinity. At the cost of discarding one card from my hand, I can place one counter on Gradius – Creator for every Gradius and Victory Viper monster that was just sent to the graveyard. Now, I sent five, which means it gains a bonus five counters. I'll remove all three Gradius' Options from play, plus two of the original Gradiai to summon five more Option Tokens to the field!"

Five more gigantic ships appeared on his field. They were identical to the Star Destroyer in everything but size. Even though they were roughly half as large as the massive fusion, they were still quite daunting to look at as they hovered over Gabriel's field.

"Now, they gain identical stats to my Star Destroyer. Since there are now eight Gradiai on the field, they each gain sixteen hundred on top of an already impressive thirty-five hundred."

Yugi gulped nervously as the eight ships on Gabriel's field began to glow even more (5100/5100) (x8). Gabriel was indeed a powerful duelist, for he had been able to summon eight monsters, each with attack points that even higher level professionals struggled to achieve.

"Then I activate Soul Release! I now remove from play my three Victory Vipers, and also my other Gradius." The three advanced ships and the other more ordinary one appeared in spectral form, and then vanished.

"Finally, I activate Return from the Different Dimension, to summon to the field my three Victory Vipers, the three Gradius' Options, and my three original Gradiai! You're finished, Yugi Moto!"

(Gabriel: 1250, Yugi: 5250)

Yugi had to admit that it truly seemed like a terrible situation, as the army of eight were joined by nine more fighters that zoomed in from the back of the street. There metallic cover lit up the bleak air of Necropolis, and all it did was increase the feel of deadliness that they gave off.

"I play the key card of this combo, Scrapped Option! Now, all Victory Vipers or Gradiai on my field lose their original stats and effects, and get converted to Option Tokens of one monster on my field that I choose. Of course, now that they're all Option Tokens of my Star Destroyer, Gradius – Infinity will ensure that they don't take up monster card zones!"

Yugi frowned as the remaining fighters were all transformed into a massive mother ship. More gun barrels sprouted out, and soon, a row of seventeen, titanic ships lined up across the street, with Gabriel grinning maniacally behind them (6900/6900) (x17). Yugi, meanwhile, stood tall behind his three Twilight Shadows. Strong as they were, they were no match for the freakishly powerful monsters on Gabriel's field.

Gabriel grinned wildly and held up one final card. "To end this pathetic façade of a duel, I play the ultimate card for my Star Destroyer strategy! It's something I'm sure you're very familiar with."

He slowly turned the card around. It was United We Stand.

"_Uh oh_," thought Yugi quietly. "_Now, the equipped monster gains eight hundred attack points for every other monster in play. Since there are seventeen monsters in play, it gains thirteen thousand six hundred attack points. Since all the others are Option Tokens, he'll have an army of seventeen monsters with twenty thousand five hundred attack points each!! That combines for nearly three hundred and fifty thousand attack points!! Even Grandpa, with his insane Chaos deck, was only able to summon monsters with a total of fifty thousand points!_"

The insanity of it all was baring down on him. "I have given my best, Yugi Moto!" screamed Gabriel. "Have you? You are truly a pathetic excuse for the King of Games! Your Twilight Shadows are no match for my Gradiai. Now, Ultimate Victory Viper – Star Destroyer, destroy Skull Warlock (3800/2000)!"

More hatches on the juggernaut of a monster opened, and more guns appeared. The openings began to glow, and spheres of laser energy began to appear on their tips. Soon, there were balls of energy glowing all over the mother ship. Finally, it let lose the attacks, in the form of thin blasts of energy. The blasts began to merge for an incredibly large column of power which powered its way towards the Twilight Shadow.

Gabriel laughed madly as it continued on, and then, Yugi acted. He shouted a quick command which was drowned out by the sound of the oncoming attack, and the Twilight Shadow Ninja leapt into the air. It flipped over and let lose a barrage of throw knives. They were easily incinerated by the attack. The ninja grimaced, and then threw itself in the way of the blast. It was decimated before the attack even fully enveloped it. But as this happened, the blast faded away.

Gabriel's jaw dropped. "WHAT HAPPENED?!" he snarled in rage.

Yugi smirked. "Twilight Shadow Ninja allows me to sacrifice him and end your battle phase. Also, I can pay one thousand life-points in order to double the number of counters on one Twilight Shadow. I'll immediatley do so, in order to grant my Twilight Shadow Alpha Titan two more Alpha counters!"

Two more rings of energy appeared on the cannon of the massive fusion monster (4100/2000). But still, it was too weak to even compare to the Star Destroyer or any one of its Option Tokens. Each of Gabriel's monsters was five times as strong as the titan.

Gabriel's jaw tightened. "I will end my turn. But it is simply one turn until I can end your pathetic reign as King of Games!"

Yugi ignored him, and held up one more card. "Truth be told, Gabriel, the duel is over now. You see, I am now going to activate my Twilight Shadow Alpha Titan's effect."

"Impossible!" thundered back the Gradius duelist. "You said yourself he needs five Alpha counters to do so, and he only has four! In any case, no effect can be powerful enough to combat my army of Star Destroyers! Even the Egyptian Gods cannot take on this kind of power!"

Yugi held up one more card. It was Monster Reborn. "I choose to special summon Twilight Shadow Soldier (1600/1200) to the field!" The man dressed in platinum armor that Yugi had summoned at the beginning of the duel appeared on his field. He drew his sword, and even though he appeared weak at first, he slowly began to increase in power due to the effects of the Avenger and Skull Warlock (2500/1200).

"And since I summoned a level four or lower Twilight Shadow, Alpha Titan gets his last counter!" said Yugi in a slow voice.

Gabriel did not seem too unnerved. "So what?!" he defended angrily. "It can't hope to match my monsters in any case!"

Yugi pointed at the Star Destroyer. "Twilight Shadow Avenger, attack that monster!"

The cloaked man silently leapt towards the ship, drawing his dagger in the same movement. As it did this, Gabriel remarked, "Are you really suicidal? In that case, I would have obliged to just blow you away myself."

Even as he said this, the Star Destroyer let lose a massive wave of energy, that swept through the air in the direction of the attacking monster. Yugi and Gabriel were both temporarily blinded by the assault, and there was a large explosion. When it began to clear, Gabriel was shocked to see that even though the Avenger was gone, Yugi's life-points were intact.

"Impossible!" he thundered. "You should have lost nearly eighteen thousand life-points!"

Yugi smirked at this. "My Alpha Titan has a special ability. When he has five Alpha counters, I can remove one and discard the bottom three cards from my deck to reduce all damage done to zero, even though the monster is destroyed."

"What a pointless move!" snarled Gabriel. "It would have made more sense to save the counter for later!"

Yugi shook his head. "No, really, it makes sense. Just watch… Now, I will attack your Ultimate Victory Viper with my Skull Warlock!"

The warlock shrieked, and there was a buzz from the ships. Grasping its knarled staff around the middle, the Twilight Shadow raised its staff into the air, and a swirl of energy appeared around each blade. With a sonic screech, the warlock thrust the staff forward and let lose a massive storm of energy at the mother ship.

As this happened, the titanic juggernaut of a spacecraft let lose its own attack after charging up its weapons. The wave of energy swept past the Skull Warlock's attack, and completely decimated the fusion with a minor explosion. The Soldier seemed a bit apprehensive, but there was no response from the Alpha Titan.

"I'll remove another counter, and discard three more cards," intoned Yugi. Another ring disappeared off the Titan.

"Now," smirked Yugi, "I can perform my final move. It's a little something known as Giga Release!"

The three remaining rings disappeared, and the fusion began to glow brightly. The Twilight Shadow Soldier looked up in wonder as the spectral forms of the Skull Warlock and Avenger appeared next to the Alpha Titan. Each one raised a hand, and a tendril of energy extended forth and slammed into the red armor of the towering combo monster. He began to bulk up, and the armor started stretching. His black visor began flashing all kinds of colors, and a sphere of energy appeared on the tip of his cannon.

"You see, when I removed those first two counters, the damage was not negated, but simply stored and converted to zero for the moment. When I trigger Alpha Titan's Giga Release ability, that stored damage is converted into attack points and added to Alpha Titan's total score!"

A silent gasp appeared on Gabriel's face as the towering monster's attack points began to skyrocket (36900/2000).

"Luckily for you, it doesn't do damage," said Yugi quietly. "But in any case, it's over. Alpha Titan, attack now with Omega Burst!"

The Alpha Titan raised its cannon, which was literally shaking with energy. Wild bolts of lightning were spurting out at random intervals, and from the look of concentration behind the visor, the Twilight Shadow was having a hell of a time controlling the bursting energy. With a cry of satisfaction, he raised it and let it lose. A titanic column of lightning blazed out, and streaked across the field. Before the pilots in the ship could react, the attack had zapped straight through the vessel and slammed right into its core processors. It system was going into overdrive, and it exploded within seconds.

The explosion was truly like the eruption of a volcano. Searing hot pieces of metal, bolts of electricity, and other chemicals splashed all over the place. They slammed into the other Option Tokens, which were unable to cope with the destruction of the mother ship and the simultaneous barrage, began to crumble one by one. Gabriel's crazed shrieks were heard all over the place as he fell to his knees.

Yugi watched impassively as the once mighty army was laid to waste. One by one, the ships were struck down until none remained, and Gabriel was left wide open and undefended. The weakness of his own Option Tokens had destroyed him: they couldn't exist without an actual monster on the field.

Yugi closed his eyes. Gabriel shrieked in horror. "No, have mercy, I beg you!"

For a second, Yugi thought that the way in which he spoke was not one of someone losing a duel. It was of someone who feared death. True, Paradias did not take kindly to failure, but the sheer animalistic terror in his voice was truly something else. He pushed it out of his brain.

"_You can't slack off. Yami isn't here to pull through for you and make the difficult choice any longer_," he snarled at himself.

Snapping open his eyes, he commanded, "Twilight Shadow Soldier, end this!" The platinum armored warrior nodded and leapt across the field with determination in his eyes. His sword sliced sideways and nicked Gabriel in the chest, but his scream of anguish was something else altogether.

(Gabriel: 0, Yugi: 5250)

"And that's game," muttered Yugi as he looked up. To his shock, Gabriel lay prone on the ground, unmoving. He quickly walked over as the impassive Alpha Titan and Soldier both disappeared. He checked for a pulse, and was relieved to find a very faint one.

"_But that last attack was not too strong_," he thought to himself. He then looked up to see a dark figure standing on the rooftop opposite their position on the street. It held up a hand, and squeezed. Gabriel's breath constricted, and then he relaxed. Yugi placed a hand on his chest. The heartbeat was gone.

He angrily looked up again. The figure on the building had disappeared.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was Ryu's turn again. He was at a small advantage when it came to resources, with six cards in his hand to the Sentinel's five cards. His opponent also had Ice Blader in play, with seventeen hundred attack points, as compared to Ryu's Masked Dragon with fourteen hundred.

"I sacrifice Masked Dragon for Luster Dragon #2 (2400/1400)!" Rising up onto the field was an emerald colored dragon with powerful wings, clawed hands, feet, and a tail. The dragon let out a soft roar, as if trying to look intimidating.

"Then I play Rider's Loyalty, which will allow me to summon a union monster from my deck when I have a union dragon on my field, but then I must activate their union abilities. I choose to call upon my Emerald Templar (1600/1700)!" A man dressed in vivid green armor appeared. He wielded a long spear, and his head was covered by a helmet. He saw the dragon, and immediatley knelt in respect.

"Then I union Emerald Templar to my Luster Dragon #2, giving it three hundred more attack points as well as the ability to do piercing damage!" The warrior leapt into the air and landed neatly on the dragon's back. It balanced perfectly, and the dragon roared loudly (2700/1400).

"Luster Dragon #2, destroy the Ice Blader!" The warrior raised his spear, and with a powerful flex of his shoulder, sent the weapon flying towards the other warrior. It was surrounded by an aura of green energy as it continued onwards. It slammed into the warrior, and destroyed it.

(Ryu: 5150, ECS: 1950)

"_There… It's in his graveyard now. All I have to do is remove it from play, and the card he searched for is gone. I'm betting it's another one of those Elemental Titans. At least this time, I'll be ready with a powerful monster in play to combat it_."

"I end my turn."

Drawing slowly, the Sentinel smirked. "I play the quick-play magic card, Hyper Refresh! When the total attack points of the monsters on your field are equal to or more then my life-points, my life-points are doubled!"

(Ryu: 5150, ECS: 3900)

With a smug look, the fusion raised another card. "I then set one monster in defense mode and end my turn."

Ryu drew, and grimaced. Now, he wouldn't be able to finish the duel before the Sentinel called upon another Elemental Titan. He didn't even have a card to remove the Ice Blader from play. He sighed, and pointed at the facedown.

"Luster Dragon, destroy that facedown monster!"

Letting out a small roar, the dragon opened its jaws as ruby energy filled came beaming out. With a simple spitting motion, the dragon released a sphere of ruby colored energy, which quickly went flying across the field. Once it neared the face down card image, the card image vanished and was replaced by a mage with blue hair, a white mask with only red eye holes, a yellow collar, and a green set of robes.

It raised its hands, and a wall of water erupted in front of it in defense. But still, the blast continued on and shattered the mage.

"Meh, you destroyed the weaker form of one of my components," shrugged the mage. "It was Aqua Madoor (1200/2000)… Not that it matters."

As it said this, the warrior threw its spear forth, and the weapon slammed into the Sentinel's shoulder. It grunted in pain as the attack drained some more of its life-points, but did not seem too worried by what had happened.

(Ryu: 5150, ECS: 3200)

"I end my turn," finished Ryu, folding his arms.

The Sentinel's grin broadened as it drew. "Now, you will face the second of my five Elemental Titans. I play the magic card Call of the Matador! This allows me to special summon two level four or lower monsters from your graveyard to my field. They cannot attack, and neither can they protect my life-points. If they are still in play on my next turn, then their attack points are increased by five hundred and then you gain control of them. I summon Luster Dragon (1900/1600) and Cave Dragon (2000/100)!"

A sapphire dragon with strong powerful arms and legs, bone like wings, and ruby colored eyes appeared onto the field with a small roar, followed by a large, green dragon that possessed a number of spikes on its back, along with two glinting red eyes. Its spiked tail waved about as it growled in anger.

"I have no intention of giving you two monsters with power capable of usurping a Red Eyes Black Dragon (2400/2000), which is why I sacrifice both of them to call upon the Elemental Titan – Anenomi (1500/4000)!"

As the two dragons disappeared, a titanic shadow fell across the field. Ryu looked up to see what looked like a huge whale materializing out of thin air. Its skin was crimson and violet and it had all kinds of strange hieroglyphics on its body. Its jaws opened, and one could notice that its teeth were huge and yellow. Emerald, enchanting eyes glared down upon the Luster Dragon #2, and a thick, flapping tail swung across the field. The main part of its body was covered with indented, matrix like stripes. Large flaps that were a lighter brown in color were fixed to its sides, and appeared to be fins. It gave a gigantic groan, and a fine, purplish-blue mist began to appear around it.

"Yes…. My Elemental Titan of Water has arrived," hissed the Sentinel.

Ryu looked quite apprehensive, but held his ground. "It may have four thousand defense points, but since you summoned it in attack mode, it can't use them. Next turn, Luster Dragon #2 can obliterate it, as it has only fifteen hundred attack points."

"I am well aware of the stats of my own monster, thank you," fired back the Sentinel. "But it is not its stats that make it dangerous, massive as its defensive capabilities are. It is its deadly effects, which will soon be revealed to you. Now, during my Main Phase 1, I can special summon one Elemental Parasite Token (200/800) to the field in attack or defense mode!"

Some plasma, bluish-purple started rising up from the field, and began forming into a human shape, but with no defined face. In its right hand appeared a brown-like discus. It seemed almost unable to keep its balance.

"What does that do?" asked Ryu in a frustrated tone, folding his arms.

The Sentinel's eyes widened, and a sick grin spread across its face. "This." As it said this, the humanoid leapt towards the dragon, swinging the discus backward. Alarmed, the rider through its spear forth, but it simply phased through the plasma and left the attacker unharmed. The humanoid threw the discus forth, which slashed open the dragon's belly. The opening began closing up immediatley, but before it was complete, the parasite slipped into it, leaving the dragon looking normal.

"What just happened?" growled Ryu angrily.

As he said this, the dragon gave a screech of pain, and fell to its knees. The rider shattered. "The effect of my Elemental Parasite Token is that I can equip it to one monster on your side of the field. Now, any card equipped to that monster is destroyed, and it is immediatley switched to defense mode as long as my token is equipped to it." (2400/1400).

Before Ryu could say anything, the Sentinel continued in a sadistic voice. "It gets better, believe me. My Elemental Titan will grant the Parasite Tokens it generates additional abilities for every one it creates. So next turn, when I summon one more, your monsters and field will be infected in more ways then one!"

"_Definitely not good_," thought Ryu grimly. "_I'll need a monster with over fifteen hundred attack points next turn if I am to destroy his Anenomi and end the problem of these tokens before more can be generated. Otherwise, he'll switch it to defense mode next turn, making it nearly impossible to destroy_."

"I'll now set a card and end my turn," finished the Sentinel.

Ryu drew slowly, and smirked. He had just drawn Kaiser Glider. All he had to do was sacrifice Luster Dragon #2 and then allow the other dragon to destroy the Titan. Raising his card, he intoned, "I now sacrifice Luster Dragon #2 to call upon Kaiser Glider (2400/2200)!"

Even as he said this, nothing happened. He glanced over at the Sentinel suspiciously, who tapped a button on its Duel Disk. A card flipped up to reveal a strange mask. It was forest green in color, and had deadly fangs in both of its jaws. It began to glow a little, and Ryu immediatley understood what it was.

"Yes, this is Mask of Restrict," said the mage with a sadistic smile. "Now, neither of us can tribute monsters on our field for any purpose. I do not need to, since my Elemental Parasite Tokens will finish you off once their true power is unleashed."

Ryu growled in anger. Still, he had the capability to perform fusion…

"Fine. I end my turn."

The Sentinel drew slowly, and smirked. "I'll summon another Elemental Parasite Token!" Another, light-blue plasma creature appeared next to the titanic whale. "Now, infect his dragon!"

The humanoid leapt towards the wyvern, and once again, it was sliced open by the discus. The plasma creature slowly entered it, and it let out a cry of pain. Its skin color began to fade, and concussions wracked its body. Ryu watched in anger as the dragon underwent such inhuman torture.

"When there are two Elemental Parasite Tokens between your field and mine, all infected monsters start to lose three hundred attack points every Main Phase 1! So watch as your precious dragon is drained of more of its attack points!"

The green dragon gave a low growl as its attack points fell further (2400 – 300 2100/1400).

"Then, I will switch Anenomi to defense mode and end my turn." The huge whale gave a roar, and its flippers now pointed at a ninety degree angle in Ryu's direction. Otherwise, nothing else happened.

Ryu drew, gritting his teeth. "And now your little lizard loses a further three hundred attack points," smiled the mage sadistically. The dragon gave a shriek of pain as the parasites inside it began to suck away its energy (2100 – 300 1800/1400).

Ryu sighed. "I set two cards and end my turn."

The Sentinel drew, and pointed almost accusingly at Ryu. "Now, your dragon is caused more pain by your unwillingness to end its suffering by simply giving up!" An electrical shock wracked the dragons nerves, and it roared in agony, twitching uncontrollably as it lost even more power (1800 – 300 1500/1400).

"I then switch Anenomi to attack mode!" The whale roared and its flippers fell downwards.

"Attack that pathetic monster with Wave of Judgment!" The Elemental Titan growled, and a distant splashing was heard. Ryu looked upwards to see a forty foot wall of water rushing towards them across the field. He was barely able to gasp in shock as the wave collapsed over the entire field. Even his demon lungs struggled for air in the vortex of spinning water.

"Dragons weren't made for water," he shouted to no one in particular as the Luster Dragon #2 gave a final scream of pain when it disintegrated.

The water began to clear, revealing a smug Sentinel and the unharmed Titan. Next to it were the two Elemental Parasite Tokens. "When a monster that my tokens are equipped to is destroyed in battle, the tokens are special summoned back to my field. In case you've forgotten, each one has two hundred attack points, meaning I can attack you directly!"

Before Ryu could say anything, the two tokens each let lose their plasma discus, which slammed into his abdomen. It didn't hurt much, and Ryu was able to ignore it. But the damage was still done.

(Ryu: 4750, ECS: 3200)

"I set a card and end my turn," finished the Sentinel.

Ryu drew slowly, and glared at the mage. "I activate my facedown magic card known as Diamond Banner! When I have either a Luster Dragon or Luster Dragon #2 in my graveyard, I can special summon a certain monster from my deck known as Luster Dragon #3 (3000/2100)!"

The newest monster looked both more draconic as well as artificial then its predecessors. While they were blue and green respectively, and had a sort of crystalline look to it, for its skin was transparent and covered with small cracks. Its neck, back and tail had a series of ridged spikes on them, with each one resembling a stalagmite. Its eyes are a deep red, resembling rubies. It gave a large roar as it saw the Titan and the two Tokens.

"Now, destroy the Elemental Titan!"

"You fell into my trap, fool!" cackled the Sentinel. "I activate Shift, transferring your attack to my Parasite Token!"

The large dragon opened its mouth, and a sphere of black electrical energy appeared. With a roar, it let lose the attack which soared towards the plasma humanoid with incredible force. It completely ripped the monster in half, and the Sentinel smirked.

"And by sacrificing one Parasite Token, I can reduce all damage done to the other to zero!" The other token disappeared, leaving the whale all alone on the field.

Ryu smiled. "You see, unlike his predecessors, Luster Dragon #3 is an effect monster. After destroying one monster, he can attack once again, but the damage done by the attack is cut in half. So, destroy my opponent's Anenomi now, with Diamond Rage!"

The Sentinel swore in anger as the dragon rose into the air. It flapped its wings, and a barrage of glass shards rained out of the sky above it. One by one, they slammed into the whale which gave a roar of pain as the shards literally ripped through it. Soon, its mangled corpse fell to the ground, and vanished with an explosion.

(Ryu: 4750, ECS: 2450)

"You may have been able to defeat my first two Elemental Titans," hissed the Sentinel, "but you will not be able to withstand the awesome wrath of my Elemental Titan of Wind! Your dragons will only get you so far, and now that you have committed the crime of trespassing in Necropolis and then resisting punishment, you will be destroyed."

But Ryu's eyes only revealed cold indifference. "I suggest you back up those words with actions."

"I will," hissed the Sentinel. "I definitely will."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Surprise Metal Overlord 2.0!! I knew that I said I was going to use the Kozaky deck soon, but you didn't expect it to be this soon, eh? It was original going to be a straight up one on one of James vs. Aster, but I thought adding Blight with one of his many decks would be more fun. It should be an interesting duel to write, especially to reveal more of James' whereabouts, for he is indeed one of the darkest characters of the fic.**

**For those of you who are not aware, the Kozaky deck belongs to my friend and fellow writer Metal Overlord 2.0. Any and all original cards are his and his alone. His story, Dream Duel, is amazing, and I recommend all to read it. Once again, Max, thanks a lot for the deck. This duel will definitely not be its only use in the fic, for its too much fun for a one time thing.**

**Anyway, I hope you like this chapter. Most of it was dueling, I know, but the next chapter will have a lot of cool monologues, fights, and since I'm in a script-writing mood, even a high speed chase! I'll finish up the Ryu vs. ECS duel as well as the three-way duel, and then Jason gets his second duel of the fic, while my favorite character of them all, Seto Kaiba, gets to face a challenger! All of this, next time on Yu-Gi-Oh! Nightrise!**


	7. Why So Serious?

CHAPTER SIX: Why So Serious

CHAPTER SIX: Why So Serious?

**DuelistBlake1852: No problem. The story is going to get very mysterious and intriguing from now on, anyway.**

**HimmeAmelie: Yugi seemed what? The word was censored, lol. **

**Metal Overlord 2.0: Hope you enjoy it, then. I got your email by the way, I think that card is very cool and could definitely work.**

**Mysticlife: Well, that's indeed a more ethical way to spend time rather then reading the things that come from the imagination of a crazy teenager, lol. In any case, thanks a lot.**

"I have to say, I hate this place," growled Brian Palmer to Jason. The younger man ignored him as he peaked over the side of the alley. "Our portal was supposed to bring us within the general area of Eagle's ally in Necropolis… We'll need to find him in order to make it to the palace and challenge this mysterious ruler for possession of the Seal of Immortality."

"Agreed," muttered Brian. "I was gonna talk about splitting up, but it's one thing to be alone in Vegas, nasty as it is, and another to be alone in this damn place."

Jason gave a small smile, without humor in it. He was well accustomed to Brian's grumbling, as they had teamed up for many assignments with Eagle. They had quite a successful track record, and had even grown closer as friends over the years, despite the age gap. Brian was twenty-eight, and had been working with Eagle for a little under a decade. Before that, he had been an aspiring basketball player and had even made the NBA Draft after being voted League MVP of the 2008 NCAA Championship. He was selected as second overall draft pick by the New York Knicks, but for some reason, had dropped out three days after his explosive debut in which he recorded thirty-four points, eleven rebounds, and eight assists.

Despite the fact that he guided his new team to a thirty-two point blowout of the Minnesota Timberwolves, and was by far the favorite for the NBA Rookie of the Year award, something that he refused to disclose to anyone made him suddenly hand in his resignation. He returned the fourteen million dollars that the Knicks were paying him, and then suddenly disappeared. Only Eizan himself knew why he had chosen to give up what looked like a momentous career and come to work for a secret organization, but he refused to disclose it to anyone.

"Have you brought your real deck this time?" commented Brian. Jason nodded.

"I didn't think it was necessary to use it against scum like Dent. Still, my real deck does have elements of that one I had used temporarily. You know what it's like: it combines the dragon strategy with the other one."

Brian nodded. "What's my record against it? Like thirty-four to one?"

Jason nodded. "But don't remind me of that one." A stupid grin spread across Brian's face.

"Can't take even the memory of it, can you, my brother? Are you still in denial? Well, you made up for it in the next one."

Jason shook his head, and then flicked his eyes to the side. "Someone's coming…" Brian nodded and the two slipped into the shadow of the large building. It was night by now, and there were distant lights far away from them that seemed to light up the city. But considering they were both dressed in dark jackets and jeans, they were pretty much invisible to the casual passer by.

But the one who was coming was no casual passer by. He was dressed in a black robes and his head was as bald as you could get. Blue eyes seemed to hold a flickering sparkle, but despite this he had the semblance of one was extremely old and exhausted. His features were those of a regular, middle-aged man.

"Jason Becker… Brian Palmer…"

Jason walked out of the shadows without hesitation. "Are you Eagle's contact?" he said in a testy voice. The old man nodded. "Unfortunately, I have been so for seven years too long."

"How long have you been here?" asked Brian, joining in the conversation.

"Seven years."

Brian whistled as he saw a couple of soldiers marching across the pavement opposite the alley where they were located. "I can see why you don't like the place."

"How do I know you're not a spy for the Necropolian monarchy?" said Jason frankly. The older man shrugged. "Well, you're going to have to trust me. Don't you guys have some kind of password that you're supposed to ask me?"

Jason looked pointedly at Brian, who gave a nervous cough. "Ah… Ya' know…"

Jason impatiently brushed him aside. "What came first: Shadow Magic or the Shadow Realm?"

The man frowned, and scratched his shiny head. "A circle has no beginning." "Nicely phrased," commented Jason, and Brian sighed. "What is it with Eagle and its mysterious phrases and passwords?"

"Probably something about Eizan being, like, five hundred years old," muttered the old man. "I'm Angel, by the way. Of course, that's not my real name, but I'm hardly likely to reveal that, am I?"

"Glad to see you haven't lost your sense of precaution after being stuck in this dump for nearly two decades," replied Brian.

Angel's eyes twinkled. "On the contrary, Mr. Palmer, living in Necropolis will sharpen your alertness and sense of precaution… _If_, you wish to survive for as long as I have, that is." There was something ominous about his words, but Jason brushed it off.

"It would be advisable for us to return to my house, so that we can try and find the other duelists sent into this hell-hole. If we can do that, then at the very least I can give you more information about the palace where the King resides. If each and every one of you survive, then maybe you will actually be able to penetrate the perimeter and face the King himself. When that happens, it's pretty much an all or nothing deal," said Angel, as he began to walk away.

Jason and Brian caught up. "Is your house far?"

"No, it's right around the corner," replied the elderly man, as they turned to a much more dank street, where even less light reached. "I can't afford to live in the swankier part of town… If anything in Necropolis can be called swanky. Heck, I'm not very popular with the authorities as it is. If they found out that I entered through a portal, then it would be the executioner's axe for me."

Brian made a face as they walked up to a small bungalow. It was black, just like everything in the city. The architecture was quite interesting though. It resembled an ancient Chinese nobleman's house, with a pair of short turrets on either side. It was a two storey house, with strange inscriptions around the door and the pair of windows on the upper floor.

"Err…. Nice place you've got here," said Brian lamely.

Angel glared at him. "You think I _like_ this place? The only reason I agreed to be Eagle's contact here was because Eizan asked me to. I couldn't really say no to the man."

"Why?" asked Jason, speaking for the first time in a while.

Angel's face darkened. "There's something about Eizan that makes every offer of his to you an offer you can't refuse. Besides, I owe the man. He's done things for me that no one else could have done." Brian tried to press further, but that was all Angel would say on the topic as he pressed his hand into a silver pad on the door.

It shined slightly, and there was a click. Angel pushed the door open, and walked into the large, dark hall. He flicked a switch and single chandelier lit up.

"Home… Sweet home," he muttered, making a dirty face on the word 'sweet'.

"Well, it actually seems pointless to hang around in this… this… you call this a house?!" trailed off Brian, looking around. All over the walls were paintings depicting negative, dark and depressing scenes. A number of weapons hung around, and a sculpture of a headless man stood by the door as a coat hanger.

"I have to fit in," reminded Angel. "If all the richer people in Necropolis have weird paintings on their walls, I'll have to follow suit, or the martial government will get suspicious. After all, people who come to Necropolis are normally those who like evil and murderous things. When I got here, they even questioned whether I was useful enough to be here. They had just executed a whole load of slaves, and I was actually on the verge of being arrested myself, but I provided a clue to the district leader about the Seal in the King's possession. I don't know much about it myself, but I made up something about hearing a wraith talk about it, the man was able to pass it through to the King and get himself promoted. He spared me in thanks."

Jason didn't seem too interested. "Well, I'm going to scout the area to see if the other duelists that Zerato told us about are here."

"Don't," warned Angel. "You'll probably get lost. I'll need to come with you. I can make some subtle enquiries as well."

Jason nodded. Meanwhile, the older man opened a cupboard and pulled out two black robes similar to the one he was wearing and tossed them to the duo. "You'll need these in order to look inconspicuous. Levi's aren't exactly in fashion in Necropolis."

Brian gave his a sour look, but threw it on nonetheless. Following Angel's example, they put on their hoods as well, so that they could not be distinguished from the hundreds of other inhabitants of the city. Meanwhile, Angel also opened a trap door in the dusty wooden floor.

"What's that for?" asked Brian. With a grim smile, Angel held up a red, circular object. It was the Duel Disk One, the strange and awkward machine that Seto Kaiba had first designed to use in his Duelist Kingdom rematch with Yugi.

"A DD1?" questioned Jason. Angel nodded. "I took it with me, just in case. I have my deck, too. Never had to use it before this… Hope I don't have to now. But with two Eagle agents, you can never be too careful."

"People duel in Necropolis?" asked Brian curiously. Angel nodded.

"Long story, really. See, thing is that there's a lot of Shadow magic around the place. I know that you know the history of the Shadow Realm, you eventually find out that kind of stuff when you're an Eagle agent. A lot of the more powerful demons here can use Shadow magic, but they're not so proficient that they can actually use their magic like they did back in ancient Egypt. But it was still enough to give them an edge in certain things, for example, the ability to subconsciously influence draws. Take Pegasus, for example. He had the ability to read his opponent's mind with his Millennium Eye. Of course, these guys are nowhere near his level, but since Duel Monsters is so closely connected to the original Shadow Games, you tend to play better when using their powers, however minor.

"Eventually, the King caught on to how useful it was to duel in order to achieve one's aims. Duel Spirits that landed up here were forced into cards, and now most of the more powerful nobles have decks. Some of the Spirits remained free, however, on the condition that they remained a part of the King's army. Some of them even duel themselves, and tend to be more dangerous then the nobles. Believe me, it's not a safe place to have a weak deck. I hope that yours are up to the scratch."

Jason nodded. "I happen to have a one hundred and ninety two to fifteen record with mine. Believe me, I can take care of myself."

"Yeah, don't worry," put in Brian. "In fact, I'm more worried if your deck, with older cards and slower strategies will be able to match up to the competition if need be."

Angel shook his head. "Don't worry about me. My deck has a set of rare cards that were actually never meant to be released to the public back when Duelist Kingdom was going to begin. I had a friend in Industrial Illusions who was in charge of disposing of extra copies of unwanted cards. Only two sets were ever made. Pegasus kept the first one, but I was able to trick him into getting my own set. Don't worry, I can easily hold my own."

Jason shrugged. "Fine. Let's go." Angel tucked the Duel Disk into his robe, and opened the door.

"I was able to detect the portal opening about two miles from here towards the west," muttered Angel. Brian looked at him strangely. "_Detect _the portal?"

"I have my methods," replied Angel obnoxiously. "Unfortunately, that is the military hotspot of Necropolis. The number of soldiers and dark Duel Spirits there are comparatively larger then other places, so it would have been smart of them to simply fall back and try to regroup with the three of us. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like they have made definite progress, so we should start from there and try to work our way through the easiest route to find them."

Jason nodded. "What are the chances of us having to encounter some obstruction or the other?"

Angel gave a dry laugh. "In Necropolis… Expect it."

He left it at that as they slowly walked through the deserted, dark streets of the City of the Dead. They walked with their heads bowed so as to resemble the bleak children of the hellish metropolis, and a cold chill began to creep into Jason's bones despite the fact that he was wearing a jacket as well as the thick cloak given to him by Angel.

He looked at his hand, and frowned. When he had entered Necropolis, it had been its regular color, lightly tanned by the strong Californian sun, but toned down whenever he visited the East coast or Europe. However, it had now turned a rather unhealthy looking, pale tone. He looked over at Brian. Even though he was African American himself, he had started to look a bit pale himself. And when he turned to glance at Angel, he noticed for the first time that the old man's skin was a bizarre white. He looked almost like a ghost, and his dry sense of humor didn't break the uneasiness that Jason felt.

"_There's something wrong about this place_," he thought to himself. "_Definitely, there's more to the entire thing then meets the eye._"

"Wait," hissed Angel, holding up a wiry arm. They peered over the corner of a building to see a sleek, dark figure speeding across the road at an inhuman speed. He would have outsprinted the one hundred meters record holder with ease, and had the subtle air of a cheetah to his movement. He was being chased by a shorter figure that seemed to have great difficulty keeping up, despite the fact that he had a golden glow around his body.

Before Angel could say anything, Jason had taken off as well. He was an experienced sprinter with good stamina, and could easily average five minutes for a mile's run. However, as he weaved his way through the two buildings, he felt himself pressured to keep up with the other two, he seemed to move at almost supernatural speed. He didn't even know why he was chasing them…. It was just instinct.

Glancing over his shoulder, he saw that Brian had joined him as well. The years of basketball training had done his stamina good, and adding to the fact that he was trained in several forms of lower martial arts made him a combatant at the peak of his physical fitness.

Obviously, Angel was not able to keep up with the two younger men in speed. A distant shout of anger told them that he did not approve of them taking off in the unknown city. But he didn't plan on leaving them alone, and had raised a card.

In front of him had appeared a brown lion like creature with a black mane, a horn on his forehead, glowing yellow eyes, and sharp clawed hands and feet. It was Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts (1500/1200). Leaping onto it, he had taken off in pursuit of his charges.

The lion quickly brought him in line with the panting Jason. "What are you doing?" he bellowed. "You can't take off like that! You'll be arrested!"

Jason pointed at the figure. Angel looked up, and gasped. He was dressed in a flowing blue jacket with a black vest underneath. His hair was in a bizarre style, and tended to remind someone of a starfish, except for the fact that it was all of red, yellow and black.

"Yugi Moto?!" Angel shouted out loud in surprise. He knew that Zerato normally recruited big guns for operations like this, but this… This was off the charts. Yugi Moto was the only duelist with a perfect record in professional dueling, and although Angel had wondered what exactly was going on when he saw the Millennium Puzzle on Yugi's neck during his duels against Mai Valentine and Joey Wheeler in Duelist Kingdom, he never really thought that it was a real Millennium Item. It was apparent that it was all that was keeping the faltering sprinter from completely collapsing in his chase of the mysterious figure that had by now gained a lead of perhaps twenty feet. It looked like he would disappear into a side alley any moment and be gone before his pursuer could catch up.

As the furthest runner got to the end of street, and was about to take a turn, a couple of other dark forms materialized in front of him. They were dressed in heavy, mud colored armor, and seemed to have demonic features. Before they could try and stop him, he delivered a powerful punch straight to the head of one of his attackers. The speed of his run as well as his seemingly extraordinary strength knocked the demon's head straight off, while the headless corpse fell to the ground.

Without breaking his run, he leapt into the air, about four feet from the other one. With amazing flexibility, he carried his foot upwards and caught the demon in the face with a powerful kick while rotating skywards. His momentum carried him upwards and he completely a complete aerial somersault of three hundred and sixty degrees and landing neatly on his feet. He took off yet again, his stamina seemingly unending.

Jason's eyes widened. "_Could it be…_"

There was a roar of anger and three more soldiers appeared, their scimitars raised in defense. Using his incredible dexterity once again, he took off again. This time, however, his legs were pressed together and this made his coat fly outwards a little. His arms were outstretched, and the power of his jump made him spin three hundred and sixty degrees once more. His turning fists slammed into each of the demons one by one, knocking them to the ground.

Landing on one hand, the sleek figure somersaulted again, this time reaching twelve feet into the air before spinning around and landing in a crouch before continuing as if nothing had happened.

Jason snarled in anger. It had to be. No one else could execute such a series of gravity defying leaps, jumps and somersaults. It was Paradias' most feared operative… "SIGMA!"

Mid way through a leap that would have broken the Olympic long jump record, the mysterious figure, apparently called Sigma, spun around to break his momentum and landed neatly on both feet, and his pursuers got their first good look at him.

He was a wiry man of about five foot ten, dressed in a dark, light suit. He wore a light, strong, black coat over it, and similar shoes. His eyes were covered by dark tinted sunglasses. His features were thin and his face was pale, but his face was not without a thin, mocking smile on it.

Brian gasped as he jumped to a halt, his hands falling on his knees. "YOU!"

Yugi, for it was indeed the King of Games who had given chase to the one who had so easily and mercilessly killed Gabriel after he had pulled through in the duel glared at the man, while Angel testily slipped one leg off his monster.

"You know him?" he muttered.

Jason was still glaring, and gave a brief nod without even looking at the older man. His voice was dripping with venom. "I see that you have decided to follow us here as well."

Sigma spoke in a very calm voice. It was the voice of a man in control of the situation. He didn't seem worried at all, and it had a smooth, artificial quality to it. He rolled every word off his mouth thoroughly, like someone who had taken time to learn the language carefully and explore every aspect of the pronunciation.

"Mr. Becker… I can't say I'm surprised to see you here. You always… What's that phrase? Got around?"

Yugi gave Sigma a hard glare. "Why did you kill Gabriel?"

The man delicately adjusted his shades and looked over at the source of the interruption. "Yugi Moto… I was, however, rather shocked to see you here. I must say that Eagle's recruiting policy must have improved if they were able to convince you to visit this place."

"Answer the question," he said through gritted teeth.

Sigma shrugged. "It's my job. He lost, and would have implicated my employers. Not something that could be afforded. You, however, do not have any reason to regret it. He was not exactly a very nice man… I wouldn't be surprised if his mother sent me a thank-you note."

He gave a dark chuckle at his private joke.

"Well, gentlemen, it's been enjoyable to chat with you. However, I am afraid that I must leave to attend to more important matters."

"I think not," put in Jason, stepping forward. "I am going to take you down once and for all, before you kill any more innocent lives." Yugi looked over at him, but said nothing. Brian put a hand on his friend's shoulder, and spoke in a low voice. "I'll take care of this."

Jason shook his head. "No… This is my fight." With a roar of anger, he leapt forward, his fists clenched. Sigma gave an enigmatic smile as Jason swung forward with all his might. His arms folded, Sigma leapt into the air at a thirty degree angle, and his heel rammed into Jason's chin, knocking him backwards. He fell to his knees, his eyes watering. Sigma landed on both feet, and his fist soared forward.

Jason caught it in his hand, and the force of the punch actually caused a tremor to go through his body. "_Hell…. I heard he was strong… But this is just crazy_!" He felt tiny cuts appear on his hand and drops of blood began to leak out.

Sigma then moved with speed, strength and flexibility that Jason thought was impossible. Slipping his fist forward, he wrapped his fingers around Jason's wrist in an iron grip. With a flick of his powerful shoulder muscle, he swung his opponent into the air so that his feet were actually pointing skywards for a moment.

At the same time, his left leg came soaring up in anticipation of meeting Jason's back after his arm completed the full circle. However, the Eagle agent twisted his legs backwards to crash into Sigma's shoulders, tearing his arm free of Sigma's grasp. Despite the power of the kick, Sigma barely budged. To avoid falling over, Jason leapt back and landed in a crouch, before standing up and sliding into a defensive stance, with both arms in front of him.

Sigma sighed. "Come now, Jason. You know you can't keep up with me… Not after so many other, _better _Eagle agents failed."

Jason snarled in anger. He was good, no doubt. He was one of Eagle's best hand to hand fighters, but Sigma was just dominating him. His anger grew as he remembered the stories that went around Eagle about Paradias' ultimate operative… The perfect assassin. He had put down so many Eagle agents with ease, he seemed to have no weakness. Even when dueling, he completely wrecked his opponents. Jason had never seen him before, and had only heard stories about his fabled invulnerability. Now, however, he realized that the stories were actually undermining his strength and speed.

"In fact, I don't even think this is worth my time," he continued. "I'll be seeing you sooner or later, hopefully in a more civilized manner of combat… Perhaps on the dueling field. For now, I suggest you treasure your life."

With a skyward somersault, he latched onto an overhanging gargoyle on a nearby building. Without stopping, he bounced off and landed on the terrace of the opposite building. With an effortless jump, he crossed the forty-five foot deep cavern between the two dwellings, and disappeared over the top of the other building.

Jason growled in anger. He knew that by the time he was able to get onto the top of the building, Sigma would be long gone.

"You shouldn't have fought him yourself, bro," muttered Brian. "He was dominating you."

Jason looked at his bleeding hand. "Sigma… It was unbelievable. His speed, his strength… It was not _human_."

Yugi decided to make his presence known. "Since you did fight my opponent's killer, I'm going to assume you're the two Eagle agents that Zerato told us about."

Jason nodded. "I wasn't aware that he was into recruiting top class duelists… I also didn't know that you had experience in these kinds of matters. No one ever thought that pyramid hanging around your neck was an actual Millennium Item. But after the way you were able to keep up with Sigma, I'd have to say that it is. I'm Jason, by the way, Jason Becker."

Brian added in. "Name's Palmer… Brian Palmer." Yugi nodded. "I'm glad to see that you two were able to stay together. I've had to split up with the ones whom I came here with. Were you able to find Eagle's contact?"

Jason nodded, jerking a thumb at Angel who was skulking behind them. "You can call me Angel," said the old man imperiously.

Yugi gave him a brief nod. "Our first priority, obviously, would be to find my friends. There are four of them… You probably know most of them through their dueling careers. Daniel Pilkington, Ryu Zaytel, CJ Andersen and Tea Gardner."

"Yeah, I've heard of the first three… They were involved in that wild Shadow Tournament, weren't they?"

Despite their current predicament, thinking back to the horrors of the Shadow Tournament made Yugi shiver. The hellish ways of Kilomet Sestros and the crazy duelists all over the island had easily made it the most terrible tournament he had participated in, other then the recent Tournament of Shadows.

"Daniel should be able to take care of himself… So should Ryu. CJ and Tea are right now together, CJ is a tad weaker then the other two but together it shouldn't be too hard for them to hold out against anyone who attacks them until we find them and regroup."

"Well, looks like we can at least begin that process," said a loud voice. Jason whirled around, only to see a single, lean figure standing in the misty night of Necropolis. Yugi relaxed instantly as he saw the blazing red hair and wolf ears of Daniel Pilkington.

"Daniel… Good to see you were able to make it. I found the Eagle operatives."

Daniel nodded, glancing over at the group of three. There were brief introductions, after which they decided to first search for CJ and Tea. Angel insisted on not splitting up, saying that it was extremely easy to get lost on Necropolis.

"Fine," sighed Daniel, rubbing his bleary eyes. "I want to get back to your house… I haven't slept in fifteen hours."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

CJ and Tea were panting. "We don't know where we're going?" moaned the female duelist. CJ looked around him. As much as he hated to admit it, Tea was right. The entire place looked very familiar, and it was obvious that they had been moving in circles.

"Wait a sec…" he muttered. "I can here something." It was a very familiar sound to ears like those of his and Tea's. He could hear the cold declarations, the roar of monsters… He knew exactly what it was. It was the sound of Ryu locked in his brutal duel with the Elemental Cosmic Sentinel.

"Ryu is here," he muttered. Tea edged forward, and soon, the sound of Ryu summoning his Luster Dragon #3 reached her ears as well. "We'd better find him," she replied in a low voice. "There's strength in numbers, assuming he wins."

It wasn't too hard. The duel was taking place on the street that was right around the corner, and peering around the edge of the building, they could see Ryu's titanic crystal dragon unleashing a barrage of shards of glass at the purple whale on the Sentinel's field.

The two exchanged trash talk momentarily, but then it began to fade away as the Sentinel's turn arrived. Instead of drawing, he suddenly gave an insane cackle.

"If you two will reveal yourselves this will become a whole lot easier!" CJ and Tea gasped, and involuntarily revealed themselves. The Sentinel whirled around with a wicked grin on his face.

"It will be much easier to dispose of all three at once rather then having to find you one at a time. Luckily for you, I will have to complete my duel with this foolish dragon demon rather then taking care of you two now."

Ryu was about to retort, when a frown came over the Sentinel's face. "I must return… Very well, Your Majesty. I will be there at once."

Looking back at Ryu, he spoke in a harsh voice. "His Majesty has demanded my presence at his palace… Luckily for you, this battle must be continued at an other time. However, I will not leave empty handed." He fixed Tea with an icy glare.

Ryu realized what was happening far too late. "No-…!" Before he could complete his sentence, the Sentinel had deactivated his Duel Disk, and had crossed the gap to CJ and Tea within a minute. CJ raised his fists, but his demonic strength was no match for the Sentinel's agility. He clamped a hand over Tea's mouth, and a strange, blue mist issued forth.

Tea immediatley fell to her knees, and was caught by the Sentinel. "ATTACK!" roared Ryu just as the laughing Sentinel took off into the air to avoid the crystalline blast delivered by the angry Luster Dragon #3. Within seconds, he had disappeared.

CJ gave an angry scream, and stamped the ground hard. "DAMNIT!" His boot left an imprint an inch and a half deep.

Ryu was seething as well. "Blasted freak… I swear to God, that thing will NOT escape me the next time we meet."

Their fits of rage seemed to have attracted passers-by as an outbreak of mutterings was heard. They turned around to see Yugi, Daniel, Jason, Brian and Angel coming up to them, relieved expressions on the faces of the first two.

Yugi's expression, however, quickly turned to one of horror. "Ryu, CJ… Tea… Don't tell me she…"

CJ spoke in a voice choked with anger. "I'm sorry Yugi… That freak was able to take her when he escaped."

Yugi's roar of anguish pierced the silence of the entire city.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

James gave Aster a haughty stare. "You know me," he repeated blandly. The Destiny Hero duelist nodded, an intense look in his eyes.

"Your existence was always a rumor, a myth, something that never existed. But it's true… Why don't you care to enlighten us, James Cassell?"

"So you know," he muttered to himself. Ruin was silent as her master fixed an intrigued stare on Aster. "Very well… Then you obviously know that I can't allow you to compromise my identity. All chances of you walking out of this duel alive are finished."

Blight decided to step in. "Who cares about a dead man's identity? Come now James, you know enough about me to realize that even if the two of you took me on two on one, it would be hopeless."

"The life-points tell a different story," retorted James. "How very true," said Blight in a smooth voice.

"But even then, it is futile to try and break through my ultimate defensive strategy. However, show us your best, James."

"You will regret asking for that," growled James, pointing at Dasher. "Ruin, attack!" The goddess of destruction gracefully leapt through the air, and whipped her shadowy axe around. It cut through the robotic Hero like a hot knife through butter, and the two pieces fell on either side before vanishing.

(Aster: 7800, Blight: 6950, James: 7300)

Aster grunted at the first instance of damage done to him in the duel. Indeed, he knew what Ruin's effect was, which boded even worse for him. His only consolation was that his turn followed immediatley after, and he would be set up some semblance of a defense if Blight decided to go on the offensive. Right now, he really was the handicapped duelist, for the Destiny Heroes needed time to execute their more powerful strategies. Against Blight's defensive lockdown and James' mighty offense, he was quite the sitting duck.

"Now, Ruin's ability allows her to attack twice in the same battle phase."

Ruin zipped across the field, and pulled her arm back before dealing a crushing blow to Captain Tenacious that literally smashed it apart. The many pieces flew all over the place, leaving Aster wide open.

"I set a card and I can end my turn," said James idly.

Aster drew his next card and felt a slight tinge of excitement. Dasher's demise would now work to his advantage. "_Thanks to the fact that Dasher was destroyed, I can automatically special summon any monster I draw…_"

"I use Dasher's effect to summon Destiny Hero – Diamond Dude (1400/1600) in defense."

A slight glow formed on the field, and from it was a man with a green tattered cap, long grey hair, black leather pants and a black shirt, a diamond looking mask over his eyes, and many diamonds covering his body, some sticking out at least two feet.

"Diamond Dude has a pretty neat effect. He lets me flip the top card on my deck. If it's a normal magic card, it goes to my Graveyard and next turn, in my Standby Phase, I get to activate it. Let's see now what my card is!"

Drawing a card, Aster gave a faint smile and showed it to his opponents. "It's my spell Destiny Draw, so this goes to my Graveyard, but it'll be back next turn. Then I'll set one more monster facedown and end my turn."

Blight drew. He disliked playing an only defense strategy… "I play the magic card, Ancient Rules! This allows me to special summon a level five or higher normal monster from my hand to the field. So, I shall call upon the mighty Gogiga Gagagigo (2950/2800)!"

A shadowy monstrosity materialized onto Blight's field. Aster stepped back with a gasp, the reptile seemed like a humanoid Godzilla. Heavy jaws leaked saliva as razor sharp fangs glowed silver. It skin was blood red, and it had golden plates on its knees and shoulders, with large spikes. Its muscles rippled under tightly stretched skin, and it wore a few plates of golden armor.

"You now face the second most powerful normal monster in the game after the Blue Eyes White Dragon itself," laughed Blight, folding his arms.

Even James seemed a bit put off. "This is what Gagagigo becomes?"

Blight nodded. "The story is extraordinary, perhaps unique. You see, Gagagigo started out as the familiar of Eria the Water Charmer, helping her access her true power if and when needed. However, he desired more power of his own, and set off down a path of evil. Eria's efforts to convince him otherwise were in vain, and he soon found himself the target of a warrior called Freed the Brave Wanderer. They fought long and hard, and Freed was forced to banish him into another dimension. Bent on revenge, he attempted to leave through a portal he found after months of searching. He landed smack in the middle of a brewing war in the Dark World, and joined the demon king known as the Invader of Darkness and his growing army. However, the Invader feared that one day, Gagagigo would be able to even surpass him, and imprisoned him.

"Eventually, Gagagigo found himself in a cell battle with the Marauding Captain, a noble warrior from the ranks of the army that opposed the Invader, and the Blazing Inpachi. Gagagigo was saved from an attack by the Captain, and the two struck a strong friendship. Together, they defeated the Inpachi and escaped the Invader's prison. Gagagigo joined his newfound friend's army, and even saved one of his men from an attack from the Invader of Darkness. However, he was in desperate need of medical attention after the attack, and turned to Kozaky. Kozaky reconstructed his injured body with cybernetic implants involving Dark World technology. As it turned out, the scientist was a spy among the warriors, and wished to transform the foolishly good-hearted Gagagigo into Giga Gagagigo for his own purposes.

"Of course, it worked. He turned against his friends and soon gained more power to reach his ultimate form, Gogiga Gagagigo. The Invader's fears had been confirmed, and he was struck down by his old soldier after a vengeful battle. Gagagigo had now lost his mind, and killed Kozaky and his apprentice Magical Scientist as well. He mindlessly activated the mad scientist's ultimate invention, the Monster Gate, to return to his former dimension in order to seek out Freed the Brave Wanderer, who has now risen to be Freed the Matchless General. With the aid of his various weapons, the two are very evenly matched, and still battle to this day. The longer he is unable to defeat his old foe, the more Gogiga Gagagigo loses his mind! And with madness comes power. You shall see that soon as he strikes down Ruin, Queen of Oblivion!"

The gargantuan reptile gave a massive shriek of rage and madness, before taking a massive leap into the air. The leap would have been a good forty feet had it not been for the ceiling, and it landed right in front of Ruin. The goddess tried to defend with her axe, but its massive claws moved through the air like daggers, and a single swipe had reduced Ruin to a simple mess of bones, flesh and skin. The titan finished off the barely alive queen with a single stamp of its huge foot.

(Aster: 7800, Blight: 6950, James: 6550)

"And you lose your grip on the duel," commented Blight with a faint smile. "Kozaky and Kozaky's Sexy Kitty can now reduce your life-points even further!"

Letting out a small feral growl, the female purple furred cat creature rushed forward and leapt into the air. Coming down hard, she struck James in the chest, as Kozaky himself followed it up with a bodyslam. The duelist laughed it off derisively, and didn't seem to care despite the fact he was now very behind on life-points.

(Aster: 7800, Blight: 6950, James: 4650)

"I set a card and end my turn," finished Blight, but before he could say anything else, James pressed a button on his Duel Disk. A card flipped up to reveal a picture of Ruin, Queen of Oblivion being attacked by a swarm of shadows. As she fought them off with her axe, the silhouette of another female warrior was present behind her.

"I activate my facedown Rite of Succession! When Ruin, Queen of Oblivion is destroyed, I can special summon Ruin, Princess of Destruction (1700/600) from my graveyard!" A female warrior with ebony black hair appeared. She was dressed in red satin robes, and carried an evil looking dagger.

"She is the daughter of Ruin, Queen of Oblivion. Less powerful then her mother though she may be, she is still far too much for _you _to handle, Phoenix! Attack his facedown monster with Deathstrike Dagger!" The princess gave Aster a very evil smile, and then leapt across the field. With her hair flying out behind her and her eyes glowing emerald, she looked for all the world like a cat as she pounced on Aster's monster.

The card flipped over and a muscular man with dark skin and long hair materialized on his side of the field, roaring loudly. He had strange-looking mechanical gauntlets on his hands, and white coils wrapped around his legs. He knelt down and shielded himself with his arms.

"Destiny Hero Dunker (1200/1700) is a bit too powerful for you," said Aster with a faint smile. Ruin tried to stab him, but throwing his powerful arms forward, he shoved her back across the field.

"Fine," growled James. "Ruin can only attack twice if she destroyed a monster on the first attempt, so I'm afraid I will be forced to leave you your card." Looking over the other cards in his hand, he gave a frustrated sigh. "I set a card and end my turn."

Drawing slowly, Aster gave a real grin, his first during the course of the duel. "Now, Diamond Dude's effect activates! Since the card I sent to the graveyard last turn with his effect was a normal magic card, I'm allowed to activate it without paying its cost!"

He pulled the top card out of his graveyard. "It was Destiny Draw. It requires me to discard a Destiny Hero to draw two cards, but since I don't need to pay that cost, it's just a regular Pot of Greed for me." Snapping up the top two cards off his deck, he slammed another one onto his Duel Disk.

"I summon Destiny Hero – Fear Monger (1000/1000)!"

An olive colored warrior with what looked like a set of jet wings on his back, a jet like engine weapon on his right arm, sharp clawed fingers on the other hand, and solid armor covering his body appeared onto the field with a small battle cry.

"Before I finish up this combo with one of my most powerful monsters, I use Diamond Dude's effect!" Picking up the top card, he gave a small sigh and slid it into the graveyard.

"Now, you will face one of the most powerful monsters in the game! I sacrifice Diamond Dude, Dunker, and Fear Monger!"

Each of the three monsters on the field vanished in a flash of light, leaving the field empty. A flash of light then enveloped the field. James looked around with unease on his face for the first time during the duel. Blight, however, looked perfectly unworried.

"Three sacrifices?" cringed James. "What is this?"

The light died down and a dark form was present on Aster's field. It was a large black creature with massive black wings. A pair of chains were wrapped around his neck, with white horns sticking out of it's head. The creature had olive skin with red eyes. On the monster's right arm was a large sharp looking object protruding from his wrist that looked like a sword.

"This is Destiny Hero Dogma (3400/2400)!" said Aster triumphantly. Blight spoke in a neutral tone.

"Believe it or not, Mr. Phoenix, I know everything about your Destiny Hero deck. Dogma's effect states that if it is special summoned, you can halve your opponent's life-points during their next Standby Phase. Of course, you will have to choose one of us, but that's up to you…. In any case, I know that this isn't the _real_ threat of your deck."

Aster's face darkened. "Yes… You know what I speak of, don't you? It makes you recall your fateful duel with Sartorius all those years ago… When you failed your friends, you failed your deck, and most of all, you failed before the Light of Destruction!"

Aster's eyes shot open, and even James took notice. "How do you know about that?" said Aster in a deathly cold voice.

Blight shrugged. "Let's just say I had a front row seat. In any case, please pardon the rude interruption and continue your move."

Aster's eyes were blazing. "_How the hell could he know about that_?!" Pointing at Gogiga Gagagigo, he spoke in a harsh voice. "Attack that monster with Justice Axe!"

Letting out a small grunt of acknowledgment, the creature leapt into the air and went sailing straight for the reptilian monstrosity. Coming down hard, the creature slammed its sword into the titan's heavy defensive arm, shattering it easily. Then, it slashed again, and this time shattered its head. The remaining part of Gogiga Gagagigo crumbled to bits, laid to rest at last.

(Aster: 7800, Blight: 6400, James: 4650)

James spoke up. "You may believe yourself to be in control of this little game now, Phoenix, but I assure you it is not so. The real battle is between Blight and myself; you are nothing but a part of my job. Honestly, I came here to take you out and got to duel Blight instead! It's like dropping a nickel but finding a quarter!"

Aster glared at the both of them. He hated it that being one of the top fifteen duelists in the world, he wasn't being taken seriously by one person whom he had never heard of, and another whose dark past had no connection with Duel Monsters whatsoever.

He gave a growl of frustration. "I end my turn."

Blight drew cheerily. "And now, Mr. Phoenix, your time to decide has come. Will you actually reduce my life-points by half, or will you target Mr. Cassell? I don't want to pressure you, but your answer is needed soon so that we can continue the duel."

Aster's mind was an amalgam of confusion. If he targeted Blight, it would certainly help, as his Kozaky lock strategy prevented his life-points from being touched. James of course, definitely had a certain monster lurking around in his deck that would require a lot of life-points to be used effectively. But the odds of him drawing it were miniscule…

He decided. With a glare, he pointed at Blight.

"Feel the pain," he said harshly, and the titanic monster on his field leapt into the air, and caught the glow of the moonlight that filtered into the room. It fell to the ground behind Kozaky and his girlfriend, and with a roar swung its sword at Blight.

Blight sighed. "Big mistake. I activate my facedown card Kozaky's Regeneration Lab! When I have two monsters with Kozaky in their name in play, I can special summon one level two or lower monster from my deck for every Kozaky monster I have in play. I choose Petit Dragon (600/700) and Fox Fire (300/200)!"

A very perky-looking, green and yellow, short dragon with fairy-like flapping wings and a snake-like body structure ascended onto the field, floating around happily while smiling with its black eyes and wide open, toothless mouth. It was followed by a small, peaceful red and orange fox rose to the field, with a bright flame burning on its thin tail, with the end of the tail being white. Its mouth's fur was also white, and it had black eyes.James raised an eyebrow. "No… Too easy. You have something more up your sleeve."

"Too true," agreed Blight. "You see, I play activate the trap card known as Lab of Kozaky! This card will allow Kozaky to work his devious magic and transform these pathetic, peaceful creatures into terrible beasts of death!"

Kozaky gave an evil grin, and rubbed his hands together in glee. Glancing at the two monsters, he looked for all the world like a child in a sweet shop as he snapped his fingers and Blight's field was covered in darkness. When it receded, Kozaky and Kozaky's Sexy Kitty were flanked by two beasts very unlike the calm, child-like, almost cute ones that had been present before.

In the place of the Petit Dragon was a strange dragon about fifteen feet long. It had blood red skin, and in places its skin was covered with metal instead. One of its arms had been fully ripped off, and in its place a monstrous, metal paw had been fixed on. It had a long row of horns on its back, and its eyes had a dull, almost dead look to them. It spread its wings, and a shadow fell across the field.

Next to it was an equally large fox with black fur. In many places, metal implements covered its body. Its tail was extremely large, and one could tell that its genes had been tampered with.

"Meet DNA Helix Dragon (2000/2100) and Alien Fox Soul (2400/1700)!"

"It won't stop Dogma," commented Aster as the massive titan slammed its sword down on Blight. Calmly, the Horseman raised his hand and caught the weapon daintily between his forefinger and thumb. Try as it might, the Destiny Hero was unable to push through and continue the attack.

"What the-…" snarled Aster.

"It's the effect of my Alien Fox Soul," commented Blight. "It reduces all effect damage done to my to zero, and then I can increase the attack and defense points of one monster on my field by half the damage that would have been done."

Aster snarled in anger as the cat dressed in fur on Blight's field began to glow. She gave a surprised squeak (3200/3200).

"An impressive move by all counts," replied Aster. "But not even one of your monsters has the strength to defeat Dogma… And somehow, I find myself doubting that the effect of Lab of Kozaky would be so powerful unless it had some kind of drawback."

"Indeed, it does," replied Blight. "At the end of the turn, all monsters summoned by its effect are destroyed. But what does it matter? I was saved from your Destiny Hero, and I now have a powerful monster in play. Of course, I have not revealed the effect of DNA Helix Dragon. I can draw one card for every monster with Kozaky in its name that is in play!"

Calmly, he picked up two more cards, that gave him a total of three. "Now, I think it would be best for me to end my turn." At that point, the DNA Helix Dragon and the Alien Fox Soul both gave roars of pain and disappeared.

Drawing slowly, James gave a sick smirk. "Now, you will face the second powerhouse of my deck… I activate my facedown magic card, End of the World, once again!"

Blight looked up, a small hint of realization dawning on his face. "Don't tell me…"

"I sacrifice Dark Lucius LV8 (2800/900), to summon Demise, King of Armageddon (2400/2000)!"

Blue flames surrounded the area in the sky, soon raining down upon the field and erupting with dark energies. In the center of the flames, a tall monster with a black axe with a metal handle could be seen, stepping through the blue-tinted inferno. His arms and shoulders were covered in white flame designs, and the monster's head had metal horns sticking out of his helmet. His destructive, sharp eyes glowed red, as he raised his chosen weapon - a mighty axe with a double-edged and sharp blade, held together with a long, gray handle. He slowly floated over the field with an ominous presence.

Aster saw it, and gulped.

"Not that…"

"Yes that!" bellowed James. "The reincarnation of Chaos Emperor Dragon-Envoy of the End has arrived! Now watch as it obliterates every single one of your cards at the mere cost of two thousand of my life-points! WRATH OF JUDGMENT!"

Aster dropped his head down in a frustrated manner, harshly gazing up as the meteor-like flames spread across the field, burning and incinerating everything in play except for Demise himself. Despite its superior strength, Dogma stood no match for the King of Armageddon, and was destroyed with absurd ease. The female cat-human hybrid clung to the mad scientist as they were both burned away as well.

(Aster: 7800, Blight: 6400, James: 2650)

Aster glanced desperately at his hand. If James chose to attack him, he had nothing to protect himself. He would then lose the advantage he had been able to retain consistently throughout the duel, which was, of course, his higher life-points.

"Now… Who shall I choose?" muttered James to himself, looking from one of his opponents to the other. "I could eliminate over a third of your life-points, Blight, and leave you hapless before Phoenix's assault next turn. Or I could obey my orders and attack you… Phoenix."

The two watched him, and Demise gave a growl of impatience. Aster still tried to hide his apprehensiveness, but Blight refused to divulge any emotion. He folded his arms and watched him calmly.

"I have decided," muttered James.

He pointed at the space between them, and bellowed, "Demise, show Aster Phoenix why I must be feared!"

The massive fiend rushed forward, and heaved its axe upwards. With a roar, it slammed its axe into Aster. At first, it only stung slightly, but suddenly exploded into blue flames and a jolt of pain shot up his body. Slowly, Demise backed off, and he looked weakly at his Duel Disk to notice his reduced life-points.

(Aster: 5400, Blight: 6400, James: 2650)

"Now, I set two of my three remaining cards facedown and end my turn," finished James with a slight grin.

Aster drew weakly. He had lost complete control of the duel, and now his survival would depend on how lucky his draws were.

"Sorry, Phoenix, but when I said that I would defeat you I meant it. I activate Ring of Destruction, and use it on Demise!"

The spiked, grenaded collar locked itself around the fiend's neck. It dropped its axe and began to claw desperately at the ring, trying to rip it off.

"But that makes no sense!" shot back Aster. "It'll reduce your life-points to two hundred and fifty, meaning I can end your time in the duel this very turn!"

"Not really," replied James, pressing another button on his Duel Disk. The ring began to glow even more, and Demise was in a frenzy now, roaring in anger and perhaps, a little fright. The card depicted a picture of a golden snake shooting out of a wall, behind which a mercenary was hiding. Barrel Behind the Door.

Aster could barely say a word before Demise was consumed by the simultaneous explosion of six bombs. Its roar of pain was drowned out and a burst of black energy exploded out of James' field, careering towards both Aster and Blight. The one that targeted the former was twice as big as the other, and as it slammed into him, he barely had time to cry out in pain before it knocked him off his feet, sending him crashing into the wall.

Out of the corner off his eye, he noticed Blight deflecting the ball with a simple flick off his wrist… It exploded against another wall, but it didn't matter. The pain he was in was indescribable. Staggering to his feet, he heaved heavy gasps of pain. The smoke cleared to reveal Blight and James, identical, sadistic smiles on their faces.

(Aster: 600, Blight: 4000, James: 2650)

"Make your move, Mr. Phoenix," said Blight in a cheerful tone.

Aster looked at his Duel Disk. His suit was in tatters, and his Duel Disk was burned. "I summon… I summon Destiny Hero Double Dude (1000/1000)."

Appearing onto the field, a man dressed in a black suit with white gloves, which one hand held a cane with a blue sphere at the top, with a purple scarf that covered his mouth and nose, wore glasses that hid his eyes, and a black hat.

"Attack…. Him." He pointed at James. With a concerned look at his master, the Hero nodded and crossed the field in a sprint. He dealt James a powerful uppercut, but the duelist seemed unaffected. A wall of brown furballs appeared around him and warded off the attack.

Grinning, James held up Kuriboh (300/200) before sliding it into his graveyard.

(Aster: 600, Blight: 4000, James: 1650)

Aster's head was spinning. He hadn't taken such a brutal force since his duel with Sartorius. He couldn't even think clearly, and his vision became fuzzy.

Blight drew slowly, and spoke with a touch of sarcastic pity in his voice. "Sorry, Mr. Phoenix, but your time is up. Gene-Warped Warwolf (2000/100), come out and join the party!"

A large, white werewolf rose to the field. It had a snarling, devious look on its face, shooting out a stare of impatience with its black eyes. Aster looked at it in shock… "No…"

"End it."

The wolf roared in delight and tore off across the field with a feral howl. It raised its massive claws and with a single swipe, it had ripped Double Dude in half. It continued on and slammed into Aster, knocking him off his feet.

The Destiny Hero duelist had met his match.

(Aster: 0, Blight: 4000, James: 1650)

James looked over at the fallen duelist and prodded him with a toe. "He's out, all right. The way he's looking, he'll be out for the next couple of weeks at least. And now, we can get this duel started seriously."

"I don't think so," replied Blight airily. "You have no cards in your hand, and I have a monster with two thousand attack points. You would not stand a chance. I would prefer to duel you when you're at your best. I can see from this duel that you're quite experienced, as you know the story of my Master, however briefly. Still, this would not be worth it. I would prefer a one on one."

James had been looking at Aster up until this point, and when he opened his mouth in anger, he looked over at the spot where Blight had been. He had vanished.

With his mouth curling into an angry grimace, he thought to himself, "_Well, Phoenix was gotten rid off. At the very least, I'm one step closer to finding Kyle and getting my due._" With an insane, bark-like laugh, he walked off into the darkness of the corridor.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Got it," muttered Kaiba. Joey leaned over to look at Kaiba's laptop. On it was a picture of a deserted warehouse located some distance away from the city.

"According to the report filed by one of the cops, a single man was seen with a teenage female with brownish red hair on the outskirts of the city. He was not too suspicious, as she went quite willingly. However, the pair were attacked by a gang of thugs, and even though he tried to intervene, they were able to make off with the girl. The man is in a comatose state, and says nothing. From the number of the vehicle they escaped in, they were able to trace a house belonging to the same organization."

"Which is what?" enquired Bakura.

Kaiba's eyes darkened. "Paradias."

Joey slammed his fist into his hand angrily. "I knew it! These guys are going to be a much bigger problem then we ever thought. I'm just glad that Dartz is finished… It'll be easier to deal with them now that they don't have a ten thousand year old crazy idiot as President."

"I wouldn't count them as being any less powerful," replied Kaiba, still staring at the picture of the warehouse. "Indeed, if they had the guts to defy Apocalypse, then it's very possible that they have the power to back up things like this."

"It's very possible they don't know who Apocalypse is," said Rikuo dryly. He was sitting in the far corner.

Bakura shrugged. "The Atlantians knew of plenty of things that we Egyptians did not. I'd have to say that Dartz perhaps had a brief idea, if not the full details. Besides, the Archangel told us about this organization, Eagle, which was formed to combat Paradias. If they have allied with the Infinity Council, then it is extremely possible that Paradias at least has some rudimentary knowledge of it."

Kaiba shrugged. "We're going to that damn warehouse no matter what." Calling over to the pilot, he gave him the co-ordinates.

It took them about five minutes to get there. The helicopter buzzed to a halt and touched down on the scorching, dusty ground of the deserted New York beach. A dark, imposing warehouse stood at the end.

Kaiba had originally thought of speaking to NYPD, but his strange experiences with the geek squad had taught him that it was actually much safer for the four of them alone rather then having to speak to regular cops. Paradias' influence with the government would keep them untouchable. In any case, he knew that this new and more brutal Paradias relied more on real methods rather then magic.

There was a thud, and Kaiba wheeled around to see his pilot collapse, dead. Turning back to the warehouse, he gasped in shock. In front of it was a whole line of heavily armed men, and in the center was a man holding a terrified Serenity with a knife in one hand. But it was the man who shocked him. His face was white, and he wore a cheap purple suit. He had a freaky smile on his face.

He spoke in a sing-song drawl.

"Why so serious?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**I know, I know, it was a bit slow. I have exams now, and they'll be getting over in a week, so you can expect quick, and awesome updates from then on. This chapter was a bit weak, but the next one will contain two, maybe three explosive duels.**

**Oh, and the character mentioned above belongs to DC Comics. Don't sue me.**

**REVIEW!!**


	8. Why Do You Duel?

CHAPTER SEVEN: Shattered Balance

CHAPTER SEVEN: Why Do You Duel?

**Only one review for the chapter, I'm rather disappointed, I must admit, but I guess that a lot of people have better staff to do in their summer vacation then read the wild ramblings of an obsessed teenager!**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: I must agree, the performance of Heath Ledger as the Joker was something that will remain in my mind for years to come. The Dark Knight will become a classic to contend with the Godfather movies. Although I had to exercise my creative license as an author a little bit, I hope I've kept him true to character. And stay tuned, because another duel which could equal Yami vs. Marik in awesomeness is starting up. **

"You…" whispered Kaiba, his fist clenched. The man continued to bear his freaky, almost scary grin, and spoke in his abnormally nasal drawl. He pointed to the ugly scars on either side of his mouth.

"You see the scars? Wanna know how I got em'?"

"Wanna know how you got these?" roared Rikuo as he raised his claws. "Ah ah ah…" muttered the clown-like man, raising his knife up to Serenity's mouth. A terrified squeak escaped her mouth, and the mercenaries on either side of him cocked their rifles.

"I always wanted to give the world a better class of criminal," he continued. "Really, I had Gotham City in the palm of my hand. I can't understand why the Batman just likes to _control _things. I hate those schemers. They have _plans_, they just want everything to go according to _plan_. Uh, you guys had plans and look where it got you. Your girlfriend has had to spend most of last night in that hell-hole."

He pointed at the warehouse and gave a shriek-like laugh.

Joey's face was turning red with rage.. "What do you want, clown?" he said through gritted teeth.

Serenity's captor looked down. "Jeez, I thought my jokes were bad." He slipped his free hand into his jacket pocket, all the while keeping his knife in the front of Serenity's face. He pulled out something that looked like a card, and flicked it across the expanse of sand towards Joey, who caught it in his right hand.

"Not clown…." Joey looked at the card. It was a regular playing card, and depicted a jester dressed in the regular, colorful outfit.

"_Joker_."

"The very same, aren't you?" growled Kaiba. "The one who went crazy in Gotham City and killed nearly three hundred people in some way or the other?"

The Joker shook his head amicably. "It's not about the killing… It's about sending a message. Everything burns, you know. Kinda like chaos."

"This guy is insane," growled Bakura, folding his arms. "There's no point in negotiating in any way. We'll either have to follow his demands if we want to try and get the girl back alive, or if they're unreasonable, just do what we do best and hope it works."

"Insane?" questioned the Joker, slightly loosening his grip on Serenity's arm. "No, I'm not insane. I'm just chaotic, that's all. An agent of chaos, you could say. I don't like the way the way people try to control things. Batman, Jim Gordon, Harvey Dent… Look where it got them. Batman, he's a fugitive, he's on the run. Gordon, he almost had his whole family killed. Dent, well, uh, he's dead. But you must know all this.."

Kaiba scowled. He did, of course. Gotham City had been a literal warzone and it was all over the news for weeks.

"They locked me up in the cuckoo's nest. But I was able to fly over it." He gave another shrill laugh.

"That's what I like about Paradias. They don't like control. I'm a performer, but I don't do what I do well for free. Plus, now I don't have to stage the act all by myself," he laughed, pointing at the line of armed soldiers on either side of him.

"But as I told Harvey Dent, chaos is fair. That's why I'm going to give you a chance here. We're going to play a little game."

Rummaging into his jacket, he pulled out an ancient Duel Disk. Sliding it onto his arm, he pushed Serenity towards the thugs on his immediate right. Kaiba took an involuntary step forward, but a growl from Rikuo stopped him. After all, any attempt to take Serenity at this point would only result in her death.

Behind the line of men was a single chair. Serenity was forced into it and her ankles and wrists were chained to it. The chair was lifted up, and the Joker pressed a single button on his Duel Disk. Out of the sand rose a single, glass case. It was perfectly rectangular, and about ten feet high by four feet wide. Opening one side of it that seemed like a door, they pushed the chair into it, and sealed it. Serenity was now trapped in a room of glass. She glanced at Joey, terrified.

"No one ever knew me for my diplomatic skills," chuckled the Joker, busily inspecting the straps of his Duel Disk. "So I'll give it to you straight. I like this game. It's fun. Lot's of chaos. You never know if you're going to win or not. I like getting my hands dirty, but I guess once in a while you have to be a little civilized. I'll duel one of you. Every time I lose life-points, some water fills into the tank. If I lose, then it'll be filled with water and if you can get to her in time, good for you. If you can't, too bad. If you lose, then she lives, but you and all your friends will die."

Kaiba froze. "What the-…"

He looked over at Rikuo and Bakura. "Paradias told me you guys are a little boring. Bullets won't hurt you. Nothing like Batman. He was incredibly fun. But hey, you two are just fine." He pointed at Joey and Kaiba. "So choose. If you don't duel me, you'll have to fight. If you duel, you might get your girlfriend back. Very chaotic, isn't it?"

Kaiba stepped forward, and glared at the Joker. "You are going to pay for what you've done."

"Should be fun," agreed the Joker, a bloody grin twisting its way over his mouth. The CEO of Kaiba Corp. looked over at Bakura, and the look conveyed all he had to say: Get the girl out as soon as possible. He then glanced over at Serenity and gave her a faint, reassuring smile.

He pulled out his Duel Disk. "This shouldn't take more then five minutes."

"It probably won't," agreed the Joker, and looked over at the mercenaries, before nodding. They lowered their weapons.

(Joker: 8000, Kaiba: 8000)

"I like going first," muttered the clown prince. "Hmm… I never liked scheming. But I guess I have to. A little. So come out, Peten the Dark Clown (500/1200)!"

A clown with a white and black striped face, with yellow and blue-green baggy clothing, a blue vest with a white collar, a large red hat with a long pink flowing wig materialized onto the field.

"Nice guy, isn't he?" said the madman affectionately. Kaiba simply glared at him, and he took it as an indication to continue. He fiddled with the cards in his hand nervously. "Only played this game once… Not really sure how it goes. But hey, that's what chaos is all about. I set two cards facedown and end my turn."

Drawing aggressively, Kaiba glared at his nemesis, and snarled, "I play Future Fusion, sending three Blue Eyes White Dragons (3000/2500) (x3) from my deck to my graveyard in order to herald the coming of my Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon (4500/3800) in just two turns!"

Lightning strikes rained down in a single location on the field, as Kaiba's three massive, beasts started to fly from the blinding light. They had tined, blue skin, and a threatening structure. The long, scaley tails extended from their bodies, as relentless, blue eyes scolded the field.

"But why wait till then? Let's introduce you to him now! Go, Dragon's Mirror!"

Suddenly, the three swirled together, blurring all three forms. A new form appeared in the three's place, and slowly came into view. It was a large three headed white metallic dragon with some kind of symbol on their foreheads, blue eyes, two powerful clawed hands and feet, massive wings, a strong tail, and a strong looking body. The dragon touched down onto the ground, causing each head to let out a massive roar that shook the ground.

Sand flew up as the Joker stared at it calmly. "So… You've got your lizard up on your first turn? Interesting."

Kaiba didn't seem to hear the comment as he pointed at Peten. "No mercy, you clown! Neutron Blast Attack!"

Each head of the mighty dragon roared loudly and opened their jaws. White energy instantly flooded their mouths and began building like lightning. In a thunderous shot, the three released a white energy beam, which formed into a larger one. The massive beam was about to slam into the tiny jester when the Joker pressed a button on his Duel Disk.

"Nah, no mercy at all," he agreed as if it were a simple matter that they were discussing over drinks. Kaiba's eyes widened as the card on the Joker's field flipped up to reveal perhaps one of the most dreaded trap cards in the game. It was one that he himself used very often…. Ring of Destruction.

A large ring with many explosives attached on its sides then appeared. It then flew up and stretched out to squeeze over one of the heads of the large three headed dragon. It clamped down, stopping the flow of energy from its mouth as Peten leapt out of the way of the initial blasts, prancing up and down with a maniacal grin on its face.

"And now, your reptile goes bye-bye and we both lose four and a half thousand life-points," explained the Joker in a slow voice, as if he were talking to a pre-schooler. "Isn't that fun?"

"This is going to smart," commented Rikuo as he raised a hand in protection against the coming explosion. Joey, on the other hand, looked over at the glass cage where his sister was trapped and screamed, "_SERENITY_!"

It was too late. There was a final roar from the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon and it exploded. White light flooded the beach, and the sheer force of it knocked everyone except the Joker and Kaiba of their feet. The two opponents simply stood right in the middle of the vortex. The former had his gnarled hands at shoulder level, his permanent grin in sharp contrast to Kaiba's stock-straight posture and furious glare.

Soon, the light began to subside, and the spectator's quickly got to their feet. Rikuo and Bakura looked over at Kaiba's empty field, while Joey gave an inhuman roar and ran towards the glass cage that trapped Serenity. As the Joker had lost over his half his life-points, the water had begun to fill in with crazy speed. It was already filled up till Serenity's stomach, and she looked even more frightened then before.

The soldiers immediatley raised their guns into a firing position, and Rikuo reached over and grabbed Joey's collar. "Don't try anything, you idiot!" he hissed. "We can't get her out until the duel is over, otherwise she'll die anyway."

Joey glared at the Joker, and then at Kaiba. "_Kill him_!" he hissed in inhuman fury.

(Joker: 3500, Kaiba: 3500)

"Fine," he snarled. "I summon Vorse Raider (1900/1200) in attack mode!"

A thick, tan, and bulky beast erupted onto the field, wielding a dark-chrome and pointed axe. It had vicious, yellow teeth, and equally disturbing, red eyes. Its war helmet barely contained the large, white horns on its head's tip.

"Nice doggie," muttered the Joker.

"Finish what my dragon started!" roared the champion, and the ogre rushed forward, raising its axe-like weapon and bringing it down with a nasty swish. It sliced through the clown, shattering its weak, bony body as it went through.

(Joker: 2100, Kaiba: 3500)

At this, more water began to filter into Serenity's cage, until the level was now up to her chest. Kaiba was about to continue his move, when a scream from Joey made him turn around.

"Stop it, you IDIOT! You're KILLING her!"

"I'm the one whose dueling," said Kaiba icily, glaring at his rival. "I will save Serenity in my own way."

Joey raised a fist and was about to take a step forward, when Bakura placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't try it," he said in a soft and dangerous voice. "Anger isn't worth it. Let him duel. We'll get the girl out, don't worry."

"I do like the soap opera, but I'm afraid that if you don't continue your turn in five seconds you forfeit the duel," interrupted the Joker, twiddling his thumbs (literally). "In any case, Peten hates to say goodbye, so I won't force him to!"

By it's effect, another, creepy clown appeared on the Joker's field and took of its hat in sarcastic respect.

Kaiba gave him a hard look, and ignored Joey's angry glare. "I set a card and turn it over to you."

Shrugging, the Joker awkwardly drew another card from his deck. "Peten's getting lonely, so I'll call out one of his best friends! Saggi the Dark Clown (600/1500)!"

A demented clown appeared on the Joker's field, sitting with its legs crossed. Its skin was even paler then Peten, and it had on far too much black make-up. It had a strange purple hat, and wore similar colored clothes.

Kaiba stiffened as that same, demented laugh that now haunted him echoed throughout the beach. "Eeh eeh eeh eeh!" Both Saggi and Peten had been a part of his deck and one point or another, but he had soon come to hate them. They were, after all, reminders of times when he had not been himself…

Saggi spoke in a very strange voice. "_We are this party's entertainment_!"

"Regardless of 'entertainment' both your monsters are pathetically weak," snapped Kaiba.

The Joker tried to frown, but due to the fact that the hideous scars on either side of his mouth kept him in a permanent smile, he wasn't able to pull it off, and it looked like half his mouth was smiling while the other half was frowning.

"True… true… But why so serious?" He held up a card, and slipped it into the magic/trap card zone.

"Meet the magic card, Why So Serious?"

The Vorse Raider suddenly dropped its axe. It looked over at the Joker, and its clenched teeth began to relax. Suddenly, its mouth dropped open and, of all things, it began to start laughing. It sounded incredibly strange, because it was a curious, raspy, growl-like laugh, but an insane laugh none the less. Soon, the laugh began to reach a higher pitch, and it bounded over to the Joker's field.

"What the-…"

"He needs to lighten up," commented the Joker, as the Vorse Raider disappeared in a flash of light. It reappeared in a most disturbing form… Dressed in a purple jump suit and a clown's hat. "Vorse Joker (1900/1200) is a little more appropriate."

"Appropriate?" said Bakura hoarsely. "And people called me crazy."

"Don't you worry," laughed the Joker. "You're a little too serious for my taste." He gave Kaiba such a strange grin that it was scary. "Let's put a smile on that face."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"We can't venture out again," muttered Angel as he unlocked the door to his dreary house. "I know for a fact that the King doesn't take kindly to intruders, but the fact that she was not killed on the spot but instead kidnapped leaves some hope."

Yugi didn't say a word. His head was bent with his hair falling over his face, and it cast a shadow. CJ and Ryu were both silent in their guilt; Yugi hadn't blamed them outright, but they themselves felt guilty about it. One could not only see the visible chemistry between Yugi and Tea but also feel and hear it. The young King of Games was a wreck.

"There'll be prowlers," continued the old man as they entered the hallway. "It'll be dangerous, least to say. After the disturbance with the Sentinel as well as that man Sigma, there'll be creepy-crawlies all over the street. I'll try and make a move in the morning, assess the situation. Right now, all we can do is sit tight. If anything else happens, they might excecute the girl on suspicion."

Yugi's fist tightened at this, and Daniel gave Angel a harsh look. "You don't pull punches, do you?" he said in an annoyed voice.

Angel met his glare with an icy stare of his own. "Don't talk like that to me, boy. When you've seen as much as I have, you'll know that in the real world giving it to people lightly is worthless."

Daniel was about to make an angry retort, when Brian held a hand between the two. "Stop it," he ordered, his deep voice gaining a powerful air about it, very different from his usual, laid-back and whiny attitude. "Fighting isn't going to help. We have to listen to Angel at this point, he knows most about this place. We'll step out as soon as we can and get the girl back."

Angel gave them a dirty look. "There's two other bedrooms besides my own. But considering what's just happened, I doubt any of you will be able to sleep. I won't." He stalked off, before hollering over his shoulder, "Do try though. You'll are going to need it."

Everyone looked pointedly at each other. Jason leaned against the wall and began rifling through his deck. Yugi walked off to the staircase that led to the terrace without another word. "I'll take the sofa," grunted CJ. Brian didn't seem in a mood to sleep, and collapsed on a chair, deep in thought.

Ryu and Daniel shrugged and trudged off towards the bedrooms. Having dueled, they were both extremely tired themselves.

Silence reigned. It seemed like Brian's decision to stay awake had failed, as had CJ's. The snores of the two large man echoed throughout the room, but Jason ignored it. He walked over to the window, and stared out into the inky black sky, that held not a single star. All it was lit up by was the single glow that emanated from the center of the city.

Without a word, he trotted up the stairs to the terrace.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Yugi stood stock straight as he gazed blankly into the night sky. Not one sound could be heard in the desolate void that was Necropolis. It was all weighing down on him…

The terrace was large, extremely large, with tall pillars on either side. The railing had ornate carvings of demons and flames on it, just another example of the bleakness and lack of hope that the city represented.

He heard a footstep behind them entering the terrace. "It's me," said the curt voice of Jason Becker.

Yugi did not turn around. "What is it that you want?" he replied in a blank voice.

"I want to know if you're still up to the challenge." There was the sound of the activation of a Duel Disk. "Considering the condition you're in, it's less then likely that you'll be of much use when we go out and try and find Tea Gardner. You might make decisions biased by your emotions. I mean no offense, but you will end up being more of a burden then an asset if you aren't able to pull yourself together."

Yugi turned around, and didn't say anything. However, the Millennium Puzzle that hung around his neck gave a faint glow for the first time since the epic, final battle against Marik two nights ago.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The two faced each other. It was not with the same intensity that had occurred half a decade ago during the Ceremonial Battle, but rather with deep feelings of confusion.

Yami was shaken, very shaken, but still in better shape then before. Yugi, on the other hand, was a wreck.

"I can't do it, Yami," he whispered. He stared at the ground. "I can't bring myself to put on a Duel Disk… Not when it wasn't enough to save Tea… I was the one who brought her here. If she had never known me, all of those terrible things would have never happened to her."

Yami spoke in a gentle voice. "Guilt weighs down on both our hearts, Yugi." He placed a hand on his shoulder. "Throughout this time, simply existing has been like a nightmare for me after I found out that it was my fault that Apocalypse has been set free. You have helped through it… Even though it still gnaws away at my soul, I would have never made it without you."

His voice was shaky, not the proud and confident tone of the Pharaoh he had been. But it seemed that he had finally progressed, and was beginning to open up once again.

"They have her, Yami," said Yugi in a broken voice. "They have Tea."

Yami stepped forward and simultaneously the two hugged. "We'll get her back, Yugi," whispered Yami. "I swear it."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

There was a flash of light, and Yugi looked up. However, his face was slightly more mature, and determined, with a tad bit more confidence. When he spoke, it was in a deeper voice which was definitely not one that belonged to a broken young man.

"Jason Becker…." In reply, Jason fired off his holo projectors.

Yami pulled out the first of his two decks from his belt and slid it into his own Duel Disk. "One thing that you should know about me is this…."

(Yami: 8000, Jason: 8000)

"I never turn down a challenge."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The sound of voices on the terrace had awoken Brian, who was a light sleeper. "Damn duelists…" he muttered before drowsily getting to his feet. He needed a visit to the restroom in any case, but decided to just go and see who was talking to who on the terrace.

He peaked over the corner of the banister, and gasped. "Now this I've got to see…"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"For my opening move, I'll summon Skilled White Magician (1700/1900) in attack mode," declared Yami.

A mage in white robes and cloak with a white hood and staff appeared onto the field in a crouching position. On his cloak, there were three half spheres: one on each shoulder, with one on his chest.

"Then I'll set a facedown and end my turn."

"Just because you're pulling punches doesn't mean I will," warned Jason. "I can't risk operations like these to satisfy the emotions of one man. I understand your sadness, Yugi, but it can't endanger our goal. I summon Clevonce (1200/400)."

Yellow, transparent cubes flickered about the area, as did random ones and zero's. Some began forming pieces of a blue and yellow-armored body, and cylinder-shaped head. Sinister, green-computer eyes flashed across the black visored face of the being, as golden and blue patterns ran up the rest of the head's helmet. Yellow teeth shot an equally dastardly smirk. The feet were covered in thin, sock-like hoppers, and white and blue gloves with golden fingers were on the creature's arms.

"What's this?" frowned Yami.

"Clevonce is one of the most basic monsters of a new set of developing monsters known as Psychic monsters. Just like other monsters have types like warrior and spellcaster, Psychic is a different and new kind of type. I then play the magic card known as Foolish Burial, in order to send Armed Dragon LV3 (1200/900) from my deck to the graveyard."

"That gives Skilled White Magician one spell counter, just so you know," remarked Yami.

Jason didn't seem bothered. "Then comes Level Modulation. First, you get to draw two cards."

Yami's eyebrow quirked, but he said nothing and snapped up the top two cards off his deck. "And then I can special summon an LV monster from my graveyard. Namely, Armed Dragon LV3 (1200/900)."

Appearing on the field was a small orange skinned dragon with dull grey metal armor. Opening it's mouth, it clamed down making a clanging sound while it also smacked it's punching glove like fists together.

"Doesn't make sense," muttered Yami. "You could have easily summoned a stronger monster. Since you have Armed Dragon LV3 in your deck, it would only make sense to assume you have at least five, if not seven and ten. Plus, that move only gave you another weak monster that you can't level up unless it destroys a monster, and me two more cards and another counter for my magician."

"Your analytical skills are spoken off with respect," replied Jason smoothly. "Indeed, such a move would make little sense if my real strategy was not what it was. The important thing is that Armed Dragon is a level three monster, while Clevonce is a level two. That means their total levels are five, making it perfect for me to summon a level five Synchro monster."

"Hold on," shouted Yami. "_Synchro_ monster? What on Earth is a Synchro monster? I've never heard of any such thing in seven years of knowing this game."

"Indeed, you probably haven't," agreed Jason, "Clevonce is a Tuner monster, the opening type of monster to a new, powerful breed of monsters. By sending him and the correctly leveled monster to the graveyard, I can Synchro Summon a much more powerful beast." Clevonce's body started breaking up, transforming into two bright, spherical stars, rapidly spinning around the Armed Dragon, which itself transformed into a sphere of light.

Soon, the three spheres formed a triangle, which began to expand and fill the field with blue light. When the light died down, a priest-like figure stood before her, dressed in an odd robe with numerous designs. The top had a dark shade to it, with white-outlined spheres acting as buttons at the top and bottom of it; they were centered with blue spheres and a golden disc. The being had an odd headdress, and long, wavy, red hair. An odd, multi-colored staff was found in its left hand; the top resembled that of an actual staff, with an embedded, white orb in the containment of the curved, yellow head; but, the bottom curved out and was sharpened like a sword. In its right hand, a G-shaped, light-blue shield, with bright bulbs at the top, and the point of the end.

"Magical Android (2400/1700)," declared Jason. "A level five Synchro monster that can be summoned from a special deck known as the Extra Deck by sending a Tuner monster and another non-Tuner monster whose total levels are five to my graveyard."

"I see," mused Yami. "An interesting strategy, even though I have never heard of it."

"Then I play Premature Burial to special summon Clevonce (1200/400) once again from the graveyard." Yami raised an eyebrow as the figure that seemed to be made of software pixels appeared next to the far more imposing sorceress.

(Yami: 8000, Jason: 7200)

"Now, Skilled White Magician gains his final counter," warned Yami.

"It makes no matter," replied Jason calmly. He pointed at Skilled White Magician with decision, and didn't say a word. The shield and staff of the Synchro monster both erupted with power, surging forward at the mage with unrelenting resolve.

Yami replied with equal calmness. "I activate my facedown trap card Wabuko." Jason frowned as the three robed mages appeared on his field and began to chant, warding off the blast of energy. "I see. But a move like that is to be expected. I will end my turn."

As he finished, the Magical Android began to glow. "Magical Android gives me six hundred life-points for every Psychic monster in play at the end of the turn. There are two, so that's a bonus twelve hundred that sets me above my starting level."

(Yami: 8000, Jason: 8400)

Drawing slowly, Yami allowed a faint smile to cross his face. It was the first that had come to him since the end of his duel with Marik.

"I sacrifice Skilled White Magician and his three counters to call upon Buster Blader (2600/2300) from my deck."

The white mage smiled slightly as his three counters dimmed and he vanished, only to be seen placed into the large pot. In his place, a large warrior with purple, silver, and some gold trimmed armor, a purple hood over his head, with red eyes, two small prongs on his head, and a large lance on his back appeared onto the field.

"And since you have a dragon in your graveyard, that's five hundred for him."

The warrior glowed and Clevonce buzzed in shock (3100/2300).

"Now, I could attack and destroy your Magical Android, but in a deck that utilizes a lot of cards to bring out its more powerful monsters, I don't think you have space for equip cards. And then, allowing you to keep your Tuner monster would allow for another Synchro summon. No, I think I'll make the unorthodox move and destroy Clevonce!"

The yellow cubes were now displaying a type of protective barrier around Clevonce, building up and reaching ten feet into the air. "Clevonce's effect activates. Whenever it's attacked, I can negate that attack by paying 800 Life Points." The blader's diving slash was repelled easily by the protective shield, forcing him back to Yami's side of the field.

(Yami: 8000, Jason: 7600)

"I see," muttered Yami. "Your Psychic monsters have effects that revolve around paying life-points, and also have additional effects to replenish life-points."

"It goes much further then that," replied Jason coolly. "Just finish up your move."

Yami gave him a curious look before setting a card, satisfied with the productivity of summoning Buster Blader. Whether Jason admitted it or not, even his Psychic monsters would have a tough time of contending with a monster that could usurp the power of a Blue Eyes White Dragon (3000/2500).

Meanwhile, Brian had rushed to the terrace after a quick visit to the restroom. "Did I miss the good parts…" he panted as he came to a halt and looked from one duelist to another.

"Enjoy the duel, Brian," said Jason with a smile curling up around his lips. It was the first time Yami had seen such an expression on the duelist's face, and quite frankly, he had to admit that it unnerved him. He drew emotionlessly.

"I summon Psycho Commander (1400/800)," began Jason.

With this, a saucer-shaped formation made its presence known, designed with chrome metal and small antenna-like towers revolving around the base. Out of the top-center hatch emerged a green-army-dressed individual, with white gloves on its hands, and a black visor over its head. Four, glaring, red eyes could be seen from the visor. At the front of the saucer, a long, dark-metal cannon with a green barrel deployed.

"Then comes the magic card known as Psychic Boost! By removing one monster in my graveyard, I can special summon one Psychic monster from my deck with attack points less then the removed monster. So I now remove Armed Dragon LV3 to special summon Mental Protector (0/2200) in defense mode!"

A rusted, golden-plated machine now rose to the field. It had wide, bulb-like, red eyes, with black centers; above the forehead was a half-transparent, dark-violet container, the being's brain visible inside of it. Two lightning-attracting bulbs were stationed on the sides of the horizontal, cylinder-shaped head. Two massive hands extended from the sides of the being's head, each containing a hexagon-shaped, light-violet diamond embedded at the centers of the palms.

"And now since Armed Dragon LV3 is gone, your Blader loses five hundred attack points."

Yami nodded his head in acknowledgement as the warrior glowed slightly (2600/2300).

"He's still far stronger then any of your Psychic monsters," pointed out Yami.

"You're correct," replied Jason, pointing at the Blader. "Magical Android, destroy it!"

An incredulous look crossed Yami's face as the arcane sorceress lifted her staff once again. It began to glow with white energy, which shot across the field in the form of a bolt and crashed into the Buster Blader. The warrior lifted its sword and swatted the attack away easily. The energy went sailing back to its source, ready to destroy it.

Then, Jason spoke. "The effect of Psycho Commander allows me to reduce my life-points by a maximum of five hundred when a Psychic monster does battle, and reduce the attack points of the target by the same amount."

With a snap of its staff, the Magical Android deflected the energy back to the Buster Blader and immediatley shattered it.

(Yami: 7700, Jason: 7100)

"Now, that leaves you wide open for Psycho Commander and Clevonce. Attack!"

Brian watched in grim awe as the Psycho Commander's cannon began to glow green. The sphere of mental energy slammed into Yami, and was followed up by a tackle from Clevonce which brought him to his knees. However, he was on his feet in a second, albeit panting heavily.

(Yami: 5100, Jason: 7100)

"I end my turn," said Jason imperiously. At that moment, the effect of Magical Android gave him an enormous boost in life-points, thanks to the fact that there were four Psychic monsters on his field.

"However, the effect of Mental Protector, which will be revealed to you later, forces me to pay five hundred life-points during my end phase."

(Yami: 5100, Jason: 9000)

"And I have a lead of nearly four thousand life-points," he said calmly. "How do you plan to lead this group to victory against Apocalypse when you're struggling against me, an unrecognized duelist with a never-before heard of deck strategy? I mean no disrespect, but I was assigned as head of the task force from Eagle, and I will not let anyone but the best fight Apocalypse."

"Four turns in, and already you think you're going to win?" grunted Yami. "The duel isn't over until one duelist has not even one life-point or a single card in his deck."

"Then by all means, show me if you have it in you to fight him."

Yami drew, giving him a total of five cards in his hand. "All right! I summon Breaker the Magical Warrior (1600/1000) in attack mode!"

A mage with mostly maroon armor and a cape, with gold trim and some blue jewels, appeared onto the field. He had a hood over his head, which covered blue skin. In his hands were a sword and shield, showing he wasn't just a mage, but was also a warrior.

"Since I just normal summoned Breaker, his effect activates. He now gains a Spell Counter, granting him an additional 300 attack points (1600 + 300 1900/1000)."

"Nineteen hundred is too weak to take on my Magical Android," scoffed Jason.

"But it's more then enough to destroy your troublesome Psycho Commander. Magical Sword Slash!"

The warrior-mage lifted its broadsword up to chest level before hurtling across the field at top speed. With a cry of triumph, its sword cleaved through the soldier-like individual. The commander hovered in the air for a minute, before its pieces began to glow and then vanished.

(Yami: 5100, Jason: 8500)

"Then I'll follow it up with a quick-play magic card known as Magical Dimension! This allows me to sacrifice one monster on the field to special summon a spellcaster from my hand, as well as destroy one monster on your field!"

He nodded to Breaker. "Thank you for your help, Breaker."

A golden statue held up by chains in four different directions appeared. The top half opened, sending out a beam of energy at the maroon mage. The mage vanished, and the beam returned to within the statue.

"And now I call upon my Dark Magician Girl (2000/1700)!"

Opening once more, the statue shot out a new beam. Forming in front of the statue, a young woman with long blonde hair, bright blue eyes, wearing a skimpy blue and pink mage's dress that showed her cleavage quite well with the dress barely covering her back side, a blue and pink mage's hat, and a staff in her right hand took to the field.

He gave her a grateful smile, which she returned before looking over at the three monsters on Jason's field and frowning.

"Now, she can destroy one monster on your field. It's no surprise, but my choice is none other then your Magical Android."

For the final time, the statue's doors opened, releasing a beam of energy at the strange sorceress. It was struck hard, shattering instantly.

"Finally, Dark Magician Girl can finish off Clevonce once and for all!" The female mage began twirling her scepter till she finally pointed at Clevonce. A pink spear instantly formed at the tip of the scepter and was launched straight at the strange, cube-like monster.

"I pay eight hundred, and Clevonce negates the attack." As Jason spoke, a wall of energy ascended around the Psychic monster once again. The spear of pink energy slammed into it and rocketed off in Brian's direction. He gave a surprised yelp and ducked just in time before it left a pitch-black burn mark on the terrace door.

(Yami: 5100, Jason: 7700)

Jason allowed himself another minor smile. "Perhaps I misjudged you. Indeed, it is not through sheer luck that you could have gotten yourself a perfect professional dueling record. Even then, while I must say your dueling skills have gotten a higher regard with me after you picked apart my carefully set up field with three cards, your emotional balance is still a factor for worry."

Yami did not answer, and simply set a card. "I end my turn."

Jason drew. "I see that my minor strategies are not enough for you. Very well, it is truly time for the duel to begin in earnest. I play the continuous magic card, Dimensional Countdown."

Even as he said these words, a swirling dome of blue energy appeared around them. It was quite similar to the Pyramid of Light, starting with a blue sphere in the air which exploded into walls of light that cascaded across the terrace until it touched down on all sides of the field, enclosing the two combatants. It had twenty, sparkling dots of light on it.

"What's this?" began Yami, but Jason held up a hand.

"Dimension Countdown comes into play with twenty counters on it. During my turn, I am forced to remove at least one counter from it, or two, if I like. This will grant you one Black Psychic Token (0/1000) for every counter removed. Then, I can draw one card for every token summoned in this way. This same effect applies to you."

Yami seemed bemused. "_An interesting card, indeed. But it benefits both players equally, perhaps me slightly more then him as these tokens will allow me to tribute for the Egyptian Gods easier._"

"I know that you're thinking about summoning those Egyptian God cards," continued Jason, "but I'd just like to tell you about the final effect of my Dimensional Countdown card. When the final counter is removed, the one who removed that counter is dealt four thousand points of damage."

Yami gasped. "Four thousand?"

"Yes. So be wary of how you use my card's effects. They can be quite useful, but can bite you in the back when you least expect it."

"And now, I think I will grant you two Black Psychic Tokens (0/1000) in order to draw two cards myself."

He snapped the top two cards off his deck, and two small dragons appeared on Yami's field. They were jet-black in color, with long, mechanical heads. Their bodies spread out broadly, showing off many glowing orbs, and ending with a razor-sharp, wire like tail. Dark Magician Girl gave them a frightened look before glancing at Yami, who gave her a reassuring nod.

"Now, I will summon Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV4 (1600/1000)."

A silver metallic looking bird like dragon materialized onto the field with its wings folded up.

Yami frowned. "_His deck strategy makes no sense… It's full of those Psychic monsters that involve paying life-points for various effects as well as gaining them, but then he's got these LV dragons as well. They're two different strategies that absolutely can't be used together… Either that, or my disconnection with dueling over this time is making me miss one key factor_."

"Then I play Level Up," continued Jason. The small silver dragon was suddenly hidden by black flames. From the flames, large silver wings came out, along with a long silver tail, a pair of powerful talon legs, and finally the main body of the silver metal dragon was seen. It still looked like a large bird, but a much more powerful bird.

"Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV6 (2300/1600) has risen," declared Jason.

"_Makes sense or not, that dragon is stronger then my Dark Magician Girl_," snarled Yami inwardly, as Jason calmly pointed at the female spellcaster and declared the attack of his wyvern against her.

Roaring once more, the dragon beat its sizable wings. It opened its jaws, revealing black flames in it's mouth. Breathing out, the flames came spewing out in a stream straight for the pretty spellcaster, who squealed in fright and raised her staff in protection. Unfortunately, it was no help as the fire consumed her.

(Yami: 4900, Jason: 7700)

"Fortunately for you, Mental Protector's lack of attack points stops him from destroying one of the Black Psychic Tokens I gifted you. In that case, I will end my turn."

(Yami: 4900, Jason: 7200)

Yami drew, and looked over at Horus grimly. "I sacrifice one of the Black Psychic Tokens to summon the mighty Chaos Command Magician (2400/1900)!"

The dragon was replaced by a mage, who was in mostly black robes with a little yellow trim. His facial skin was light blue, which was the only skin really shown. The rest of his body was wrapped up in the black robes, with a long black cape on his back and a large black hat on his head. In his hands was a short black staff that was lightly glowing yellow on the end.

"Now, avenge my Dark Magician Girl by annihilating Horus with Chaos Burst!"

Pointing his staff at the imposing dragon, the black robed mage released a blast of yellow energy. The blast struck the wyrm hard, making him slide backwards a bit as the attack pressed into him and finally shattered.

(Yami: 4900, Jason: 7100)

"Now, I'm forced to grant you a Black Psychic Token (0/1000)," muttered Yami as he drew, and the strange black dragon appeared on Jason's field. A spark of light vanished from the dome of energy around them.

"I will set a card and end my turn."

Jason drew, and looked intensely at Yami's field. "I sacrifice two more counters." The Chaos Command Magician and the original token were joined by a further two dragons, which descended from the sky, wildly flapping their wings.

Yami felt uneasy. "_He's giving me tokens quite easily. He knows that if I draw any one of the Egyptian Gods, he'll have made it simpler for me to summon them. No, there's an ulterior motive behind the way he's been sacrificing counters without a second thought._"

"Then I play the magic card Forceful Gift. Both of us must special summon one monster from our graveyards in face-up defense mode. It's battle position cannot be switched. Then we each draw one card."

Shrugging, Yami pulled Breaker the Magical Warrior out of his graveyard and placed the card horizontally on his monster card zone. The maroon armored warrior appeared in a kneeling position, and raised its sword up horizontally with the flat of the blade on his palm.

"I choose Armed Dragon LV3 (1200/900)." The short, fat, orange and green dragon with various spikes on its back appeared. It had long, thin claws for hands, but it kept its arms to itself.

"_He's allowed me to set up for a potential One-Turn-Kill with Obelisk the Tormentor (4000/4000)_," thought Yami.

"And now, I activate Flash of the Forbidden Spell."

Yami gasped. "_Flash of the Forbidden Spell?! He couldn't have done that_!"

"When each and every one of your monster card zones are occupied, Flash of the Forbidden Spell will destroy all monsters on your field. Due to the effects of Forceful Gift and Dimension Countdown, all five of your monster card zones are indeed filled."

Yami was thrown back a few steps as his field became engulfed in a fiery inferno, wiping out his Black Psychic Tokens, Breaker, and his Chaos Command Magician.

"_I have you now, Yugi Moto_." The Armed Dragon LV3 gave a small grunt. "I set two cards and turn the board over to you."

(Yami: 4900, Jason: 6600)

Yami looked over at the Mental Protector. "First I will grant you a Black Psychic Token (0/1000)." Joining the Mental Protector, Armed Dragon LV3, and the token was another token. Yami drew, and continued.

He pointed at Mental Protector. "That monster has to go. That's why I'm summoning Rapid Fire Magician (1600/1200) in attack mode."

A mage with long flowing purple hair, a black pair of leather pants, a short sleeved cloak with black flowing cloak, an odd black hat, and two black finger cut off gloves then appeared. In each hand he held a staff with bird like claws, which clutched small orbs. To top it all off, around nine different colored spheres formed an arch around him.

"Then comes Double Summon, to make an extra normal summon this turn. I introduce Silent Magician LV4 (1000/1000)!"

Materializing onto the field was a very young mage with light brown eyes and silver hair, dressed in white and blue robes, holding a small white staff.

"And since Double Summon is a normal magic card, Rapid Fire Magician deals you four hundred points of damage!"

The purple-haired sorcerer nodded and extended one of the claw-like braces in his hands. One of the orbs hovering around him shot towards Jason's fields, bypassing the Mental Protector as well as the three dragons and crashing into Jason's chest. He gave a grunt of anger as whispers of smoke began to appear around his chest.

(Yami: 4900, Jason: 6200)

"Now, I play the magic card Magician's Unite! Two spellcasters on my field may now attack together as one entity with a mighty total of three thousand attack points!" Rapid-Fire Magician and Silent Magician LV4 crossed their staffs. The point where they intersected began to glow insanely, and slowly, they dropped their staffs so that they were pointing at the Mental Protector. As one, they let their energy lose so that a sphere of black magical energy the size of a bookcase was soaring towards the Psychic monster.

"I'm afraid that can't be allowed," responded Jason, tapping two buttons on his Duel Disk. "I first activate Windstorm of Etaqua, which shifts all monsters on your field to defense mode. I'll then follow it up with Dark Mirror Force, which automatically destroys all monsters on my opponent's field that are in defense mode."

As he said this, the two magicians automatically fell to their knees, as if they were compelled to do so by an invisible force. Then, a tall wall of black energy appeared on Jason's field, easily fifteen feet high. The sphere collided with it and was deflected back to Yami's field.

"I'll chain Seven Tools of a Bandit, paying a thousand life-points to negate Windstorm of Etaqua! Since Dark Mirror Force does not negate attacks, it's quite useless when my magicians are back in attack mode."

At his words, the double sphere of energy smashed through the wall of black energy and consumed the Mental Protector. The software creature tried to defend itself, but it was hopeless to do so as it was completely incinerated into a pile of ashes, which was blown away by the harsh night wind of Necropolis.

Brian whistled. "Impressive show," he muttered to himself. As it was, it was not only to himself, for a waking Daniel and Ryu had both heard the sounds of the duel and joined him on the rooftop. They both watched the exchange impassively.

"I have never seen such evenly matched opponents," said Ryu, not taking his eyes off the two. Brian snorted. "Evenly matched, my foot! Jason has been dominating this duel right from the beginning. King of Games though he might be, Yugi Moto has finally gotten himself into a duel he can't win. Just wait, Jason hasn't even begun to stretch his legs yet."

"Neither has Yami," indicated Daniel. Brian shrugged, and looked back over at the duel.

(Yami: 3900, Jason: 6200)

"You seem surprised," smirked Yami. Indeed, Jason did have a look of astonishment on his face from the instant Yami had countered with Seven Tools of a Bandit.

"I… That was impressive," he admitted, folding his arms. "Then again, precautionary measures are the basics of the game. Being Duelist Kingdom as well as Battle City Champion, I think that a simple negation move is not something to fawn over, although the timing was nonetheless impressive. No, there is something more that was able to help you break Seto Kaiba's ninety-nine duel winning streak all those years ago after he starting rampaging through the professional circuit."

Yami was stonily quiet as his opponent continued.

"I no longer wish to duel you to see if your prowess is enough to contend with Apocalypse. No, I wish to find out what is it that makes Yugi Moto the most talked about duelist in the world. Your duels even outside tournaments are no stranger to me. I know about your war against Paradias in which you succeeded in taking down Dartz himself. Then there was your triumphant victory in the Tournament of Shadows just a few days ago.

"I want to know how you do these things. I want to know what makes you do these things. I want to know what drives you, Yugi Moto. _Why do you duel_?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Yes, there you have it. Two more crawesome (yes, I'm making up words now, crazy + awesome crawesome ********) duels on the table, the second of which could become one for the ages. Really, I wanted to start it as a minor duel to show that Yami is slowly regaining his confidence, but when I delved deeper into Jason's strategy, I realized the potential it had to be among the best ever. I know it's strange to have such an epic duel in the beginning of the fic, but I couldn't resist.**

**Of course, if any of you guys have any objections about such a major duel in the beginning of the fic, do tell me and I'll try to avoid such duels in the future, at least until the climax of the fic. But in Nightrise, things are so intense anyway that their never really is a climax, lol.**

**I know some must think the stunt with the Joker was beyond weird, frankly, I do. But it's fun! Anyway, the Joker belongs to the creators of Batman, most probably DC Comics and Bruce Timm. In any case, this chapter is dedicated to the memory of the late Heath Ledger, who was truly amazing during the Dark Knight.**

**Anyway, review!!**


	9. Horseman of Apocalypse

CHAPTER EIGHT: Horseman of Apocalypse

CHAPTER EIGHT: Horseman of Apocalypse

**Metal Overlord 2.0: The Joker's deck is not only focused on clowns, as you will see in this chapter. But yeah, lot's of fun ideas to experiment with. Yami vs. Jason will be a blast, I'm sure I'll be able to figure out something epic enough. Anyway, enjoy this chapter. Btw, the Joker is involved with Paradias, not Apocalypse.**

**Aelstha-Mental: Meh, the Joker is worse then Pegasus could ever be, simply because of how real he is. Although a duel of clowns vs. toons would be hilarious…. Maybe one day, lol.**

**BEWK: He was amazing, indeed. I'm trying to keep him in character, although I have to take a few creative stretches to make the situation believable.**

**Candyman123: Thanks a lot. I hope you enjoy this.**

**DuelistBlake1852: Yep, that's Apocalypse for you. I won't be focusing on his character for some time now, you'll just see glimpses of his cruelty. Anyway, I'm glad you liked the duels. Daniel always had an E-Hero deck in Wolf General's fics, so I'm just sticking to what he's done. After all, he is his character. Look for more of his duels soon, there should be a lot more crazy fusions.**

Apocalypse sat on his massive throne, his face unreadable due to the black helmet that covered it. The grille was up, revealing his grey, pebbly, unnatural eyes. The mere sight of the giant on the black chair was enough to frighten a normal man to death.

The door was locked, and he had ordered Blight to make sure he was not disturbed. At one point, himself and Blight were the only inhabitants of the castle themselves, but now, he had begun to reassemble his army. Truly, he reflected, things were not as they were before.

Many of the present guards were simply controlled humans. However, if he was able to hold off the Infinity Council until he returned to full power, he would need more then that. Blight had made contact with the demon clans that lay in hiding, waiting for the day of the return of their leader. Most of them had already pledged their allegiance to him once again. Those who had gotten a little too accustomed to their temporary freedom were dealt with accordingly.

He had considered offering the King of Necropolis the post of the Third Horseman. On second thoughts, he had dismissed the idea, for the King was indeed an emotional being whose anger and foolishness often conflicted with his decisions in battle. Besides, he was far too ambitious. However, he now had a perfect candidate for his post as the Third…

"**Blight**."

The ornately carved, massive iron doors to the spacious and dark throne room creaked open, and the white-armored man quickly hurried in. He bent low on one knee. "Master…"

Apocalypse allowed him to stand, and in three short sentences relayed the identity of the Third Horseman to his first and most loyal servant, and how he would end up finding him. The First Horseman's eyes widened in shock. His otherworldly mind spun quickly, and he replied slowly.

"Master… He would never be able to defeat his opponent. All signs point towards him being a mediocre duelist with no chance whatsoever of being a useful addition to your army."

"**Perhaps. But when driven his emotional hatred, indeed he would be a valuable asset**."

"He is dead, Master," replied Blight.

"**Exactly**."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Yami was struck dumb by Jason's words. "Answer me," continued Jason. "What is it that makes you pick up a Duel Disk, slide it on your arm and fire off the holo projectors? I watched each and every one of your duels in all major tournaments, from Duelist Kingdom to the Kaiba Corp. Grand Championship. I heard you speak, but your words did not answer my questions.

"You seem a skilled psychoanalyst. I could tell you understand your opponents by the way they speak, the way they duel. Especially Seto Kaiba. That lecture you gave him at the end of your semi-final duel with him at Battle City about anger… To many, it was just a lecture. But it gave me an insight into your mind. You spoke with a certain amount of anger in your voice. When trying to explain to him that anger was a worthless thing, you seemed quite frustrated yourself. On thinking further, I realized the reason."

There was silence as their eyes met.

"You were angry with him for making such mistakes, because you respected him as a rival and perhaps even considered him a friend. You did not wish for him to undergo the pain of having so much anger and hatred on his mind, and were simply trying to force him to see the truth that the façade he was living underneath was simply not worth it. He was dueling for the glory of the Battle City title, and his pent-up anger towards you was destroying him from inside. Now, I realized as I heard you speak that you didn't want him to make the same mistake you made. Your inner frustration betrays you. What is it that confuses you?"

Yami looked down, and gave a low chuckle. "You're a good one with psychology, Jason. I think I'll honor your hard work in trying to understand me, and give you a heads up on this. I don't know why I duel," he sighed, looking up.

Everyone watched him intently as he spoke. "As an Eagle agent, you know the basic story behind myself and Yugi. I wouldn't have been playing this game if he never solved the Millennium Puzzle. When I played it myself for the first time, it was special to me. It reminded me of the sacrifice I made five thousand years to prevent the Shadow Games from destroying the world. It strengthened the bond between the two of us, and it was also simply fun to play."

His features darkened.

"Of course, all that changed. It seemed that the bond of friendship I was enjoying with Yugi was nothing more then a façade to the innumerable challenges me faced along the way. Pegasus, Marik, Dartz, Zorc, and once again this group I faced in the Tournament of Shadows…. It was taking away the essence of dueling, which was to simply enjoy oneself. I began to get the feeling that by a cruel twist of fate, I was destined to lose my bond with Yugi as well as my love of the game due to the number of times I was forced to duel at such high stakes.

"I respected Kaiba. I could see that he was going the same way I was. He wanted the Battle City title, and was throwing away so many things for that. He wasn't dueling for the love of the game, he was dueling to destroy his past. But the past is a part of us. It shapes who we are. We cannot ignore it. I didn't want him to fall to the same, cruel fate that I did. I could tell he loved dueling. But just like my anger at the fact that I always seemed to be the one who had to fight for the fate of many reduced my love of dueling to nothing, I could tell that if Kaiba's hatred, anger and lust for power continued, his life would become nothing more then a façade as well. He would lose his bond with his brother, just like my bond with Yugi weakened after the Tournament of Shadows."

Yami took a deep breath. "I'm rambling. I'll give it to you straight. I'm tired of dueling for stakes every single time. Ever since Yugi's grandfather was kidnapped by Pegasus all those years ago, I haven't been able to enjoy the game other then on a few select occasions. The best duel I've ever had, which was against Yugi himself, was one with the horrible consequences of us being separated. Yes, I realized that even eternal peace was not worth sacrificing the friendship I had with so many special people. I want to duel for the love of the game again. I want to enjoy the adrenaline flooding through my veins whether I win or lose, because for years I never had the option of losing. It was all just too important. Even though I was able to do what I thought was my duty and finish off Marik, there were further consequences to my actions and Apocalypse was released. This reduced me to an empty shell.

"It just seemed so… _unfair_. Once, just once, I wanted the pressure of my shoulders, and be able to duel unrestricted, just for the love of the game, without the fate of the world in my hands." He looked up at Jason.

"There you have it. That's what has been eating away at me."

The two watched each other quietly, before Jason spoke up in a rather soft, yet strong voice.

"I have misjudged you, and for that I must apologize. Your frustration is quite understandable. There is still a lot of dueling to go until you get a break after we get the first Seal, so I have a proposition. Let us finish this duel. I need it, so do you. It's been very long since I've simply dueled, not for any particular aim, but simply to enjoy dueling. I want to feel it myself again. Let's duel for the love of the game, for the adrenaline pumping through our veins, for the wild intensity of it all."

Yami found a small smile curling across his lips. "Let's make this one a duel for the ages."

"I couldn't agree more," replied Jason, drawing slowly. He smirked at his new card. "I can first level up Armed Dragon LV3 to Armed Dragon LV5 (2400/1700) during my standby phase!"

Vanishing quickly, the smaller creature was replaced instantly with a large dull grey armored dragon with orange skin. It had several large spikes sticking from it's body, a pair of small drills sticking form it's knees and elbows, powerful clawed fists, short stubby wings, and finally a strong mace shaped ball on it's tail.

"I'll follow it up with play Painful Choice."

Sifting through his deck, he held up five cards and showed them to Yami. They were three Repayment of Losses, and two Solar Flare Dragons (1500/1000) (x2). Yami seemed quite surprised at this.

"_Solar Flare Dragons? I think I know what he's doing. He's going to try and set up a lockdown that will deal me a thousand points of damage every turn, and also protect his dragons from attack. I've seen this strategy before… Of course, letting him discard all three Repayment of Losses will give him a triple draw, but I don't have any monster removal at this point, and can't risk him setting up a lockdown that will finish my off in four turns._"

He forced a grin, and boldly declared, "Keep your Solar Flare Dragon." Jason shrugged and slid all the other four cards into his graveyard before drawing three more cards and adding the dragon to his hand.

"Don't forget Rapid Fire Magician," he smirked, and the mage once again fired off a sphere from the row around him. It impacted Jason's chest, causing a slight tightening of his mouth, but nothing else.

(Yami: 3900, Jason: 5800)

"Big mistake you made there. I now summon my Solar Flare Dragon (1500/1000) in attack mode!" he said calmly as his field seemed to explode with flames. In the thick of it was a single dragon, about fifteen feet long. One could not tell the difference between the dragon itself and the fire that surrounded it. It's head was blackened and the skull seemed to be partially exposed, with horns on either side. Large, fiery wings opened from its back and it roared at Yami.

"An interesting monster, but I know its effect and it seems quite out of place in a strategy such as yours. Unless you have more support in the form of fire monsters, it seems quite useless."

Jason shook his head. "Not really. I play Polymerization."

Yami's eyes widened, even as the Rapid Fire Magician let lose a blast in response to Jason's move. "Armed Dragon LV5 and Solar Flare Dragon…"

(Yami: 3900, Jason: 5400)

His words were cut off as the two wyverns slammed into each other, inciting the flames all around them into rising to a height of ten feet. Inside the incredible column of fire a new beast was birthed, one far more terrible then any one summoned in the duel prior to this point.

As the flames faded, a heavy form was visible on the field. It was very bulky, like the Armed Dragon, and still quite long. It was definitely not serpentine, but it had a skull-like head and an almost robotic look to it, what with its shining silver scales. Its neck was slender and extended out towards Yugi's field behind which cruel yellow eyes glowed. Its claws were like kitchen knives, finely shaped and razor sharp. Large wings flapped out, grazing the top corner of the Dimensional Countdown sphere.

"This is, if course, my Infernal War Dragon (2900/1800). He can only be special summoned through fusion summon."

"What a monstrosity," muttered Yami, dumbstruck.

Jason nodded. "Indeed, he is not a pleasant sight, that much even I find myself compelled to admit. But his effects will shape the course of the duel in my favor. I will have him attack your Silent Magician LV4."

Yami braced himself as the fusion dragon opened its jaws and a sphere of bronze energy built up within. With a roar, it let lose the attack, and a column of absolute power whistled through the air in the direction of the unfortunate mage. He tried to defend by raising his staff in defense, but it was no help as the attack ripped through him and left the remains in smolders.

"Despite his sizable attack strength, Infernal War Dragon does not deal you battle damage. Instead, you lose life-points equal to half the attack points of your monster, and he gains one damage counter. The damage that he would have dealt is stored within this damage counter, and I can use it later for a rather devastating effect."

The tail of the monstrosity darted out from behind it like a snake pouncing on a rat. It had a long, deadly looking spike on it, and it struck the King of Games in the chest, inciting a grunt of pain.

(Yami: 3400, Jason: 5400)

"I'll grant you your token during my Second Main Phase and then I end my turn. Infernal War Dragon shares the effect of Solar Flare Dragon, and you are dealt five hundred points of damage." This time, the dragon let lose a sphere of orange energy, which once again hit Yami in the chest. He grunted in pain, but was able to shake it off.

(Yami: 2900, Jason: 5400)

Despite his earlier resistance, Daniel had begun to doubt his own words about Yami bouncing back. Jason dueled like it was a part of him, as if the Duel Disk and deck were a mere extension of his body. The strategy was indeed interesting. He clenched his fist in anticipation of perhaps challenging Jason to a duel himself, sometime. Elemental Heroes versus Jason's bizarre Psychic Dragon deck… Yes, that would also be a legendary duel, if it happened.

Yami sighed, and drew. Once again, the strange black dragon appeared on Jason's field and he drew once again. "I switch Rapid Fire Magician to defense mode and further set another card facedown. Make your move."

Jason drew, and he held up another card. "Then the barrage will continue. I sacrifice two of my tokens to call upon a monster known as Telekinetic Assassin (2800/1900)." Two of the dragons disappeared, and similar to the summoning of Clevonce, pixel like cubes of blackness flew in from all directions, quickly forming a towering form.

It was a man dressed in a black suit. He wore a white shirt underneath, with a long black tie. Its body seemed to be made of a lightning absorber. Its head was large and round, and covered with a shiny visor. Metallic, gray arms stuck out of its sleeves, and despite the fancy tuxedo, he started to look scary with electricity began to crackle along his arms.

"The effect of this monster is actually quite interesting. I can pay seven hundred life-points to choose one of three effects. You don't need to know about the other two right now. I will utilize his ability of immunity to quick play magic cards till the end of your turn."

Yami frowned at this, but said nothing as Jason pointed an almost accusing finger at the magician.

The assassin did not qualify under that word at all, for he was anything but subtle in his attempts to murder the mage. Raising his arm, a sphere of lightning began to form in his hand. It started out at the size of a simple apple, but soon grew to the length and height of a car. With a wild flourish, the man thrust the attack forward, and it shot through the air before slamming into the unfortunate spellcaster, who was immediatley shattered.

"Now, I will revoke my gift to you and Infernal War Dragon will destroy your token!" It was a battle of dragons, or rather the slaughter of one dragon by another as the towering, metallic dragon let lose its electrical storm of bronze energy at the smaller one. As deadly as it looked, the small blaze of orange fire it spat out was by know means enough to save it as it was ripped apart by the attack.

"I now grant you one more," continued Jason, and next to the remaining token on Yami's field appeared another one. He drew, and ended his turn. At that moment, the Infernal War Dragon let lose another sphere of energy which slammed into Yami's chest and incited another grunt of pain.

(Yami: 2400, Jason: 5400)

Yami drew heavily. He was facing down two monsters with nearly three thousand attack points, and it was never a good situation to be in, especially with only twenty-four hundred life-points. Shaking his head, he spoke. "I will grant you your token and draw."

Another black dragon joined its previous copy and the two towering monsters. Yami snapped the top card off his deck, and finally, a smile grew across his face.

"I know that look," warned Daniel. "He will take control now."

"I sacrifice my two Black Psychic Tokens for my almighty Dark Magician (2500/2100)!"

The black dragons vanished in a small flash of light, but replacing them was a stronger mage in purple armor with flowing purple robes. He wore a strange set of armor, with a strange mage's hat, and had a powerful green staff that was nearly as tall as his body. His long hair that could be seen hanging out of his hat was purple and his eyes were the color of lilac.

Jason cocked his head a little lower. "It is quite an honor to face off against one of the most popular and revered monsters in the game along with the legendary Blue Eyes White Dragon. But still, his twenty-five hundred attack points is three hundred short of my assassin and four hundred away from my dragon."

"Perhaps," nodded Yami. "But what if I play the quick-play magic card Rush Recklessly?" Even as he said these words, the already powerful mage began to glow. He glanced over at Yami to confirm if this was meant to happen, and when confident that he was now more powerful, he turned his gaze to the two weaker monsters (3200/2100).

"Now, Dark Magic Attack!"

Raising his staff, the purple armored mage fired a blast of green energy straight at the dragon. It opened its mouth and thousands of ergs of pure electrical power raged out, slamming into the magician's attack. But both combatants knew that the struggle was but one of display, for the mage's advantage of three hundred points was unassailable. Slowly, it began to press forward.

Jason spoke sharply. "I will not let that happen. I activate his effect!" With a thunderous roar, the Infernal War Dragon's mouth widened and an absolute storm of energy exploded out towards the mage, who had suddenly turned pale. The green energy from his staff was not flowing with the same intensity, and he seemed at a disadvantage.

"What's happening?!" said Yami, outraged.

"By removing the counter I placed on him two of my turns ago I can reduce the power of the attacking monster by that same amount of battle damage I would have dealt you upon the destruction of your Breaker until the end of the turn." (2100/2100)

The stream of bronze energy was ready to completely rip the Dark Magician in half, when Yami acted. "I activate my facedown trap card, Protection of the Destined! For every end-phase that it's been facedown, it will grant one monster on my field five hundred attack points until the end of the turn!"

Just as the power of the Infernal War Dragon burst forth, the energized Dark Magician (3100/2100) swung his staff around in a ninety-degree arc. The resulting power caused a backlash of emerald energy that slammed into the oncoming attack, sending it rocketing back towards the dragon. The power literally ripped through the wyrm's chest, slicing it in half and shattering the two pieces.

(Yami: 2400, Jason: 5200)

"That was…" Jason was unable to speak in surprise. He shook his head and indicated for Yami to complete his move.

"I can't have your Telekinetic Assassin causing problems for me, so I play the powerful magic card Thousand Knives!"

Materializing all around the purple robed mage were several glowing knives with maroon colored hilts. "When Dark Magician is in play, Thousand Knives allows me to destroy one monster on your field. My choice of target is no surprise… Destroy his Assassin!"

Swinging his staff, the mage sent the knives forward. Each knife dug into the strange, suited man inciting nothing more then a buzz of pain before finally exploding into millions of pieces, leaving Jason only to growl with frustration.

"I set a card and end my turn. The tables have turned Jason."

"Do you really believe so?" responded the Eagle operative, snapping the top card off his deck. His dark eyes had turned a touch of cerulean, giving them a colder and more merciless look then before. Gone was the touch of friendliness he had shown the King of Games. Now, it was only the excitement and adrenaline of the duel that drove him, just like a hunter who hunted for the thrill of the hunt.

"I play the magic card known as Volcanic Fusion. It allows me to remove fire-type monsters in my graveyard or on my field from play to special summon their fusion. I choose to remove from play all three of my Solar Flare Dragons (1500/1000) (x3)."

Brian looked up alarmed. "Oh crap," he muttered. "If Jason is actually touching that monster, he really thinks that this duel is going to take a lot out of him."

"What's the deal?" asked Daniel, not taking his eyes off the field.

Brian took a breath, and continued. "Jason was always the top duelist at Eagle. The closest I ever came to beating him was when the difference in our life-points was eleven hundred. Then he played Volcanic Fusion, and then it's all history. He says he's had fifteen losses with it, but that's to stay inconspicuous. Truth is, he's had two losses and one draw. One was to the founder of Eagle, Eizan Nakamura. Then to a man named Zane Truesdale in the finals of the Los Angeles Regional's. And he's drawn once with a girl from our group, Sarah Taylor. He's never had to push himself, ever, except in these three duels. He got his posterior handed to him against Eizan, but that was one of his first duels upon entering the organization. The one with Truesdale was close though, it came down to Cyber End Dragon and the monster he's about to summon. Jason would have taken it; but his opponent played Limiter Removal."

"What about the third one?" asked Ryu.

Brian shrugged. "I was never around to actually watch it. Glad I didn't though. Would've had me puking my guts out, what with Sarah being the only person who can actually get Jason to do what she wants. Heh, he won't say anything, and hell knows you can't tell by looking at him, but there's something about the way they act when they're around each other that can let you see that they're nuts about each other but don't realize it. But off that topic, I can tell that if Jason is really going to play this card, he's thinking about this duel in a whole different way."

"Is that good or bad?"

"With Jason, they can be the same thing."

Back at the duel, Yami seemed surprised. "A fusion of three Solar Flare Dragons?!"

Jason's eyes gleamed, and three towers of flames shot up into the air. They went high enough to disappear into the dark clouds, but it didn't really matter, because the clouds hung extra low in the city, for some reason. The three columns slowly began to move towards each other, and the fire began to meld into one, single tower which began to grow wider until it stretched the length of Jason's field.

Slowly, ever so slowly, the flames began to disappear. A towering form the size of a school bus loomed over its master's field. While the Solar Flare Dragon was quite an unpleasant sight, this beast was downright horrifying. It had a glowing, metallic look to it, for its scales shown a bright reddish-orange. It's body was that of a normal dragon, and two massive red wings topped with spikes flapped open. It had three, terrifying heads, each one mounted on a neck the length of a good-sized tree. Flames ran up and down its necks, and long, deadly teeth were present in its mouth. It had black, callous eyes that held not a shred of pity as all three maws opened simultaneously to give a massive roar.

"Meet Supernova Dragon (3500/3000)!"

It was the first sign of actual excitement Jason had shown in the entire duel. Yami was quite shocked by the dragon, and looked down at his Dark Magician with a concerned look. With an advantage of one thousand attack points over his prized spellcaster, the incredible dragon could blow it to dust. Plus, he was sure it had some kind of effect.

"One of my stronger monsters has arrived," continued the Psychic Dragon duelist, a look of confidence crossing his face.

"Now, he will demonstrate his might by destroying your Dark Magician with Solar Triplex Flare!"

All three mouths of the triple-headed dragon opened, and blood red energy began to build up in its mouth, coupled with a tinge of black. It's heads swung forward, and three columns of pure solar energy literally tore through the air towards the unfortunate spellcaster. The Dark Magician closed his eyes and dropped his staff, as if accepting his destiny as a sacrifice for the protection of his master. Yami cringed as the power of the solar energy swept over him. Fortunately, the glow was so bright that one couldn't even see the magician being destroyed as the remainder of the energy melted the ground into a pool of lava.

(Yami: 1400, Jason: 5200)

"Fortunately for you, his effect cannot be used if I attack. In any case, he is unaffected by trap cards, so there's not a whole lot you can do to stop him. Therefore I will grant you a Black Psychic Token, so that there are only nine counters left on my magic card."

A single, black dragon appeared on Yami's field, cowering before the triple-headed monstrosity opposite it, and Jason once again held six cards in his hand. He slid a card into his magic/trap card slot, and ended his turn.

Yami took a breath. "I am forced to grant you two Black Psychic Tokens in order to draw two cards." As the smaller dragons appeared on Jason's field, Yami drew two more cards.

He sighed, and lifted up another card. "I play Token Thanksgiving, destroying all tokens in play to give me eight hundred life-points per token." All three dragons were shattered, and their essences flew into Yami, energizing him and increasing his strength.

(Yami: 3800, Jason: 5200)

He looked over at his next card. "_It's risky to play this… But at the moment nothing I can do nothing against this monster… But maybe Yugi can._"

He shut his eyes tight, and then slipped the card into his magic and trap card zone. "I play the normal magic card Reality Warp! At the cost of three thousand life-points I can shuffle my graveyard and hand back into my deck, and then not only take my deck out of my Duel Disk but start over with an entirely different deck!"

"What kind of card…." began Jason, but his words were lost to the explosion of light from the Millennium Puzzle.

When the light disappeared, the ancient Pharaoh was no longer standing opposite Jason. It was none other then Yugi Moto himself, with a shaken but determined look in his eyes.

"So, I have a different opponent now," muttered Jason.

Yugi nodded. "He'll be back. Let me put it to you this way: just because I want to find Tea doesn't mean my dueling won't be up to the scratch. Friendship is something you seem unable to understand, Jason. Have you never grieved for the loss of a loved one? Have you never felt the pain of losing a friend? Yami has shown me that we can forget our past mistakes and move on to correct them!"

Jason replied with a stony cold glare.

Yugi shrugged, and slid a new deck into the Duel Disk. "The final effect of Reality Warp allows both players to draw until they hold six cards. I draw six, but you can only draw one."

(Yugi: 800, Jason: 5200)

"Having pulled a stunt like that you're all but out of the duel," pressed Jason. "Eight hundred life-points? As soon as my turn comes up I can use the invincible might of my Supernova Dragon and end the duel."

Yugi ignored him. "I summon Twilight Shadow Soldier (1600/1200)!"

The platinum armored warrior appeared. The slim sword in his hand made him seem more intimidating then he would otherwise. He had a simple helmet, and he raised his head to reveal a determined and calm face.

"When Twilight Shadow Soldier is summoned, one monster on your field loses one hundred attack points for each of his level stars. Since your Supernova Dragon is a level ten monster, he loses nine hundred attack points, meaning he's suddenly become a lot easier to handle!"

The titanic dragon growled in shock as its power took a sudden dip (2500/3000).

"Twenty-six hundred is still too strong for you," shrugged Jason.

"Really?" smirked Yugi, holding up another card. "I play Polymerization, fusing Twilight Shadow Soldier with Twilight Shadow Shield Guardian (200/2200) in my hand to call upon the might of Twilight Shadow Swordmaster (2500/2000)!"

A spectral form appeared on Yugi's field. It was kneeling, and about five feet tall. It wore blue armor, and a dome-like helmet. A futuristic shield was attached to one arm. It was pitch black in color, but in the center was a single, shining blue jewel, with cracks extending all around it. The cracks glowed in a similar manner.

The two monsters slammed into each other. There was a blinding light that enveloped Yugi's field, and from it emerged the warrior that wore tight fitting, futuristic, silver armor. On either side of his back, energy wings cracked open. One of his arms was mechanical, and he held a glowing sword in the other hand. Floating into the air, he glared down at the Supernova Dragon.

"They're equal in strength," pointed out Jason.

"When Swordmaster is summoned, I can destroy one monster on your field. You lose two hundred life-points for every level star of your monster." The futuristic warrior swung his sword in an arc. It generated a wave of emerald energy which struck the dragon head on.

Jason tapped a button on his Duel Disk. "I activate Inferno Protection. One Pyro type monster on my field cannot be destroyed in any way until the end of the turn. Also, I can shift that monster to defense mode in order to reduce all effect damage till the end of the turn to zero."

Th dragon folded its wings, and the emerald bolt bounced off, slamming into the ground near them and leaving quite a burn mark.

"Which means that we're at a stalemate," replied Yugi coolly, sliding a card into his magic and trap card zone. "I end my turn."

Jason laughed sorely. It was the first sign of amusement he had shown aloud ever since Yugi first met him.

"By sacrificing his attack for the turn, Supernova Dragon deals you fifteen hundred points of damage. By activating Reality Warp, you sealed your own fate. Solaris Burst!"

One by one, the three heads spat out spheres of searing lava at the young King of Games. The lava seemed to contain pieces of rocks, and no sane man would simply stand calmly in their path as they continued on in his direction, ready to crush and fry him at the same time.

"I activate my facedown trap card Dark Dimension Mirror. All life-point damage done to me during this turn is converted into life-point gain, which means that you've done me a great favor by negating half the cost paid for Reality Warp."

A wall of purple light bounced up over Yugi's field. The three lava balls slammed into it and began to melt into it, oozing red-hot magma all over that threatened to break through and roast Yugi alive. However, it was not to be so. Soon, the lava disappeared, leaving the protective shield standing in front of Yugi.

(Yugi: 2300, Jason: 5200)

Jason frowned. "Very well. I will first play the magic card Monster Reborn to revive Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV6 (2300/1600)!"

The large, silver, bird-like dragon reappeared on Jason's field and gave a roar of anger upon looking at the more powerful Twilight Shadow Swordmaster, who simply looked down at it with an angry glare, shutting it up.

"I set a card, and then will grant you a Black Psychic Token (0/1000)." Drawing, Jason looked over his hand and ended his turn.

A smile then crossed his face. "And now, during my end phase, Horus levels up to his most powerful form and my personal favorite monster, Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV8 (3000/1800)!"

A large sphere of black flames surrounded the silver dragon in a flash. From the flames came a larger set of silver metal wings, a longer tail, stronger talon legs, powerful silver arms, and at long last, a large silver head. With a massive roar, the flames dispersed.

Yugi seemed impressed. "I like your dragon… It has a certain air of nobility and power around it that makes it not only more intimidating but also a lot more respect-worthy."

Jason's eyes took on a look of surprise for a moment, before he spoke again. "Well then, just wait until you find out about his effect. Believe me, you are not going to like it when you find how truly how powerful Horus is."

Yugi drew comfortably, and looked over at Jason with determined eyes. "It's time for you to feel the true power of the Twilight Shadows."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"First I'll switch Peten to attack mode!" declared the Joker. "Vorse Joker, carve a smile onto the little man's face!"

The freakish beast-warrior shrieked with laughter once again, and leapt over the field towards Kaiba extending its staff. It was about to slash Kaiba across the face, following its master's instructions to the letter and giving him scars on either side of his lips identical to the Joker's himself.

Kaiba slammed a button on his Duel Disk. "I activate the continuous trap card Union Protection! By sending a union monster from my deck to the graveyard I can reduce all damage by one of your attacks down to zero. The effect can be used thrice. So I'll send X-Head Cannon (1800/1500) to the graveyard!"

In front of the laughing ogre, a blue and yellow machine creature formed. It had a pair of cannon barrels sticking out of it's chest, a orb on the bottom of it's body instead of feet, and a pair of strong machine arms. It was in spectral form, but that did not reduce its power as a blast from its cannons knocked the Vorse Joker a way.

"That wasn't nice!" bellowed an outraged Joker, pointing at Kaiba once again. Saggi and Peten rushed forward with maniacal, eager looks of deranged glee of their faces. Kaiba's face contorted, and a machine red dragon with four smaller legs, metallic claws, and wings spread appeared in front of him.

A torrent of yellow energy slammed into Peten knocking him away. Meanwhile, a blue and yellow tank like creature appeared in front of Saggi, it's long barrel staring down the demented clown. A sphere of energy knocked him away, but the laughing still continued…

"Eeh eeh eeh! Eeh eeh eeh!"

Kaiba ran a weary hand through his hair, trying to block it out. But the crazy laughter continued, piercing his skull like an icy knife, drying him out of his mind… It was indescribable.

"Schemer!" snarled the Joker. "You planned that, didn't you? You schemed up that entire thing! I don't like that! I don't like that at ALL!" In his all most humorous indignance, he stamped down hard on the sand, sending a cloud of dust into the air.

"See how you like it when someone schemes against you! I play one card facedown and then you can continue this little game!"

Kaiba drew, and glared at the Joker. "I play Soul Release, to remove X-Head Cannon, Y-Dragon Head and Z-Metal Tank from the game!" Behind him appeared the three machines in spectral form, and slowly began to fade away into nothingness.

"Then I activate my normal magic card, Dimension Fusion! By paying two thousand life-points I can special summon all three of them back to the field!"

He gave a gasp of pain and fell to his knees as the effect of the magic card drained most of his remaining life-points. He shook it off, knowing that it was going to benefit him in the end.

(Joker: 2100, Kaiba: 1500)

One by one, the three machines materialized onto the field. The first was a blue and yellow robot that floated on a sphere and had a pair of large cannon barrels stuck out of it's chest. The next was a red mechanical dragon with a pair of long wings. Finally, a blue and yellow tank like creature appeared.

"Now I remove all three from play in order to fuse them together, so come together my XYZ-Dragon Cannon (2800/2600)!"

Launching into the air by use of their thrusters, the three machine creatures began to form into one creature. The tank became the bottom and took up position while waiting for the other two to link up. Slowly, the red dragon's wings broke off of its body and it retracted it's head. The large blue robot creature lowered itself into a port within the dragon's back and linked up, before finally the two came crashing down onto the blue and yellow tank, which hooked up as well. A bit of electricity flashed through the air when the three finally fully powered up.

"Ooh…" muttered the Joker, rather put off. "Don't you know that machines are reducing are ability to work for ourselves? You should do things the old fashioned way!"

"Don't you know how to shut up?" snarled back Kaiba, sliding his one remaining card into his graveyard and pointing at the Vorse Joker.

"By discarding one card from my hand XYZ-Dragon Cannon will reduce a single monster on your field to dust! Full Laser Destruction!"

Aiming its twin cannons, the combo machine creature released a pair of twin laser blasts at the perverted freak of a monster. The blast hit spiraled through the air and struck it hard, smashing it into pieces.

"Since I discarded Repayment of Losses, I draw one card." Slipping the new card off his deck, he smirked and slipped it into his magic and trap card slot.

"I play Pot of Greed to draw two more cards."

He snapped the top two cards off his deck and glared over at the Joker. "I only destroyed Vorse Joker because I didn't know if it had any effect that would stop me from destroying you. The duel is over now, so XYZ-Dragon Cannon can destroy Saggi the Dark Clown!"

With deadly aim, the weapons on the combo creature released a group of laser blasts, each just as strong as the other. The series of blasts soon struck the deranged harlequin head on. It seemed apparent that since it was going to deal an amount of damage totaling twenty-two hundred points, the Joker was finished.

"Sorry pretty boy, but I activate Ring Master's Descent! I can sacrifice a clown on my field to negate your attack and summon one other monster with clown in its name from my deck… Come out, Dream Clown (1200/900) in attack mode!"

Peten disappeared, and a ball of black energy appeared. It moved in front of Saggi and the laser attacks bounced off it. However, the black cover was shattered and the energy disappeared to reveal another clown. Though not as demented as Saggi, it was still quite strange, with a large red cap that covered its eyes. It wore a scarlet top dotted with yellow stars, and a brown scarf with similar colored pants. It had a large, green nose that seemed to cover most of its face.

"You saved yourself for that one turn," snarled Kaiba, folding his arms. "Next time you won't be so lucky! I set a card and end my turn."

The Joker drew calmly. "I never liked human sacrifice, but whoever said Saggi is human? I sacrifice him to summon Abyssal Ring Master (2300/2200)!"

The clown disappeared, and shade of smoke wafted over the Joker's field, blocking out the searing heat of the sun. A dark laugh was heard from within the smoke, and a man-sized form took shape. The smoke cleared to reveal a shady looking man dressed in a purple suit with a long cape hanging over his shoulders. He had a black top hat with a monocle over one eye, and a whip in one hand. He gave it a crack, followed by another dark laugh.

"Nice guy, isn't he?" said the Joker once again. "He's no schemer, that's what I like about him. He's quite ruthless though; no insubordination to the Abyssal Ring Master, no siree. He lets me special summon one level three or lower normal guy from my deck, once per turn."

He gave another shrieky laugh. "This card is actually quite special to me, it reminds me of how I tried to revolt back in Gotham. Oppressed People (400/2000) in defense mode!"

Appearing next to the dark leader were a group of uncomfortable looking peasants. They were dressed in torn, red rags and seemed to have a depressed look on their face. All they carried were their tools, and were shuffling about doing essentially nothing.

"Then I switch Dream Clown to defense mode in order to activate his effect! When he switches from attack to defense mode, I can take out one monster on your field. Since you only have one…" He trailed off as a sickly smirk spread across his face.

The Dream Clown rushed forward and its fist glowed a radioactive green. It drew back its small hand, and it looked pretty strange to see it attacking a machine ten times its size, but when its fist came in contact with the XYZ-Dragon Cannon it began to melt.

Fast as lightning, Kaiba reacted. "I activate the facedown card Divine Wrath! By discarding a single card from my hand I can negate the effect of your monster and destroy it!"

A barrier of red energy appeared in front of the XYZ-Dragon Cannon. The Dream Clown attempted to punch through it, but it was too much. The green energy was absorbed, and the power of the shield through the Dream Clown off. It contracted, and the bolt of green energy was spat back out at the clown. Just as he stood up, the energy struck and vaporized him.

"I discarded the monster card known as Magic Ruler (300/1000). He's quite useful, you see, because when he's discarded to a cost I can choose to mimic the effect of one normal spell card in my deck, and I choose Burial from the Different Dimension! This powerful card allows me to return up to three removed from play cards back to my graveyard and I have no better choices then my three Blue Eyes White Dragons (3000/2500) (x3)!"

His explanation was interrupted by the repeated sound of one hand smacking another. It was the unmistakable sound of the Joker clapping. His applause was sincere, and he smiled at the scowl on Kaiba's face.

"Excellent play!" he applauded. "Couldn't have done something better myself!"

"Are you done?" asked Kaiba through gritted teeth.

"Eh. let me see…. Yeah, I'll play a facedown card. Then I'd say I'm just about finished. Please, don't let me deter you from continuing to amaze me!"

Kaiba had listened to a lot of such sarcastic banter throughout his years as a duelist, but the part that really scared him was the sincerity that the Joker spoke these words with. It was as if he actually enjoyed watching Kaiba make amazing moves that would turn the duel in his favor.

"_I swear, when I'm done here, this guy is going to be locked up in a loony bin so far away from reality that people are going to forget this freak every existed_."

"I play Card of Demise. I can now draw until I hold five cards but I must discard my entire hand on my fifth standby phase after activation." Glancing across his full, new hand, he considered his options.

"_I could easily discard cards to blow away his entire field. But he's proved himself to be a decent duelist, and I can't really risk having him chain that facedown's effect to my XYZ Dragon Cannon's effect. Then again, if I attack without destroying it, I risk having my only monster being destroyed._"

His brow furrowed in concentration, the ace duelist finally decided on a course of action. "I discard a card to destroy your facedown!"

The criminal laughed snidely. "You destroyed Wabuko, and I'll chain it to the effect of your XYZ Dragon Cannon to reduce all possible damage that you can do all the way down to zero!"

Kaiba's face was disfigured by an angry snarl once again.

"Fine! I set one card facedown and end my turn."

The Joker drew calmly. "I use Abyssal Ring Master's effect to summon another monster from my deck. This time I choose People Running About (600/600)!" Appearing next to the uneasy peasants were another group of commoners. On their faces, however, was not depressed sadness but rather bitter hatred and a lust for revenge. They bore scars all over their body with distaste, but seemed to ignore them in order to achieve their ultimate goal of vengeance.

"We're almost there now," whispered the Joker. "Two of the three stages have been completed… No one would ever admit it, but it's true that the mayor was a real tyrant. It was _me_! I incited the fight for freedom! I wanted to get rid of the tyranny! IT WAS ME!"

Kaiba looked startled at the outburst from the Joker, and a cynical sneer spread across his face. "Now I see why you were locked up in Arkham. It's not a very intelligent thing to suddenly scream to yourself during a duel."

"Oh, sorry about that," replied the criminal airily. "Just getting the blood flowing. Ah yes, I'll switch Abyssal Ring Master to defense mode, and then set two cards facedown."

Kaiba drew slowly, and a smirk spread across his face. "Time to end this, then. I dis-…" But before he could finish, the Joker tapped a button on his Duel Disk.

"I activate the trap card known as Life by Laughter! By sacrificing a clown on the field I can special summon one level three or lower normal monster from my deck in defense mode. So I sacrifice Dream Clown to summon the final piece of the puzzle of your death… United Resistance (1000/400)!"

The clown started laughing hysterically. Its laughter was so similar to the Joker's own that it seemed pretty morbid. It fell to the ground in shrieks, pounding the sand with its fists and kicking backwards like a child throwing a ridiculous fit. Everyone watching stared in utter befuddlement as the hysteric clown began to melt into a blue ooze. From within the blue goo appeared a final group of people that seemed far more angry and terrible then their predecessors. They wore patched up attire that one would normally associate with warriors, and carried all kinds of crude weapons, from hatchets and muskets, to simple clubs.

"All three pieces of my puzzle of death are present," muttered the Joker, and an even bigger smile spread across his evil face.

"Time for the rebellion to begin. I activate the facedown trap card, Huge Revolution! When Oppressed People, People Running About and United Resistance are all on the field at once, all cards on your field and hand go bye-bye!"

To emphasize his point, he playfully waved his gloved hand in the direction of the mechanical fusion. Even as he did this, the three groups of people all gave a roar of anger at once. With that, they all began to rush across the field, their shouts and slogans growing increasingly louder as they continued to wave their weapons.

Kaiba reacted swiftly, and in his hand was the quick-play spell card, Mystic Wok. Just as the first revolutionary reached the XYZ-Dragon Cannon and was about to scratch its paint job with his hatchet, a bolt of light struck the mechanical beast and vaporized it. Kaiba gave a small grunt as his life-points increased.

(Joker: 2100, Kaiba: 4300)

But it didn't stop there. One by one, archers from the rebels began to fire off arrows at Kaiba's hands. The arrows slammed into his cards, and he snarled and forced them into his graveyard. "I can't do anything," he snapped.

"I end my turn."

The Joker was delighted. "Well, boys, time for some fun! Let's show him the meaning of an eternal smile!" He added a meaningful jab to his own scars as the group of insane rebels continued on across the field. They surged over Kaiba, attacking him with their crude weapons. He snarled in anger, throwing them off, but it was like a bird being attacked by millions of ants. He finally fell to his knees, speechless in agony. Slowly, the swarm of revolutionaries fell back, leaving dozens of tiny wounds.

"Unfortunately, Abyssal Ring Master can't attack after I use his effect twice. But hey, it doesn't matter, not when I've whittled your life-points down to a more manageable level."

(Joker: 2100, Kaiba: 2300)

"Please, continue to dazzle me with your incredible dueling skills," said the Joker, bowing to Kaiba, who couldn't tell if it was sarcastic or the freak actually meant it.

He drew, holding only one card in his hand. Of course, if the card hadn't been good then he was finished, for the Joker could easily summon a monster with at least three hundred attack points, and then finish him off. But, he was Seto Kaiba after all, and his deck always had a way….

"I play Disgraceful Charity! It'll return all cards back to my hand that I discarded to a card effect last turn." He pulled the three cards out of his graveyard, and looked over them, perplexed on how to handle this situation.

"Hmm… I summon Blade Knight (1600/1000) in attack mode!" A metallic-blue-armored warrior with a curved and thick sword rose onto the field. He wore a protective, knight-like helmet with a diamond-shaped and closed visor. He had blue, double-layered shoulder pads, and his black-gloved hands grasped his almost glowing sword, and a gray and black shield. The sword had a red handle, with a green and circular gemstone embedded at the center of it. The warrior had diamond-shaped, blue, metal kneepads, and black velvet-like pants, leading to his blue-colored and metal boots.

"Now, I use him to destroy your Oppressed People and wipe out most of your remaining life-points!"

Kaiba's commonly used knight rushed forward, and its weapon was about to kill most of the weaker peasants, when the Abyssal Ring Master gave a deep cackle. "My Ring Master's final effect activates! I can now sacrifice him to end your battle phase!"

The strange monster flourished his black cloak, and then drew it around him. He vanished in a puff of noxious black smoke, which gathered together and began to form a shield in front of the Blade Knight, sending him back to Kaiba's field.

"I end," he growled angrily.

The Joker gave another freakishly friendly smile. "I like to see things burn…" he said wistfully. "It's not about what I get after it burns… No, it's about watching it burn. So you'll see what I mean when I return all three revolutionary cards to my deck to special summon Tyrant Emperor (2000/1800)!"

The massive group of raging commoners had been screaming themselves hoarse up until then, when they fell silent. A tall, evil looking form appeared in his fourth monster card zone, and at the mere sight of him the revolutionaries lost all pretense of bravery and began to run away. They disappeared, and Kaiba got his first real look at the Tyrant Emperor.

He was dressed in a heavy, gray, armored suit. A metallic helmet topped with spikes covered his head and a shoulder length mane of raven hair. He had various, intrinsic designs all over his armor, along with gauntlets covering his wrists with spikes coming out of holes between his knuckles. Along with his callous and cold features, he looked quite a bit like the Shredder from the popular anime Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles other then the rich purple cape on his shoulder.

"Two thousand? I don't think that's worth sending back three specific monsters to your deck," snorted Kaiba.

The Joker gave a maniacal grin. "I thought that you'd approve… Being a schemer. Heck, if you can't see through what I'm doing here, you're less of a schemer then I am!" He paused, and frowned. "Wait, let me try that again."

Kaiba ignored him, clenching his fist tighter. The psychopath's senseless banter was doing nothing more then riling him up, and try as he might to ignore it, it was slowly but surely getting to him. He wished he could duel as he normally would, systematically disabling his opponent before going in for the kill. But with Serenity in threat of drowning just a few meters away from him, his subconscious mind was directing him to try and end the duel as soon as possible, hang the risks.

He looked over harshly at the Joker. "Make your move."

The clown prince of crime nodded eagerly, and pointed at the Blade Knight. "You can't really make that guy smile because of his helmet… Why not take it off?"

The Tyrant Emperor gave a shrieky chuckle morbidly like the Joker's himself and tensed his leg muscles before bouncing across the field. The unfortunate knight attempted to block with his sword, but was tackled to the ground by the larger tyrant, who wrestled his helmet off to reveal cold and hate-filled European features. It was all Kaiba could do to prevent himself from covering his eyes as the merciless monster raised its spiked gauntlet and slammed it down on the knight's face. It left identical, bleeding scars to those on the Joker's face.

"And now he smiles," commented the Joker as the permanently grinning corpse of the Blade Knight disappeared.

Rikuo, even though he had seen so many worse things in his years in war, but this made him feel downright sick. Bakura, too, who had witnessed innumerable atrocities during the slaughter of Kul Elna had a snarl on his face. Joey, however, was ignoring this and only had eyes for his sister, who was watching the duel with an appalled look.

(Joker: 2300, Kaiba: 1700)

"And the good part is that Tyrant Emperor gains half the attack points of the guy whose life, uh, death he brightened up. Your little knight had sixteen hundred, so…." He made a big show of counting on his fingers, and grinned back. "That's a lot of points."

The terrible monarch (2800/1800) was now nearly as strong as a Blue Eyes White Dragon. "I play a facedown card. Eh, I guess that's enough scheming for now."

Kaiba drew, and immediatley the Tyrant Emperor glowed. "Now, this little guy forces you to do one of three things during your draw phase. Either you have to discard the card you draw, sacrifice a monster on your field, or pay a thousand life-points. Choose."

Kaiba couldn't resist his characteristic smirk. "You just don't get it, do you? Every single card has a weakness. Your emperor may be powerful, especially in this kind of situation. Since you just used Huge Revolution, it's unlikely that I'd have any monsters in play. With only seventeen hundred life-points left, paying a thousand life-points would be foolish. And then, you're denying me the opportunity of replenishing my hand…"

He held up his newly drawn card. "I have a way around your strategy. By discarding Repayment of Losses, you've granted me an extra draw!"

The Joker snarled in anger at this, but said nothing as Kaiba increased his hand size to three. He looked down at his hand, and then raised a card. "I play Renewal of Triplets, which allows me to special summon three monsters in my graveyard with the same name!"

For the first time in the duel, the Joker's full attention was on his opponent. "Oh no…"

"Prepare yourself!" boomed Kaiba, and a hole burned in the sky, and through the opening emerged three enormous light-blue dragons with white tones about them, and dark-blue eyes. Their very short, thin arms did not seem too deadly, but immense and flapping wings made up for it. They had large legs, barreling down to sharpened, white nails for feet. The dragons mightily hovered about in midair, flaunting mighty teeth in the Joker's direction. It flapped its wings forward, blowing a heavy gust toward the Tyrant Emperor.

"My three Blue Eyes White Dragons (3000/2500) (x3) have finally risen!" he laughed. "And with it will become your demise!"

Even Rikuo seemed impressed. "All three dragons… In one turn. This is no mean feat. This will definitely give Kaiba an advantage. Heck, if that facedown card is useless, he's already won the duel."

"I'm not finished," grunted Kaiba, holding up Graceful Charity. Sliding three cards off the top of his deck, he slid two more into his graveyard before his eyes widened. "_Could it be… Can I actually summon _this?"

"I play Pot of Avarice, which lets me return five monsters in my graveyard back to my deck to draw two cards. I choose to send back Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon, X-Head Cannon, Y-Dragon Head, Z-Metal Tank and XYZ Dragon Cannon."

He drew his next two, and glared over at the Joker. "Now, you're going to understand what it means to trifle with me. You have done something that I cannot, _will_ not tolerate, and you will pay the price. I play Polymerization, to fuse together my three Blue Eyes to once again call upon the invincible wrath of the agent of your doom!"

Lightning strikes rained down in a single location on the field, as Kaiba's massive, three-headed beast started to fly from the blinding light. It had tined, blue skin, and a threatening structure. The long, scaley tail extended from it, as its relentless, blue eyes scolded the field. "I summon Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon (4500/3800)!" Dark blasts of thunder raged through the night sky, setting the tone for the destructive force of Kaiba's revenge.

"I beat him once," drawled the Joker. Even the Tyrant Emperor seemed a little afraid. "What makes you think I can't do it again?"

"Because this time, you'll be facing a monster that rivals the Egyptian God Cards! I sacrifice my mighty dragon for a new, superior monster, one that will ram your words of foolishness and arrogance down your throat and make you choke on them until you beg for mercy!"

As the body shattered, a beaming, bright new dragon shone through. It was more of a metallic monster, with large, blue bulbs on its wings and main body. Its cerulean, serious eyes gaped down, setting their focus on the cruel ruler that opposed it. "Take flight, and unleash your power, Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon (3000/2500)!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Woot! Finally, Blue Eyes Shining Dragon makes its maiden appearance in my fic. The most amazing and powerful dragon ever is ready to take it to the Joker, but against the madness of the clown prince of crime will that be enough? Will the Twilight Shadows match Jason's Black Psychic deck, and most importantly, who is the third Horseman?**

**Find out next time! REVIEW!!**


	10. The Howling Laughter

CHAPTER NINE: The Howling Laughter

CHAPTER NINE: The Howling Laughter

**Yeah, yeah… Ignores angry looks I know you guys won't try anything because that means I won't be able to continue this (hopefully) fairly ok story. I had a huge writer's block with the Joker/Seto duel, and of course my trusty partner in crime (crime fighting that is), Metal Overlord 2.0, helped me out with some snazzy cards. The next one will be out in hopefully ten/eleven days, since I have a bunch of tests going on right now.**

**DuelistBlake1852: Lol, you're knowledge of the game will always surpass mine. I may create more original cards, but you definitely know the game inside out. Yup, you don't want to miss this chapter. Especially the end. Glad you made it in time, man.**

**Mei1105: The deck is Metal Overlord 2.0's, yeah. Just like Blake, you guys know the rules way better then me. I tend to be a little relaxed about those, as it is fanfiction, and we all have to take our creative measures. I try to explore Yami and Yugi's relationship more as brothers rather then a mentor-student thing. One helps the other when he's weak. Anyway, hope you like this one.**

**Dark Onyx: Wow, I didn't realize someone out there liked my fic **_**that**_** much. I hope you continue reading and stay on in the ranks of my readers. Anyway, thanks for the review!**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: Well, we discussed this on email. Jason's deck's true power will be revealed next chapter, this one focuses on the other duel. In any case, thanks a lot for those cards, and I hope you enjoy this chapter. It spent a while in the making, and the minor plot points will serve to be more interesting then the duels.**

**Aelsthla-Mental: Yup, he does. He always does, lol.**

**Master of the Library: Yeah, I noticed that. Thanks for pointing it out. Hope you enjoy this.**

**HimmeAmelie: I always thought Mr. Freeze and Two-Face did compare, but yeah, the Joker will always be the classic villain of Gotham.**

It was a creepy place, to say the least. Even the most hardened man would be nervous walking around here. In broad daylight. Heavily armed. With a huge amount of backup. Indeed, so unnerving was the place that it could not have been a more fitting domain for one of the most feared members of the Infinity Council, Death himself.

To begin with, entering it was almost impossible. It was another dimension, and opening a portal to it entailed breaking through most of the almost perfect defensive spells that had been cast around it by the Council. Once you opened a portal, you could get through and would land at the entrance. But that was simply the beginning.

The kind of creatures guarding it at various stages were almost beyond imagination. They ranged from the unnerving, to the creepy, to downright horrifying. No mortal had ever gotten past stage one. After all, no one had ever tried.

If one made it to the heart of the realm, that was where Death existed. Of course, being taken by one of the defenses would have been almost preferable to confronting him…

Not for his Master Apocalypse, however, Blight had long ago realized. Rampaging through the defense would be child's play for them, and once they confronted Death, it would not be a matter of power, but one of time as he would acquire the soul of the Third Horseman from where it lay in the infinite abyss of souls while his master kept Death busy.

However, it would be advisable to recruit Haou for his first assignment at this point rather then wait until he got rebellious thoughts. A simple display of Apocalypse's power as he distracted Death would be enough to banish any thoughts of mutiny from the Supreme King's mind.

But it seemed the good King had neglected to inform his servants that while they were taking orders from him, _he_ was taking orders from someone else. Blight had just landed in the dimension after his master had dispenses orders, right outside Haou's castle, when he had been challenged by the extremely annoying Guardian Baou (800/400). It had taken him three turns to dispatch of the Duel Spirit, and now he was standing outside the throne room.

The two guards didn't have an opportunity to speak before Blight simply flicked his finger, and spheres of white light slammed into them, knocking them to the floor. He pushed open the antique door gently, careful not to damage the mahogany. After two hundred and seventy centuries on Earth, Blight had grown to appreciate the finer things in life… Even though they meant nothing in the grand scheme of destruction.

A dark figure was seated on a single throne at the end of the dank room. He was dressed in his regular, regal robes, and seemed deep in thought before being shaken out of his reverie by the interruption. He looked up with a dangerous look in his eyes. "You…"

"Yes, Haou, it's me," replied Blight with a slight chuckle. "I'm here to tell you off your first assignment. You will be joining Apocalypse and myself on a rather dangerous mission to recruit the Third Horseman."

"I do not have the time at this point," snapped Haou. "A number of villages have been overtaken by enemy armies. I will need to deal with my foes before anything else."

"You forget yourself, Haou," whispered Blight. He stepped slowly towards the throne. Light was given off from his body as he walked through the darkness, illuminating the room so that the darkness seemed to disappear. Haou's fist clenched, and the black abyss pulsated, seemingly forcing away the light. A few lamps glowed in the corners.

The two locked eyes, and for a second the blackness began to overpower the tainted light that Blight gave off. The lamps extinguished. Blight's brow was creased, and his pupils began to fade into the whiteness of his eyes. Suddenly, he unclenched his fist, and a massive wave of light left his body. It washed over the darkness, completely extinguishing it, and all lamps in the room began to blaze again.

"You are a Horseman of Apocalypse," he spoke in a hard voice. "You will obey my Master; no, you will obey _your_ Master, or pay the price."

Haou glowered, and the light began to recede as the darkness settled in once again. "Do you honestly believe you can defeat me in my own kingdom? Or will Apocalypse himself come here in order to fight me?"

"No," enunciated the First Horseman clearly. "Not at all. He has said so himself; you are not worth his time. Instead, I think that if I provided the Chosen Duelists and Demon Lords with your location, you will become an immediate target. Of course, you are a powerful duelist, but I do believe that even you could never overcome the might of such skilled opponents."

"You have no proof."

"Come, Haou, this is not a point to argue on," sighed Blight. "You became a Horseman for mutual benefit. Indeed, you will not be without your share of the spoils. If you accompany us on this mission, you will no doubt find something of value to you. Perhaps the Ritual of the Fallen Angel would interest you?"

Haou's eyes bulged. "Impossible. The Ritual of the Fallen Angel has never been successfully completed. _Ever_."

"Oh, but it will be, Haou," laughed Blight, apparently enjoying himself. "I doubt you would ever want to miss such a chance. Are you in?"

Haou paused. "Very well," he whispered. "But you should know that completion of the Ritual requires a willing sacrifice. The most terrible torture would be preferable. No, no one would ever give themselves to this."

"I know of one. His soul is broken, he will do anything to redeem himself. I have done it myself."

"Who is it?" replied Haou coldly.

"Phoenix. Aster Phoenix."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Right now, Jason had a slight advantage over his opponent. With his powerful Supernova Dragon in defense mode, he could deal Yugi a minimum of fifteen hundred points of damage every turn. Then there was his Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV8. With three thousand attack points, its might was further supplemented by the fact that each and every one of Yugi's magic cards would be negated. At this point, all Yugi had was his weaker Twilight Shadow Swordmaster, and a disadvantage in life-points of nearly three thousand.

"Since Horus prevents me from activating magic cards, I will rely on nothing but the sheer power of my monsters to put it down," intoned Yugi, sliding a card into his magic and trap card zone. "I will set a card facedown, and end my turn. However, I will grant you a Black Psychic Token (0/1000) before that."

As the black dragon appeared on Jason's field, Yugi drew another card.

Jason drew slowly. He could use Supernova Dragon's effect and then blow away the Twilight Shadow Swordmaster with Horus, but that would leave Yugi with three hundred life-points, enough to mount a counter on his next turn. However, if he chose to switch Supernova Dragon to attack mode, he would leave Yugi's field completely empty.

"I switch Supernova Dragon to attack mode." The titanic, three headed behemoth roared loudly, and the sound of its anger and hatred seemed to pierce the air as it spread its wings wide open. The look in its eyes was one of pure wrath.

"Now, Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV8, attack his Twilight Shadow Swordmaster with Darkness Giga Flames!"

The green dragon opened its mouth, and a sphere of black energy formed within its maw. With a roar, the ball of power burst out and plummeted towards the futuristic warrior. The light seemed to be sucked into the ball as it continued on, and Jason felt his nails digging into his hand in tension.

"Sorry, but its over!" declared Yugi. "I activate my facedown trap card Twilight Revolution, which will grant my Swordmaster half the attack points of Horus, meaning I am in control of the battle once again. With a bonus of fifteen hundred attack points, my Shadow will wipe out your dragon with ease!"

It was true, of course. Just as the ball sped towards him, the soldier struck out with his sword, splitting it halfway down the middle (4000/2000). As it continued on, however, it became apparent that suddenly, the soldier was losing the battle, and was in serious trouble.

"Why isn't he winning?!" snarled Yugi. Jason smirked. "My quick-play magic card called Demonic Burst is an unusually powerful card. First, it will boost the attack points of my attacking monster by five hundred, and then grant it another bonus by increasing its attack points by half the original attack points of your monster!"

With another roar, Horus (4250/1800) spat out another torrent of energy at the ball that was already pressuring the unfortunate Twilight Shadow Swordmaster. It slammed into it, pressing it further forward until one could all but not see the defending monster.

"And with your Swordmaster out of the way, Supernova Dragon can annihilate your Black Psychic Token and leave you wide open."

"Who said he was out of the way?" smiled Yugi, as he held up a card. Jason's eyes bulged. "Wait, that's a magic card! You can't activate that under any circumstances!"

"Maybe it is. But the magic card called Chaotic Wormhole can only be activated by removing it from play from my deck. By doing this, one monster on your field loses eight hundred attack points!" Jason frowned as the eyes of the warrior glared up at him from behind the futuristic helmet that covered his face. With a powerful heave of his arm, he sent the ball back at the weakened dragon (3450/1800). The force of the attack caused it to roar out in pain before it shattered.

(Yugi: 2300, Jason: 4650)

Jason had a significantly irritated look on his face. "I will find a way around this, that I will. Before that, I sacrifice my Supernova Dragon's attack for the turn to deal you fifteen hundred points worth of damage." Once again the behemoth roared and let lose a wave of lava that seemed to wash over Yugi's field in an attempt to burn him to cinders.

"I can send Twilight Shadow Strategist (800/600) from my hand or field to the graveyard in order to reduce all effect damage done to me during to zero." Appearing on his field was a spindly man dressed in black robes. He was rather old, but the hardened look in his eyes suggested a 'don't-mess with me' attitude. He raised a wrinkled old hand, and the lava stopped in the air, before coming crashing down to the floor, leaving a massive black stain.

Jason frowned. Now there were five counters left on Dimensional Countdown. If he removed two, then Yugi could remove two and leave the final one for him. If he removed one, then Yugi would be foolish to remove two. If he did so, then Jason could remove one and finish Yugi off. If Yugi removed one, then he would be on the receiving end of Jason removing two.

Yes, thought Jason grimly. It was a win-win situation. He would remove one.

"I sacrifice a single counter to give you one Black Psychic Token (0/1000)." Jason smirked faintly as another black dragon joined the one already on Yugi's field. Unless Yugi summoned another monster with over two three attack points, the duel was his.

"I will then set two cards and end my turn."

Yugi smirked as he drew. "I can see your ploy, Jason. You think that regardless of whether I remove one counter or two, you can set me up for four thousand points of damage and deal the killer blow. It's true. I congratulate you on excellent strategic thinking. But you made a mistake. You didn't analyze one possible variable; what if I remove _three_?"

"Three?!" snapped Jason.

"Indeed. I play the magic card, Shadow Miracle! By removing two magic counters anywhere on the field, I can now special summon one level four Twilight Shadow from my graveyard. Come back, Twilight Shadow Strategist (800/600) in defense mode."

The old man in black robes appeared on his field, and two more points of light on the dome surrounding them disappeared. Jason froze. "_Damn it_!"

"He escaped it…" whispered Brian. "I have never, _ever_ seen anyone escape Jason's Dimensional Countdown lock. He always plans so many moves ahead, removing the correct number of counters and accurately predicting his opponent's moves…."

"There's a reason why he's King of Games," muttered Ryu. He had never dueled Yugi himself, and it would be an interesting duel, least to say, if it ever happened. His dragons versus the Twilight Shadows…. No, he corrected himself. He would face not only the Twilight Shadows, but also the wrath of the Egyptian Gods. After all, Yugi and Yami no longer dueled one at a time… They were a one man team. Quite a devastating one, at that.

"Now I remove one more counter in order to not only draw a card, but also grant you a Black Psychic Token (0/1000)." A stony faced Jason watched as Yugi snapped the top card off his deck, and another black dragon appeared on his opponent's field.

"Now, I'll sacrifice one of _my_ tokens to summon a monster called Twilight Shadow Blade Sentinel (1900/1300)!"

The mechanical dragon was replaced by a knight dressed in a futuristic suit of armor. The suit of armor was metallic-toned, with dark-red metallic shoulder pads and designs all about it, down the arms and down the legs. The gloves were red and dark, silver metallic-colored, with extendible, pink beam swords on the tops of them. It had shining boots as well, and a helmet covered its head with a grille that extended down its face.

"His effect isn't something I can use at the moment, so I'll call it a turn and let you take your move."

Jason drew with his eyes tightly shut. He spoke in a low voice. "I am compelled to remove the final counter on my Dimensional Countdown card." Even as he spoke, the final spark of light disappeared from the majestic blue dome that encompassed them like a prison, refusing to let them go until it had sated its desire for blood.

The dragon appeared on Yugi's field, and an emotionless Jason drew. The dome around them began to glow, and the night sky seemed to gain a strange color. It first reflected white for a nanosecond, and then scarlet. It seemed like as the dome sucked in energy from around them, the sky was being affected. After the cycle was completed, it was back to black, and the dome was pulsating wildly.

Without warning, it contracted inwards at an incredible pace. It swept past Yugi, and as it passed over him it felt like he had been dipped in a bathtub full of ice. Before he could say a word, all sides of it crashed into Jason, leaving a tremendous explosion. The smoke flew up in all directions, followed by a large cloud of dust which reduced Yugi to a coughing fit.

"Man… No one ever comes out of a Dimensional Countdown explosion in great shape," muttered Brian. "I just hope Jason is up to the challenge of beating his own card…"

As the cold wind of Necropolis began to slowly blow away the smoke, Yugi could make out the beaten and battered body of Jason Becker on its knees, heaving in exhaustion and shock. The towering Supernova Dragon was looking at its master in concern, giving small growls.

His jacket was scratched all over, but it seemed to be strong enough to weather the might of the explosion. Since it was no Shadow Game, he himself was not badly injured, but the numerous scratches and bruises all over his body suggested that the young Eagle agent had indeed seen better days.

"You okay, man?" called out Brian anxiously.

Shaking his messy mane of raven hair, Jason got to his feet slowly. He locked eyes with Yugi, and the latter realized that the duel was not over. Not by a long shot.

(Yugi: 2300, Jason: 650)

"Did you think…" gasped Jason, "that Dimensional Countdown was my ace? Do I look stupid enough to have my entire deck revolve around a single card, that too such a risky one? No, you haven't even begun to realize what I have in store for you. I knew you were good, Yugi Moto, but I didn't know you were this good. With my revamped deck after my loss in the finals of the Los Angeles Regional's three years ago, I have maintained a perfect dueling record. I will _not_ let you win, not by any means! And seeing as its my turn, I have just the means to back that up."

As he spoke, the remaining Black Psychic Tokens on both their fields dissolved into dust. "When Dimensional Countdown is destroyed, it takes the tokens with it."

Yugi sighed. The token would have been useful in order to summon another powerful, high level monster.

But that wasn't the point. He still had one monster with twenty-five hundred attack points, one with nineteen hundred, and another with a mere eight hundred.. Jason, however, had his extremely powerful Supernova Dragon. He could choose to either deal Yugi fifteen hundred points of damage, or perhaps switch it to attack mode and blow away Blade Sentinel. Neither was an attractive option. Or perhaps he would pull out a completely different strategy. With seven cards in his hand, the possibilities were endless.

"Hmm… I do believe that I will sacrifice Supernova Dragon's attack for the turn to drain you of most of your remaining life-points, and bring us to rather more even terms in this duel."

"Have you forgotten about Twilight Shadow Strategist? I can send him from my hand _or_ field to the graveyard to reduce all effect damage done this turn to zero." As he spoke, the ocean of lava exited the triple-headed behemoth's maw and threatened to wash over Yugi's field, but not before the elderly man made an ornate gesture and caused the lava to fall to the ground. He then bowed and disappeared.

"That is the last time you will avoid my Supernova Dragon," growled Jason. "And anyway, it's still my turn. I set a monster in defense mode and end my turn."

It was back to Yugi. He seemed in a confident mood as he drew, giving him a total of a three card hand. His face was unreadable. With calm and relaxed features that betrayed no emotion, there was nothing one could do to find out what was spinning around in his head.

"I summon Twilight Shadow Bombardier (1700/1400)!" There was a weird shout distantly behind them; something like a cowboy shouting 'yee-haw'. Looking over Yugi's shoulder, Jason saw a sleek, silver jet racing towards them at supersonic speeds, piercing the otherwise silent void of the night sky. Visible within the cockpit was a rather enthusiastic pilot, dressed in old-fashioned flying gear with goggles on his head. He seemed to be shrieking with joviality, and it only served to incite another growl from the Supernova Dragon.

As the plane rattled to a halt on the terrace, Yugi sighed, evidently embarrassed by the antics of his newest monster. "He's a little enthusiastic!"

"We got some walloping to do, boss?!" hollered the pilot, his voice penetrating the bullet-proof glass of his vehicle. Yugi winced, and muttered a soft, "Yeah, yeah."

"Cool!" he whooped enthusiastically, and ditched the old fashioned flight goggles in favor of a futuristic helmet. Yugi looked over at the terrifying dragon. "Now, the effect of Twilight Shadow Bombardier allows me to sacrifice his attack for the turn to reduce the attack or defense points of one of your monsters down to zero."

Jason's eyes widened as the pilot gave another whoop and shoved his main thrusters forward. With a cry of invigoration, he pressed a button as the jet whizzed across the field. Four missiles shot out at the dragon, who spat out a globule of lava from each mouth in reply. Three of the missiles were incinerated before they got close enough, but the fourth slammed into the gargantuan beast's chest. The explosion left several visible wounds, as well as a large decrease in its stats (2500/0).

"Damn…" whispered Jason.

"Twilight Shadow Blade Sentinel, destroy his dragon with Nova Blitz Blades!" With a single nod of acknowledgement, the armored warrior flicked his wrists, and with a sound similar to lightsabers springing to life in Star Wars, two pinks energy blades flashed into existence from his gauntlets. It leapt across the field, and its arms moved like a pinwheel, flashing and dancing through the air as the pink blades lanced through the hard scales of the triple headed monstrosity.

Jason watched in stony anger as the beast roared in pain one last time before the Blade Sentinel dealt the death blow, leaving the majority of its body completely decapitated. "And the best part about Blade Sentinel is that I can draw a card for every other Twilight Shadow on my field when he destroys a monster at the cost of allowing you to return up to three monsters from your removed from play pile to your graveyard, or your graveyard to your deck."

Jason considered. "Fine. I send all three Solar Flare Dragons back to my graveyard."

Yugi drew two more cards, and looked over triumphantly at Jason. "This is it, Jason! Twilight Shadow Swordmaster, attack directly and end this!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kaiba continued to laugh maniacally as the winds began to pick up around the desolate beach. The magnificent dragon gave a metallic roar somewhere between a screech and the squeal of a very sharp object scratching against a ridiculously smooth marble surface. The mercenaries, otherwise tough and silent, were on their knees, clutching their heads in agony and staring awestruck at the behemoth that had descended from heaven to judge them for their crimes.

Rikuo, Bakura and Joey all watched in shock. All but the latter had seen it in action, and that too just once. To see the greatest dragon of all time ascend to Kaiba's field to deal his vengeance was a truly awe-inspiring sight… Even Serenity seemed to forget her peril and gazed at the beauty and power of the dragon, a warm sensation of hope flooding her.

"_Seto… You can do it…_"

As for the Joker, his face was unreadable. It had a little bit of shock, some annoyance, and yes, for the first time ever, some fear. It was an expression that only Batman himself had ever seen on the criminal's face, and that too when he was about to unleash his ultimate revenge against the madman.

"This is it, you freakshow!" screamed Kaiba, raising his hands up to shoulder level. "You have ran and hid too long! Now, you will face my ultimate wrath head on, and you are going to wish you were never born!"

The Joker seemed a bit perturbed, his insane mind waiting a while before replying. "You really are incorruptible… Aren't you?" he breathed in a slow voice as the dragon finally descended to the ground, its feet softly alighting on the coarse sand.

"I tried it with Batman… I didn't think there'd be another like him in this world. You'll are like peas in a pod, no, you'll are like one pea in the same. When an unstoppable force like me meets an immovable wall like you, there is nothing that can be done. We will continue on till the end of time, and chaos will warp this place out of shape until you can never recognize it…"

He broke off into laughter. It was just as maniacal as Kaiba's, perhaps even more, and far more chilling. It sent shivers down the spines of everyone present, except the CEO himself. "You call yourself a duelist…" sneered Kaiba. "If you had any knowledge of this game, then you would know that victory for you was impossible the very second I summoned my Blue Eyes Shining Dragon."

The Joker didn't reply, and Kaiba continued. "He gains three hundred attack points for every dragon in my graveyard. I have my three Blue Eyes White Dragons, Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon, and the Luster Dragon I discarded this turn for Graceful Charity. That means he has a grand total of forty five hundred attack points, and I haven't even begun to reveal his other, far more powerful effects!" (4500/2500)

In emphasis, the dragon roared, whipping the Joker's long, green, unkempt hair back behind his head.

"Time to show him what it means to challenge me the hard way! Shining Neutron Blast!"

With a small screech, the dragon opened its jaws, allowing a rainbow colored sphere of light to form. Quickly, the dragon released a beam of rainbow energy straight at the metallic emperor. The tyrant leapt into the air and attempted to dodge the blast, claws outstretched in a last ditch effort to gut the majestic beast, but it was to no avail. The blast struck the masked monarch, making him roar loudly in pain as his body was turned into scrap. Within a few moments, the creature was finally shattered, allowing the remainder of the dragon's blast to go flying at the clown prince of crime. The blast struck him hard, throwing him into the air a short ways backwards.

(Joker: 600, Kaiba: 1700)

He lay motionless on the ground for a moment, and the spectators found themselves half hoping the attack had ended the duel even if the Joker's life points still remained. As it was, their hopes were unfounded as the criminal slowly rose, but the exertion of the attack had taken its visible toll on him. He forced a sick smile.

"You may attack me… But in the end, it's your girlfriend who suffers!"

Seto turned in horror to the glass walled capsule; he had forgotten in his triumph the consequences of each step he took closer to victory. The water continued to fill up as Serenity struggled against her bonds to no avail. The water reached dangerously near to her nose, and Joey was about to give a scream of rage when it stopped. Her entire body was submerged other then her nose, eyes, and the top of her head.

Seto snarled in anger. As Serenity continued to struggle against the water, it would sap her body of its energy. With less resources for her system to work with because of the enclosed space, the lactic acid would build up in her muscles, and the pain would possibly knock her out. If her head relaxed, she would go completely under.

"I will not allow this to continue," growled Kaiba, folding his arms. "With Blue Eyes Shining Dragon in play, your chances of making a comeback are virtually, no, literally, no existent. I end my turn." He held not a single card.

The Joker drew, and an impish grin spread across his face. "By removing Tyrant Emperor in my graveyard from play, I can draw one card for every Oppressed People, People Running About, and United Resistance in my graveyard. So I draw three."

Looking over his hand of four cards, he finally tapped the side of his Duel Disk, and a triangular slot opened. He slid a card into it, and shut it. "I activate the field magic card, Pandemonium Circus! Brace yourself, pretty boy, you're about to enter a world of absolute _fun_!"

Distant laughter was heard in the distance. It was starkly similar to Saggi the Dark Clown's screechy mirth, and large walls began to spring up around them. The mercenaries were cut out, but not Rikuo, Joey, Bakura, and Serenity in her trap. Soon, the entire structure was finished, and it was a truly macabre sight to behold.

It was a circus tent, but a rather grizzly one. The walls were partially made of a filthy canvas, but at some points there were also meat and bone. Even at some points, the canvas was splattered with an unhealthy looking black liquid that looked unsettlingly similar to blood. The stands were jet black, and in them were a large audience full of demons. They were of all kinds, some blood red and others humanoid except for warped features. They were cheering and shouting impatiently, as if waiting for the show to continue.

Between Kaiba and the Joker now were several uncomfortably deep holes, lined with bone and blood. The Joker bowed, and the audience began to clap.

"I was always the stage master," he crooned. "It was so simple, so free… But then the schemers took it all away from me!" The last line he bellowed so loudly that it was quite in contrast to his previous tone. Suddenly, he was back into his calm mood again. Kaiba shivered. This man was a complete freak. As long as he was alive, even if he was locked up, he was a danger to everyone on the planet.

"Now, greed is extremely good for health, as you know. It has lots of fiber. I play Pot of Avarice, returning both copies, Peten the Dark Clown, Saggi, Dream Clown, and Tyrant Emperor back to my deck to draw two more cards."

With four cards in his hand, the clown prince of crime seemed in a situation to make a steady comeback. But Kaiba was still confident that against the Blue Eyes Shining Dragon, nothing in the Joker's pathetic clown deck would make a difference.

"I set a monster in defense mode and end my turn," he said conversationally.

Kaiba drew. Despite the weird field magic card the Joker had on the field, he was more then confident of his chances to end the duel. With a forty five hundred attack point monster that was unaffected by any and all effects, the Joker was sorely outgunned in terms of sheer power.

"Blue Eyes Shining Dragon… End this with Shining Neutron Blast!"

A misty-cloud like burst of blue tinted energy built up between the jaws of his legendary beast. With a roar, it spat out the energy in a stream of destructive force, which slammed into the tiny card as it flipped up to reveal Peten the Dark Clown (500/1200). It barely had time to turn to the Joker and bow as it was shattered into several tiny pieces.

"Damn it…" growled Kaiba in anger.

The clown was almost immediatley replaced by an identical copy of himself, who this time took his hat off to the dragon and fell to his knees with a squeaky laugh.

The one card in Kaiba's hand was useless for the situation. "I end my turn," he snarled, hoping to draw a monster next turn in order to try and finish this as quickly as possible. Allowing the Joker his field magic card as well as the luxury of having Peten on the field, he was unprepared for a possible counterattack. He softly chided himself again, forcing his mind to remember that his Shining Dragon was almost unstoppable.

"_Don't worry, Serenity… I will get you out of there_."

"Now, the effects of my Pandemonium Circus depend largely upon how many monsters with 'clown', 'joker', 'harlequin', or 'jester' in their name I have in play. I have one right now, which means that I can activate its weakest effect. The level of every clown monster in my hand is reduced by two. That means the level six Dark harlequin (1900/1600) can now be normal summoned to the field."

Appearing next to Peten was a slim man dressed in a dark, old fashioned suit. The jacket was made of a cheap, rough material and inside was a simple, white shirt. His black pants were framed by a leather belt, and his eyes were covered by circular sunglasses. He wore a dark top hat over his mostly bald head, and a long walking stick was in his right hand. It had a deep black shaft topped with a shimmering golden handle. His face was expressionless, and then a sudden look of pain flitted over it as a cracking noise echoed through the tent and two fleshy, green, demonic wings appeared between his shoulder blades.

At this, the monsters around them began to cheer and clap enthusiastically, enthralled to see the painful display again.

"The Dark harlequin is just the tip of the iceberg of my army of clowns; he's merely another one of these poor devils who have been enslaved by the Abyssal Ring Master…"

Trailing off with another creepy laugh, he then continued. "When he destroys any clown monster in battle, my Dark harlequin will gain five hundred attack points."

"Oh well, luckily for me, I have no clown monsters in my deck to spare me the wrath of a powered up Dark harlequin. But ah yes, I do remember what I _do_ have," spat Kaiba cruelly. "The unstoppable Blue Eyes Shining Dragon, who will reduce your pathetic freak to a pile of ashes!"

"That's rude!" shouted the Joker. "And in any case, I'm well aware of that, schemer. Not many people run clown decks. But I have plenty of clowns in this little pack of cards of mine to power up Dark Harlequin plenty! I play the continuous magic card Fatal Friendship, which allows me to conduct battle between monsters on my own field, but damage is reduced to zero. Normally, this is useless, but with this strategy… I'll switch Peten to attack mode."

He gave a slight laugh, and pointed at the Harlequin. Peten nodded brightly and leapt to his feet. He trotted over to the harlequin and held out his hand, which was grasped by the black suited jester. At that second, an electrical shock shot through Peten's body, and most unnervingly his ever present smile was still very broad. The harlequin refused to let go, and finally did after three minutes. After he let go, the still grinning Peten crumpled into ashes. With a click of his tongue, the harlequin lifted his hand and showed Kaiba the electrical source strapped to his hand, that was normally used as a simple joke by ordinary clowns. It was a joke this time as well… But a far more morbid one (2400/1600).

"Don't forget Peten's effect!" drawled the Joker, and another clown appeared on the field. He bounded up to the harlequin, who didn't seem in a mood for pleasantries. With a groan of irritation, he raised his large walking stick and dealt his new acquaintance a terrible blow. Peten fell to the ground, always smiling, even with his neck broken, and disappeared (2900/1600).

"Now, he's only sixteen hundred points away from your big lizard," droned the Joker. He looked over his hand, shrugged, and set a card before ending his turn.

Kaiba drew, shivering with excitement at the thought that he could end the duel now and free Serenity. He smirked to himself. "_You foolish clown… You should have never challenged me_." He needed to discard his two cards due to Card of Demise, but he didn't care. With a glare, he pointed at the Dark harlequin. "Blue Eyes Shining Dragon, send his clown to hell!"

With a burning roar of hatred, the titan on Kaiba's field opened its mouth and let lose a massive burst of rainbow-like energy that cascaded across the field like a waterfall of endless power. It was about to consume the harlequin completely, but the Joker shook his head and tapped a button on his Duel Disk.

"Don't expose your kids to violence on TV! I activate Wabuko, which will help your dragon relax a bit!"

Three robed mages appeared in front of the dark clown, and began to chant in a monotone. An invisible barrier appeared around them, and try as it might, the god-like dragon was unable to shatter the shield with its might, and with a frustrated roar gave up after a minute.

Kaiba snarled. He had discarded one dragon, which meant that Blue Eyes Shining Dragon gained another three hundred attack points (4800/2500). The other was the extremely handy Repayment of Losses, which meant he still held a single card. He gave a satisfied sigh, and slid the card into his magic and trap card zone.

"I activate Blessing of the Blue Eyes! For every card that has the name 'Blue Eyes White Dragon' in its text or name, I draw one card. I have four, the three original Blue Eyes as well as the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon, which means I draw an additional four cards!"

He gave a sigh of relief at his new cards. Within two turns, it would be easy for him to end the duel if he tapped into the strength of his Blue Eyes Shining Dragon. Sooner or later, the clown would cave. "I set a card and end my turn."

"My move," the Joker shouted, unnecessarily. Kaiba winced at the volume. "I'm well aware of that."

He drew violently, and cackled loudly. "I set a monster in defense mode, and immediatley have Dark harlequin destroy it!" The card flipped over to reveal a short, squat man dressed in a ridiculous yellow outfit with his face painted yellow seated on a horrific lion. The lion was a little smaller then usual, but made up for it in its unnatural features. Its main was stained with blood, and its fangs dripped with the same. The clown carried a large rifle.

"Poor, poor Rider Jester (900/600). He rode all over the place with his pet in search of business, but in the end Dark harlequin didn't take kindly to someone intruding upon his work, and decided to finish off the competition!" The lion roared, and leapt towards the attacker, while the maniacal clown attempted to aim its rifle. With a disdainful frown, the harlequin grasped the lion by the main, which incited a roar from it as electricity whizzed through its body. It threw the clown's aim off, and instead his bullet hit Seto, causing him to flinch. As the harlequin dealt the clown a terrible blow with his stick, Seto felt searing pain shooting up his body.

(Joker: 600, Kaiba: 1200)

"When destroyed, Rider Jester deals you five hundred points of damage," grinned the Joker, and the attack points of the Dark Harlequin (3400/1600) rose once again. "And when he's destroyed, I can special summon one more copy of him from my hand, but all its effects are negated. Ah well, easy come easy go."

He yawned as another one of the freakish lions appeared, mounted by another clown. With a cackle, the harlequin fried the lion with a terrible shock, and then smashed the clown's head so hard with his stick, that his skull was shattered and his head was completely unrecognizable. His attacker, meanwhile was even stronger (3900/1600).

"Then, Dark Harlequin allows me to draw two cards after I destroy four monsters for his effect." Looking over his new hand of three cards, the Joker slid two into his magic and trap card zone. "The first is the continuous magic card, Death by Laughter. Each clown gains two hundred attack points for every clown in play, including himself!"

The black suited comedian began to crackle with electrical black energy, and gave the Blue Eyes Shining Dragon a dark look (4100/1600). It was quite ironic to see them both on the field together. Kaiba sneered inwardly to himself. Despite all the Joker's efforts, Dark Harlequin still fell short of Blue Eyes Shining Dragon by seven hundred points.

"I end my turn," he concluded.

Kaiba drew, and pointed triumphantly at the Harlequin. "The game is up! Blue Eyes Shining Dragon, END THIS!"

With a roar, the rainbow energy once again appeared in its mouth. It threw its wings back, and his shining chest puffed out as its jaws pointed upwards at a seventy degree angle. Throwing its neck forward, it flapped its wings in the same movement and tensed the muscles at the base of its neck. The waterfall of energy slammed into the unfortunate monster, and this time, the Joker indeed had nothing to stop it. It literally tore the clown apart, sending black liquid spilling all over the circus floor as the demons cheered in approval, thinking little more of the death of their entertainer then of some foolish trick.

However, the Joker's life-points didn't take a dip. Kaiba looked up furiously. "What the hell is going on here?!" he spat in rage.

The clown sneered, and tapped a button on his Duel Disk. "I activated Sacrificial Clown! By sacrificing one clown on my field with at least three thousand attack points, I can not only reduce all battle damage for the turn to zero, but also destroy every single magic and trap card on your field. But it doesn't matter anyway. The real effect is that I can special summon to my field all copies of either 'Peten the Dark Clown' or 'Saggi the Dark Clown', in my graveyard."

Facing the beast on Kaiba's field that seemed to give off waves of divinity, appeared three clowns with white and black striped faces, yellow and blue-green baggy clothing, blue vests with a white collar, and large red hats with long pink flowing wigs (500/1200) (x3). Upon seeing the dragon, they all squeaked and attempted to hide behind one another. This incited boos and roars of anger from the demonic audience, including a shout of 'Give me my money back!", which made Kaiba wince.

"Now, my little stage show freaks tap deeper into the effects of Pandemonium Circus. When there are two clowns on the field, each one gains five hundred attack points. Don't forget Death by Laughter, in any case!"

The three clowns each began to cackle in agreement (1600/1200) (x3), prancing around wildly until they suddenly noticed the Blue Eyes Shining Dragon again. The crowd laughed and jeered at their cowardly antics. As it was, they had not much respect for their venerable entertainers.

Kaiba grumbled to himself, forcing himself not to look at Serenity. It would only destroy his concentration. Seeing her suffering would do nothing for him at this point.

"End turn."

The Joker laughed, and drew slowly. "I activate the third effect of Pandemonium Circus. I can add one clown monster to my hand during the main phase if I have three other face-up clown monsters in play. Not good for you, of course." He smirked as he went through his deck and found the appropriate card.

"Ah… Now, I sacrifice two of my Peten's to summon the powerful Demon Biker Jester (2000/1700)!" The two clowns gave each other a high-five, and then vanished, leaving their disconcerted comrade looking a tad lonely. However, he soon brightened up as a deep roar echoed down from the bottom of one of the bone pits. He looked over, the ridiculous smile still on his face as a column of fire burst out from the infinite blackness.

He gave a small 'oh' and looked up in wonder as the column reached the circus tent's roof, and continued until it formed a large sphere instead. The fire began to fade away, showing the only actually dangerous looking monster summoned by the Joker the entire duel. It was a demon, dressed in a biker uniform. His helmet was cheap and didn't look good enough to withstand much damage, but his blazing red eyes suggested an otherworldly strength that did not really need the protection. He sat on an expensive Harley Davidson, and gave a snarl of triumph as a U-shaped structure appeared next to him. Mounted on stands, it was perfect for him to land on as he gunned the motor.

The audience 'oohed' and 'ahed' as he sped up and down the structure before slowing to a stop next to Peten. Throwing his visor up, he revealed a strange, blue-skinned face that exuded arrogance and hatred. The dragon roared, but unlike the rest of the Joker's monsters, this one refused to back down. This incited a roar of applause from the audience, impressed by the audacity of the new performer.

However, it took a little more then a few stunts to impress Kaiba.

"Pardon my skepticism, but you sacrificed two monsters for another with two thousand base points, perhaps twenty-nine hundred when he's boosted up by your cards. Sorry, but my dragon is nineteen hundred points stronger."

The Joker shook his head. "Attack points was not why I summoned this bad boy. No, he has a personal vendetta against schemers and will do anything to make their lives miserable! Even give up his own life…." With a shady laugh, the clown prince of crime waved his hand, and as quickly as he appeared, the biker revved up his vehicle and bounced onto the racing circuit, before speeding off into the air with a whoop.

He shot through the canvas of the tent, leaving a gaping hole that quickly knitted itself back together. "What's the meaning of this?!" snarled Kaiba. The Joker laughed, folding his arms as another column of flames built up in a pit nearer to the CEO.

"When he's sacrificed, Demon Biker Jester deals you his attack points worth in damage. An effect quite worth the two sacrifices, isn't it?" As the flames burst out, the fire began to lick its way around Kaiba, threatening to incinerate him. He smirked, and held up a card. "No, I will not allow that. I activate the quick-play magic card Sacred Life Shield! By discarding the top three cards from my deck, I can reduce all kinds of life-point damage done to me this turn down to zero!"

As he spoke, a shield appeared in front of him. It was made of shining white energy, and expanded into a man sized sphere that surrounded Kaiba. It exploded outwards, throwing the flames against the sides of the circus walls as the Blue Eyes Shining Dragon roared its approval.

"And since I just sent two dragons to the graveyard, he gains another six hundred attack points!" The machine-like wyvern roared in triumph as its attack points once again took an upward turn (5400/2500). Its majestic blue wings flashed up and it let lose another howling screech, this one seemed to pierce the very air around them.

"You can't beat me, clown," sneered Kaiba, throwing up his hands. "You really can't. Just give up now."

The silence was unnerving. "_This is it_," thought Rikuo. "_The duel is going to end this turn, one way or another_."

The Joker gave a hollow laugh. He shook his head, and pocketed the two cards in his hand. "You don't get it… Do you? This duel was never about winning. It was about proving a point. You can't fight it, pretty boy. You just can't fight it."

"I don't care what you say," said Kaiba impatiently. "Just hurry it up so I can blast you and end the duel."

The Joker acted like the CEO hadn't even spoken. "There is no point in standing up to Chaos. None at all. Nah. You need to understand that. I've tried as much as I could. But you insist on your cunning combo attacks, mesmerizing magic maneuvers, and those clever little trap schemes. But why bother? At the end of it, you simply can't stop a raging force of Chaos. Why? Because with Chaos, there's no plan. If there's no plan, nothing can go wrong. But with you schemers, mistakes are made."

Kaiba was silent, and with a much more frightening laugh, the Joker slid a magic card into his Duel Disk. "I activate the other effect of Death by Laughter. I can now sacrifice it to draw one card for every clown on my field during the start of the turn. I draw three."

He snapped up the top three cards, and a wicked smile spread across his face. "Yes… Perfect for the kill. I play Impending Revolution. I can sacrifice one dark monster with at least one thousand attack and defense points in order to special summon from my deck Oppressed People, People Running About, and United Resistance (0/0) (x3)!"

As Peten bowed and disappeared, the great swarm of people appeared. As before, some were depressed farmers that seemed to be without a glimmer of hope. Another group seemed to echo bitter hatred, but their senses were still about them. Carrying small daggers and pistols, they seemed to be thinkers rather then fighters. The remainder were completely insane, dressed in battle armor and wielding muskets and swords.

"Impending Revolution reduces their attack points to zero, and leaves them permanently in defense mode. Also, I must remove from play in my deck all copies of Huge Revolution." He pulled out two more copies of the trap card from his deck and slid them into a hidden pocket in his daring purple jacket.

"Then come the card to finish you off: Twin Disaster! I can special summon two monsters with the same name in my graveyard, but they're destroyed when the turn ends." Next to the swarm of people appeared the classically dressed jesters (500/1200) (x2), and took of their hats to Kaiba.

"This is your big plan?" jeered Kaiba. "A group of angry farmers and a pair of clowns? I expected more."

The demons in the audience roared in agreement. It seemed like they were angry with him for denying them decent entertainment.

"You underestimate the power of my Pandemonium Circus," hissed the Joker. As he spoke, the skin color of each of the revolutionaries began to change. Some turned white, some turned blue, others turned red. Clown hats appeared on their heads, and all of them began grinning broadly. Their rough clothing was replaced by ridiculous outfits usually worn by circus performers.

"When I have at least four monsters in play, all of the monsters on my field are counted as clowns," chuckled the Joker. (1500/0) (x3) (2000/1200) (x2)

"I don't see how that helps you," replied Kaiba dryly. The Shining Dragon roared in agreement. The Joker's eyes glinted.

"The show still has one last act. The act of Chaos. You see, when I have five clowns in play, I can sacrifice them all to seal your fate! Scheming never paid Seto Kaiba, and I'm about to show you why!"

The clown prince of crime broke off into insane laughter once again, as the two clowns and group of revolutionary jesters all disappeared. Silence fell across the audience, and all eyes were on the largest pit right in front of the Joker. Silence reigned as Kaiba kneeled over to look into it.

There was an insane cackle from within. It was similar to the Joker's, but it sounded far more inhuman. A large, bony hand extended out and clutched the edge of the pit. It was jet black in color, with a few cuts leaking blood. Its nails were more like claws, filled with blood and dirt. Another hand came out, this one holding a bronze scepter covered with arcane symbols. The hands pressed down, and all of a sudden, a mammoth form bounced out and landed with a bang on the Joker's field.

It was an absolutely chilling sight to behold. Standing fifteen feet tall, the monstrosity was the size of a Tyrannosaurus rex at least. Its skin was shriveled and looked burnt, with various bones sticking out at odd angles. It wore a rough loin cloth, as well as a strange waistcoat that was tattered and covered with an unhealthy looking black liquid. It had wild red hair coming down to its shoulders, and its face was one of the most cruel sights ever. Its nose was nearly non-existent, while its mouth, that was a mere slash on its gray skin when closed, extended to a gaping, black hole with two inch long teeth on both sides when wide open. Its eyes were a cruel red, and demonic wings cracked open from its sides after it landed on the field. It gave a strange howl, that could have passed off as a laugh. Soon, the howl changed into a chuckle, which then changed into maddening, hearty laughter.

Joey was on his knees in pain, hands over his ears. Bakura's Ring was glowing furiously to counteract it and keep its master safe. A look of stress was over his face. Even Rikuo, the mighty demon gasped in mental pressure and collapsed onto one knee, before letting out an anguished groan.

Serenity, meanwhile, was close to passing out. The appearance of the monstrosity and the stress of being able to breath was getting to her. "This is it!" the Joker bellowed. "Kom Edi, the Howling Laughter (0/0) is the mightiest monster in my deck, and there is no way on Earth you can survive his wrath! He is immune to magic and trap cards, and gains a thousand attack points for every clown in my graveyard!"

The demons in the audience gave a roar of approval, as the mammoth jester raised his scepter. A bolt of lightning struck it, and he began to glow. With another howl of laughter, he slammed his other fist into the ground in a display of strength (7500/0).

"This is it," roared the Joker. "Obliterate him and show him the power of CHAOS!"

The jester gave a final howl, before using its fists like an ape and bounding forward before using all his strength to leap into the air and towards the Blue Eyes Shining Dragon. Its scepter began to glow, and the audience gave one last roar of anticipation before the entire tent was engulfed with light and smoke….

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rikuo knew he had to act at that point. It was the only way. Regardless of whether Kaiba won or lost, the girl had to be saved. Overcoming his sense of impending dread, he rushed blindly through the light; even his demonically enhanced vision unable to penetrate it. With a roar, he swung out and felt something crack underneath his fist. After a second, a literal ton of water drenched him. Fighting through it, he reached and grasped for something, anything…

Grabbing her wrist, he threw the girl over his shoulder, and was about to make a dash back to where his companions were standing, hoping to find Kaiba alive… At that moment, the holograms disappeared. The light vanished, leaving only two figures on the dueling field, and perhaps sixty around it. One was standing. One was not.

(Joker: 0, Kaiba: 1200)

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Flashback_

"It's over," screamed the Joker, as Kom Edi's scepter was about to slice off the dragon's head, when Kaiba spoke in a dry voice. "Not quite. Activate Battle Fusion."

At that instant, the Blue Eyes Shining Dragon's maw opened, and it seemed like a sphere of rainbow energy had been charging in it all the while. With a roar, it spat out the energy and it slammed into the airborne jester, incinerating it into a pile of cinders (12900/2500), and thus inciting an explosion.

_End Flashback_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"The clown has lost," commented the figure behind the desk to Reflect. "Indeed," agreed the head of Paradias. "I didn't expect him to win, frankly, but he did give Kaiba a decent run for his money… Well, we now know he's the same old duelist. Hard to defeat, of course, but still the same."

"I will defeat him," replied the other.

Reflect snorted. "Yeah. Right. No, with your deck, strong as it is, I'd like to see what you'd do when faced with the Blue Eyes Shining Dragon. No, you're going to need something else. I was actually thinking of giving this to James, but seeing as you've performed rather well against some of the test subjects…"

Fishing into his pocket, he pulled out a deck and slapped it into the hand of the man opposite him. Going through it, his eyes went wide with shock. He looked up and spoke in a barely audible voice. "This is the deck of Marik Ishtar."

"Indeed. Where you're going right now, you're going to need it. I'm sending you to the realm of Death. Apocalypse is attempting to recruit his Third Horsemen, and there's no need for him to have an easy time with it. As it is, I'm quite sure the annoying Archangel will be there. If you can dispose of him, all the better. In fact, James will be going with you. I've already briefed him with the complete details…"

Going through the deck, the man's eyes continued to widen. Even though he inaudibly complained, "The dark gods…", at one point, upon finishing it, he pulled out a handful of cards and spread them out. "But these will definitely suffice."

Ironic that Seto Kaiba would eventually be defeated by the unrelenting power of Exodia the Forbidden One.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**All hell is definitely going to break lose in Death's place once everybody gets there. Plus, the action with Kaiba and the others is not over. The guys from over at Kaiba Corp. will be coming down there, as will the remaining Eagle agents… What happens when they consider each other enemies? And by god, how will Jason vs. Yugi end? Lol, I know you guys wanted that, but suspense is hilarious! REVIEW!!**

**Btw, Pandemonium Circus and Kom Edi the Howling Laughter belong to Metal Overlord 2.0. Great cards man! By the way, just so that you know, another character you gave me during Advent should be appearing soon. The Kraken… Does that ring a bell? Check your review for the Anubis/Seto duel to know what I mean. **

**Big note, also. I made it to 10 chapters, and its crossed a 100,000 words! W00t!**


	11. Abyss of Death

CHAPTER TEN: Abyss of Death

CHAPTER TEN: Abyss of Death

**Hey, I'm back with the second longest chapter of the fic. Nearly thirteen thousand words. I hope you enjoy it, because it concludes the best duel of the fic up until now, and starts two more fantastic ones. I'm been really happy with the reception the fic has received until now… At 60 reviews for 10 chapters, the average is 50 above Advent of Power. Soon, tests will be done and I'll finally be able to start writing more often.**

**HimeAmelie: Yup, he definitely was. But Seto Kaiba, Heart of the Blue Eyes, pulled out in true Kaiba fashion and dealt him one of the closest defeats he ever has. **

**Metal Overlord 2.0: It was the cool-off chapter, really. Everything was so intense with the Kaiba/Joker duel at its peak and the Yugi/Jason duel being so suspenseful, that after that nothing really happened last chapter other then the defeat of the Joker. Lots will happen this chapter, I assure you. You find out who the new user of Marik's deck is, but not the Horseman. That will come in, like, I dunno, eight or nine chapters. Yes, I'm evil, mwuahahaha.**

**DuelistBlake1852: Yup, the BESD is right up there with the Gods as one of the most powerful cards in the game. But then, you no all about that, right buddy-boy? Anyway, lol, I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

**Aelsthla-Mental: Nah, I respect Kaiba WAY too much to pull something like that. I'd never make my favorite character a freak!**

**DarkOynx: What a nice review. I really appreciate this kind of praise, sometimes I wonder if I even deserve it. But please, keep reading and I hope you've now become a permanent part of the readers that continue to read my humble works. Thanks a lot.**

Aster Phoenix lay on the floor, barely conscious. He could taste the cold, hard stone, and to be frank, it was horrible. But he could nothing about it. Nothing at all. The feeling of weakness went so far deep… It was as if it would never release its grip on him. Its cold, dark tendrils snaked its way in, surrounding his body, keeping him down on the floor with invisible bonds.

With a huge groan he turned around. He was in a dank, small cell. It was surrounded by unbreakable stone walls on all sides. It was as if someone had slid a small explosive into a mountain through a crack and then sealed the crack. For a second, the claustrophobia almost took him, but then he noticed a silver object two feet away.

It was his Duel Disk. Staggering upwards, he lumbered towards it in shock before collapsing onto his knees. Ripping his deck from it, he sighed in relief upon seeing that his Destiny Heroes were still there. It seemed Blight had somehow put him here after he lost the duel.

He quickly found the card he was searching for. It was his only hope of leaving this place. "I call upon you, my ultimate monster, Destiny Hero Bloo-D (1900/600)!!"

Three massive puddles appeared on the floor. Slowly, the puddles collected into one and began to rise up off the floor. Bit by bit, the puddle took a shape. First, massive black bat wings with red bone formed. Next, maroon armor formed while large blade like spike erupted from the sides of the creature's chest and shoulders. The left arm of the monster next formed normally, but the right became a maroon dragon's head instead of an arm. Finally, the head formed. The top of it's head was pointed and held a dragon's head helmet. The face of the monster was hidden mostly by a mask, but revealed yellow eerie eyes. Blood soon began to seep from the creature's armor, slowly dripping onto the field.

"Get me out of here, old friend," ordered Aster, tensing himself. With a creepy cry, the hero spread his wings, and small, blood red globules of liquid-like energy formed on them. With a swift crack, its wings moved forward and belched out a wave of red energy that slammed into the rock wall. There was a mild explosion, causing a wave of red smoke to appear. When it disappeared, however, there was no effect. The wall stood as it was.

Aster tensed. "Again!"

Slightly uneasily, the legendary monster whipped its wings forward again. This time, the attack was not in the form of spheres, but an incredible wave of unstoppable energy. It slammed into the wall, once again inciting an explosion. But there was not even a scratch.

"DESTROY IT!" Aster could feel his sanity slipping away as the Ultimate D card attacked the wall again and again, to no avail. He fell to his knees after the seventh attack, his head spinning. "_It's a nightmare…_" he prayed. "_It's all just a nightmare…._"

"I'm afraid not," interrupted a very familiar voice. Around him, the walls disappeared, as did Bloo-D. He was in a much larger room, but rather more haunting, with unlit chandeliers hanging from the lofty ceilings. It was empty, completely, except for a dark throne at one end, on which a tall figure was seated. Standing next to him was another, cloaked figure. And right in front of Aster was…. Blight.

"You," he choked in shock. He attempted to stagger to his feet. "It was an illusion…"

"Quite an efficient one, really," agreed the white armored man. "Had you been so intelligent as to touch the wall yourself, your hand would have simply passed through it. Of course, humans are so _dense_ at times. I thought it would be amusing to see you lose your mind and then politely explain the solution to you."

"**Enough of this**," echoed a dark, deep voice from the other end of the room. Blight immediatley fell silent, and despite himself Aster found himself thinking about how powerful one had to be to silence someone of Blight's power with three words. The voice sounded like evil embodied, he found himself shivering even as he thought of it.

"**We have him, and must leave now. Death is not foolish. Once he is aware of my entering his realm, his defenses will be strengthened and he will rally an army.**" "Yes, Master," said Blight in a low voice. He turned to the other figure, and nodded. The seated figure and himself both disappeared, and the other figure walked towards him.

He was dressed in platinum armor. The crest was finely crafted, and one could tell that the armor was not anything ever seen on the Earth. His face was that of a middle-aged man, and he was bald, with wisps of blonde hair on his head. He raised a gauntlet-covered hand.

As Aster looked more closely, he cried out in shock. "Jaden!"

As he said this, the man seemed to flit out of existence, leaving Aster alone. A small voice spoke behind him. "Hey, Aster."

He whirled around in shock to see a teenager dressed in a red jacket and jeans. His hair was brown and a mess, and he wore a DD3 on one hand. His eyes sparkled blue, but there was a tone of menace in them that Aster did not notice.

"Jaden… What's happened to you?" whispered the Destiny Hero duelist, struggling to attain a strong footing.

"Look at what they've done to me, Aster," whispered 'Jaden', folding his arms. "They forced that evil freak into my head. I can't control my words, my actions… No one will be able to help me. I'm gone forever now."

"There's gotta be some way to get you out of this place!" replied Aster angrily, reaching over and clutching his friend's shoulder. He gasped in pain and immediatley recoiled, for the jacket felt like acid to his hands. He looked at it. Cuts appeared on them, and disappeared immediatley.

"No there isn't. And it's your fault, Aster. You weren't there to help me when they took away my control of my body. You didn't duel hard enough against Blight. It's all your fault, Aster. It's all your fault." And with that, he simply exploded, showering ash all over the place.

Aster fell to his knees, clutching his head with his hands. He had never dealt with something like this before. Sartorius was different. Sartorius was normal.

As if on cue, the same, soft voice of one of his closest friends and former manager sounded behind him. He turned around to see the innocent face framed by wild hair, and a slim frame covered by a blue trench coat. "Sartorius…" he choked.

"I thought we were friends, Aster," sighed the other man. "But why did you abandon me? We went through so much together. Have you forgotten your promise to never let anything happen to me? Why did you let it take me, Aster? WHY?"

With a shady laugh, he vanished as well.

"_Aster_…." He felt like his head was going to explode, for standing right in front of him was Alexis Rhodes herself. She had a wicked smile on, however, and spoke in a far more silky voice then normal. "It has certainly been a while."

Aster's mind told him it was an illusion, but his heart didn't want to believe it. "You were always jealous of it, weren't you… The attention that Jaden and Zane got from everyone one else? From _me_? I get the feeling you fancied me! But who would ever want you? You're a pathetic excuse for a man, one who never holds accountability for his crimes!"

She was about to say more, but Aster had had enough. With a vicious roar, he charged forward. Strong fingers wrapped around her throat and he lifted her up against the wall. "DON'T YOU DARE MOCK THEM WITH YOUR SICK GAMES, WHOEVER YOU ARE! IF YOU EVEN TOUCH MY FRIENDS, I CAN MAKE YOU WISH YOU WERE NEVER BORN!"

Her soft blue eyes turned crimson and she hissed in fury, struggling to break out of his grasp, but his anger gave him strength. Determined to choke the life out of her, he didn't notice a flat voice behind him.

"It is pointless to try and kill something that was never alive to begin with." At these words, the thing that Aster was trying to kill gave a screech and vanished, leaving his right fist clutching empty air. He whirled around to see the dark version of Jaden whom he had first met before this nightmare had begun.

"Jaden…"

"Not Jaden. Haou."

"Haou…" Aster felt dizzy. "Who are you?"

"That does not concern you. I was merely telling you of your sins." "My sins…" Aster looked down at his hands, unaware of the room around him.

"You will repent for your sins." The words slammed into his skull like a mechanical drill, powering its way into his brain and refusing to leave. He wanted to cry, he wanted to sob his sadness out, but tears would not come. Instead, he felt strangely calm.

"I will repent for my sins."

"Whatever it takes."

"Whatever it takes."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Blight tapped a non-existent watch on his wrist as Haou exited the castle and joined them on the cliff. The Supreme King didn't reply.

Apocalypse, meanwhile, was staring out into the dark sky that was framed by lightning. No place on the world had storms like this, but then again, they weren't exactly in the world at this point. More like above it. Apocalypse's stronghold was so well hidden, even if the entire army of the Infinity Council, which numbered in the hundreds of millions, launched a mass search, it would still take years to find it.

Following Haou were two men dressed in a dark, anonymous cloaks. They were carrying an unconscious Aster.

Apocalypse, out of the blue, raised a hand. He spoke in a low voice, much different from his usual, deep drone. It was so low, in fact, that the others could not even hear it. At this, a sphere of green fire shot out from within the dark clouds and slammed right into his fist. It was reflected off his clenched hand, in five different directions. They flew down into the empty, desolate valley beneath them, and the parched grass caught fire.

The fire began to spread. Strangely enough, it was not in the same direction, but rather to the adjacent spots. Soon, there was a fiery pentagram beneath them on the plane. "**If Death becomes aware of my attempt to open a portal, resistance is expected. You will empower the portal**."

It was no request. Nor was it an order. It was a statement. When Apocalypse said something was to be done, it was done. No questions asked.

He clenched his fist, and the fire from the ground began to rise. It seemed that the air itself was catching fire, rising up until it was right beneath them. It was a tower of flames, in the shape of a pentagram. Apocalypse cocked his head. Blight didn't need anything else. With a sharp cry, he let lose a sphere of white energy right into the rock below them.

It shattered, and the two men quickly dropped Aster and scurried away. The three entities and one unconscious man fell into the tower of hellfire, falling freely from over a height of six hundred feet. At that second, the flames around them began to subside. Apocalypse's dangerous voice sounded out.

"**He is resisting**."

With a sharp cry, Blight flexed his muscles, and he was suspended in mid-air. With one hand he caught Aster's collar, as the other two stopped as well. Waves of energy began to come off from their bodies, slamming into the tower of energy. For a moment, the fire appeared again, but just as soon disappeared.

"**More**."

A vein pulsed in Haou's head as he pointed his three middle fingers at the portal. A burst of energy left it, and it merged with the fire around them to send a pulse going up through the walls of the bottomless tower. From the outside, it looked like a fiery green snake that was being violently shaken from the bottom.

They began to fall again, but continued to give off energy. They could not fully resist Death's power, but were able to race it. As more of the portal disappeared, they fell faster. It was a race against time: Would they be able to reach the bottom first or would the portal fizzle out before then?

In exactly three seconds, it was decided. The fire reached the bottom and was extinguished. However, there was but a scorch mark at the bottom. They had succeeded. Apocalypse was coming to Death. Death was waiting for Apocalypse.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"We're needed at one of those beaches," said Drake flippantly, throwing on a bullet-proof vest. He put on one of his usual, blue jackets and glanced over at Serena and Sarah, as if waiting for them to reply. "Apparently one of Paradias' free agents kidnapped someone from the Council's task force and held her to ransom. There was a duel, and Paradias lost. But there are about five people out there against sixty thugs. I don't like the odds."

Sarah seemed perturbed. Her duel with Nicholas had not been the most pleasant of experiences, indeed it had not. The Shadow Game had drained her considerably, but a day of rest had her back in decent shape again.

Serena spoke in a soft voice. "We are the only field agents in this building. Everyone else is either on another mission or injured. The guards are not trained for something like this."

"I have received no orders from Eizan, so this is beyond the call of duty. But five innocent lives are at stake," replied Drake calmly. They were in the conference room of the building, where all active agents were to normally meet before a mission. As it were, they were the only ones available.

"Maybe we could activate someone else as a field agent…." trailed off Sarah. But she knew it had no point. They would only be signing the death warrant of an innocent. Paradias' troops were ruthless and deadly. Anyone who hadn't received the proper training would be like a deer caught in the headlights.

"If Jason and Brian were here, we may have had a chance," said Serena to no one in particular.

"Well, since Jason isn't here, Sarah is the ranking agent on site." He turned to her. "I'm not crazy about this myself, but there was a reason why we joined Eagle. None of us are veterans, and this would be our first, _real_ field operation."

Sarah considered. Her beautiful face was marred with concentration. "Fine. I won't let innocent people die when we could do something about it. I would have preferred better odds for the first operation I'm heading, but it can't be helped. We have to arm ourselves."

Drake nodded. "I've already been in the armory." He held open his jacket to reveal a pair of slim Berettas.

"I don't like these toys, but it's our life or theirs." Sarah nodded. "It looks like you were prepared for my answer. We can't be too heavy, because we'll need to take out most of them from a distance. In fact, avoid combat as far as possible. This is a rescue operation, not an assassination."

"I'll meet you by the helicopter in ten minutes," finished Drake, and left the room.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Wait, how can you attack directly?!" shot back Jason. "I have a card facedown."

Yugi smirked, and pointed at Twilight Shadow Bombardier. "His effect allows me to reduce the attack points of one monster on my field by half so that he can attack directly. This can only be used once per game."

The towering Twilight Shadow flapped his mechanical wings, and his long sword crackled with electricity. It was crackling so much that the blade itself was barely visible. With a single dive, it was shooting towards the facedown monster. As it raised its sword, however, the card flipped up to reveal a smallish cyclops.

It was yellow in color, and had a huge eye right in the middle of its face. It had a slightly mechanical look to it, but the strangest part were two angelic wings right behind it. With a cry, however, its skin burst into flames and its posterior grew a little more. Large feelers sprouted out of its forehead.

"Atomic Firefly (500/400) allows me to remove a monster in my graveyard from play, once per turn, to negate an attack." He held out Magical Android, and slid it into his pocket. The strange, cyclops-like insect gave a high screech, and belched out a sphere of fire at the swordsman, who flicked it away with his sword. However, he didn't attack again.

Yugi closed his eyes, and a smile spread across his face. He nodded to himself contentedly, and upon opening his eyes looked Jason in the eye. "Well, it's been fun. I hope to duel you again, this time using my Twilight Shadow deck the full duel. If we make it through this, I guarantee I'll be waiting on the other end. But it's Yami's duel. He challenged you."

He held up a magic card. "I activate Twilight Spring of Life. I can sacrifice one Twilight Shadow fusion in play to draw one card and gain life-points equal to its attack points." As he spoke, the Twilight Shadow Swordmaster bowed, and knelt down on one knee. He placed the flat of his blade against his knee, and both palms rested on the handle.

"Sorry about this," muttered Yugi. The swordsman smiled and shook his head before vanishing into spheres of light.

(Yugi: 4800, Jason: 650)

"Then I activate my own copy of Reality Warp."

Jason was dumbstruck. "_Two_ copies of that thing?" "Indeed," nodded Yugi and slid it into his Duel Disk. He held up a hand, and smiled. "I'll see you around."

Then, the entire terrace was covered by a flash of blinding light. It lasted for about ten seconds, and the Atomic Firefly gave a small screech of annoyance as it grew brighter. Finally, it began to settle, to reveal the taller and more intimidating Pharaoh opposite Jason.

"Hello again, Jason." With that, he fell to one knee with a sharp intake of breath as his life-points plummeted.

(Yami: 1800, Jason: 650)

With a forced grin, he staggered upwards and drew six cards. "The climax of the duel is approaching, Jason. And I'm going to prove to you why." He placed a monster on his Duel Disk, and then placed a card in his graveyard.

He said, "I send this card to my Graveyard in order to special summon the monster known as The Tricky (2000/1200)."

Appearing onto the field was a monster dressed in a yellow and black with a blue cape on his back and a question mark on his chest and face. The creature looked more like a court jester than anything else.

"It's normally a level five monster, but thanks to its effect I can special summon it at any time. Since I discarded Repayment of Losses, I can draw one more card." His hand size was back at five, and with a smirk he slid two more into his Duel Disk.

"I end my turn."

Jason drew slowly, and he felt an invisible weight on his shoulders. He had been dueling for over ninety minutes, and it was truly taking its toll on him. He wanted to just collapse on his knees and let the darkness take him, but he would not. Not when he had made the challenge.

"I cannot allow you to win this," he said between gritted teeth, and he slammed another monster into play.

Surges of thunder scorched the ground, as a human-shaped being wearing a white, spherical helmet walked forward. It held its hands out, absorbing the lightning energies with its brown gloves, containing white, metallic finger slots. The being wore a faded-pink top, with a golden design of a thunderbolt on the front. Black pants went all the way down its skinny legs, and black boots with red straps on them covered its feet. "I summon Teleki-Attacker (1700/700)."

"He's weaker then my Tricky," responded Yami. "Yes, but his strength is not what I need at this time. I play Underworld Gem, which forces me to remove five cards in my graveyard from play in order to mimic the effect of one other magic card in my graveyard. I choose to remove Demonic Burst, Telekinetic Assassin, Dimensional Countdown, Forceful Gift and Flash of the Forbidden Spell to use Level Modulation. You draw two cards while I can special summon a LV monster from my graveyard. I choose Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV8 (3000/1800)."

A tower of black fire appeared on his field. From the flames came a larger set of silver metal wings, a longer tail, stronger talon legs, powerful silver arms, and at long last, a large silver head. With a massive roar, the flames dispersed.

Yami seemed perturbed. When it had been used against Yugi, the monster had indeed been powerful.

"Now, I will top off the move by activating the special ability of my Telekinetic Assassin. When he's in my removed from play pile, I can pay half my life-points to special summon one level four or lower Psychic monster from my graveyard. I choose Clevonce (1200/400)."

The yellow cubes displayed the oddly-shaped body of the monster, and its helmet brightened with the yellow and blue patterns. The yellow teeth of the being were as rotten as when it had been summoned in the opening turns of the duel.

"My army is complete now, and defeat for you is imminent. Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV8, lead the charge and destroy the Tricky with Darkness Giga Flames!"

Roaring once more, the dragon beat its massive wings. Lifting off of the ground, it opened its jaws, revealing black flames in its mouth. Breathing out, the flames came spewing out in a stream straight for the jester. Yami's eyes narrowed, and he tapped a button on his Duel Disk.

"Skill Drain, activate! By paying one thousand life-points, I can negate the effects of all monsters in play as long as this trap card is active." As the fire came flying forth, Horus gave a small grunt of weakness, and electricity crackled around its body. Its attack weakened slightly, but it still continued. Similarly, all of Jason's remaining monsters were crying out in pain as pain wracked their nerves due to electricity.

(Yami: 800, Jason: 650)

"Then I activate Tricky Spell 4! I can sacrifice The Tricky, and special summon a number of Tricky Tokens (2000/1200) equal to the number of monsters you have in play!" As he said this, the strangely dressed magician vanished in a puff of smoke, and was replaced by four capsules. They were about three feet long with a circumference of eighteen inches. One side was covered with green, while the other was transparent and filled with white spheres.

"They are forced permanently into defense mode and cannot attack," said Yami. Jason seemed irritated, as after he attacked there would still be two more tokens left, for Atomic Firefly and Clevonce were too weak to break past the creatures' twelve hundred defense points.

Yami tapped another button on his Duel Disk. "Then I activate Wabuko." Once again, the three robed mages appeared in front of the Pharaoh and began to chant. Horus seemed disheartened, and the flames faded away.

Jason frowned. "With four monsters, you now have the opportunity to summon one of your more powerful monsters. Impressive move. I set a card and end my turn."

Yami drew, and his eyes closed for a moment. A look of satisfaction crossed his face for a moment, and then he opened them. They were fixed on the only non-ritual, blue-bordered monster in the game. A shiver went down his spine. He hadn't summoned it since his duel with Marik, and he found himself feeling a little apprehensive, but the anticipation was also driving him.

He looked up at Jason, and the power in his stare was the likes of which the Eagle agent had never seen. "I sacrifice all three of my monsters for the Egyptian God, OBELISK THE TORMENTOR (4000/4000)!"

The sky darkened even more, for the first cracks of light had begun to herald the coming of dawn. A blinding blue light began filling the room suddenly, and slowly up from the ground rose a powerful, large blue monster. It had powerful large arms, gigantic wings, and powerful legs. The creature let out a muffled roar, making the sky vibrate.

Jason, for the first time in the entire duel, actually seemed apprehensive.

Brian was awestruck. Although Daniel and Ryu had witnessed creatures in Obelisk's league of power, it did not fail to render them silent. The sheer power that it gave off filled the sky in waves, and they were quite sure that a number of soldiers would be curious to know why such a powerful monster had suddenly appeared on the terrace of a moderately respected citizen of Necropolis.

"I'm sorry to have to resort to using the Egyptian God cards, Jason, but you have left me no choice."

Jason seemed to have recovered. A thin smile graced his face. "I relish the opportunity. Indeed, defeating an Egyptian God card is not something one can do everyday."

"You are too confident," warned Yami. "Obelisk's power ranks it as among the top five strongest creatures in the game. Let me prove it to you. Destroy Horus and end the duel with FIST OF FURY!"

Seconds later, the blue creature launched his fist forward. Small swirls of energy could be seen around the creature's fist. With ease, it slammed into silver dragon. The beast spat out a ball of flames at it, but they simply bounced off the creature's fist. At that moment, Jason reacted swiftly by tapping his Duel Disk. "I activate Shift! Now, I can switch your attack to Atomic Firefly!"

The one-eyed insect suddenly buzzed and took off towards the god. It spat out fireball after fireball at the titan, but it simply bounced off its huge body. Angrily, the god withdrew its fist from its attempt to pummel Horus, and smacked away the firefly with its massive hand. It soared towards the spectators, and Brian barely ducked in time for the insect to slam into the wall and explode into a pile of ashes.

Yami sighed. "You've saved yourself from Obelisk for now. But remember, it won't work forever."

"You're correct," muttered Jason. "That is exactly why I will have to crush it."

Yami shrugged and ended his turn. Obelisk roared in triumph.

Jason drew, and for a moment, Yami could have sworn he saw a glint of satisfaction in the duelist's eyes. "Hmm… I was hoping not to have to resort to this, because if I did, you wouldn't have had a chance. But it seems like you are forcing me to resort to one of my strongest monsters. Very well, I will not shirk away from using my truest strength against a God. I tune Clevonce with Teleki Attacker to Synchro Summon Mental Sphere Daemon (2700/2300)!"

Clevonce erupted, becoming three glittering stars. They circled around Teleki-Attacker, soon transforming into the green rings, rotating around Teleki-Attacker, which soon began five stars itself. A blinding, yellow light shone in the mess, bringing the rise of a new being. Odd bits of yellow and black data started forming onto the field, piecing together into gray rib cages, black skin, and black wings with golden skeletal structures. It had thick, gray, sharp claws for hands, with yellow fingernails; its head matched the gray of the rib cages, and appeared almost in a rectangle shape, with a double chin. A long, yellow and black-patterned, wooden tail crept about behind it.

"As powerful as your new monster is, it can't hope to help you against Obelisk's wrath."

"It will, but indirectly. Before that, however, I must play Mystical Space Typhoon, to destroy Skill Drain." The hologram of the continuous trap card was shattered by a tornado. Then Jason's smile widened, and he held up a card.

"Polymerization…" groaned Yami. "You have _got_ to be kidding me."

"I never joke, at least about dueling," replied Jason ominously. Horus gave a low growl, and then a vortex appeared on the field. With a cry each, the archfiend and dragon both dissolved into streams of black energy which were sucked into the vortex. It began spinning, and after a minute it began to dissolve into a flash of blinding light, which covered Jason's field.

As the light cleared, an absolutely massive form was facing Obelisk on Jason's field. It was large, robotic dragon, with shiny dark, reflective metallic skin. It was a little larger than Horus, but looked very different. Its wings were as demonic as the archfiend's, with large, silver bones holding up the leathery black skin. Although it was a dragon, it stood on two legs. Its paws were the size of Volkswagens, with massive, razor sharp claws on each finger. They curled around viciously, but could not distract attention from its head.

It was not the head of Horus, neither of the daemon. It was about four feet long, with two small horns extending out from the top end of each one. It had primal, yellow eyes that had something about them that made one unable to look away from them. Its jaws were thin and long, with cruel, shining white teeth that hooked around the edge and gleamed in the darkness. All in all, it was nothing short of an absolutely terrifying creature.

"This is one of my top five most powerful monsters," declared Jason, folding his arms. "It is the apex of my two strategies combined, for all of my other strongest creatures are dependant on each individual strategy. Indeed, you now face Shadow Sentinel Dragon (3500/3500)."

Yami was a bit put off by the sheer size and intimidation that the dragon provided. He wasn't too scared, however, and gave a slight smirk. "You seem to forget that as long as Obelisk is in play, even your most powerful monsters don't have a hope of defeating me."

"Arrogance is appalling," replied Jason softly. "No one monster can ever win a duel. Don't you know that?"

Yami was dumbfounded. He himself remembered saying these words to Marik back in Battle City, when he had first defeated Slifer the Sky Dragon. Had he become so accustomed to using the Gods that he believed victory was automatic when their power was used? No, he told himself. He had defeated Marik without using the God's power.

While these thoughts conflicted within his mind, Jason pointed at Obelisk. "The effect of Shadow Sentinel Dragon allows me to discard a monster from my hand to boost his attack points by the same amount until the turn ends." He held up Armed Dragon LV7 (2800/1000).

The fiendish dragon roared as its attack points skyrocketed (6300/3500).

"Destroy it," said Jason emotionlessly. With a roar, the fusion of Horus the Black Flame Dragon and the Mental Sphere Daemon roared, and raised its massive paws. They were pulsating with shining energy, and slowly, it began to come off in waves. It seemed that its psychic might was far superior to its brute, draconic strength, and Obelisk was roaring in pain.

The archfiend's eyes narrowed in the intensity of the situation, and with a roar Obelisk broke free of the trance and with a giant step forward swung its fist at the fusion. However, it spat out a small sphere of black energy at the god, which hit it on the chest. At the same time, it literally quadrupled the mental energy it was giving off. Obelisk's face contorted, and he shattered.

Just like that. It was probably the most non-epic method in which a god had been destroyed. The rest of them watched in silence and shock, stunned by the ease with which Jason had disposed of the fabled Obelisk the Tormentor.

"And the duel is over," concluded Jason quietly.

Yami shook his head. "I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I activate the magic card Last Chance for Life. It allows me to send a monster from my deck to the graveyard and gain life-points equal to its attack points. Considering the situation I am in right now, I can think of nothing better then this."

He pulled the card out of his deck. Jason seemed unbothered before this, but upon seeing it, his casual attitude spluttered to a halt.

"Blue Eyes White Dragon (3000/2500)?!" he whispered, shocked.

Brian's jaw was hanging open. Even Ryu, with his extensive knowledge of dragons, had never in his dueling career heard that Yugi Moto possessed a copy of his greatest rival's most powerful monster.

Yami nodded. "I take it the story behind it is not known to you. Originally, four copies of this mighty card were present. Yugi's grandfather, Solomon Moto, was the one who possessed the singular copy not in the deck of Seto Kaiba. Although it was almost irreversibly damaged at one point, I came into possession of the repaired copy less then a week ago. It has been extremely useful to me, and without it defeating Marik Ishtar would have been impossible. With it in my deck, you will be hard pressed to stop me now."

(Yami: 1500, Jason: 650)

The Eagle agent shrugged. "Very well. Do your worst. I am prepared with the strength of Shadow Sentinel Dragon."

Yami drew, and slid a card into his Duel Disk. "Equal Shares forces you to discard half the cards in your hand. I can draw an equal number." With five cards in his hand to Jason's three, Yami was now far better prepared to launch a counteroffensive assault.

He relaxed upon examining the cards present. "It's over," he muttered. Jason's face darkened. "What do you mean it's over? In case you have forgotten, all logic points towards a very likely victory for me within the next two or three turns. Unless you can somehow summon a monster with forty-two hundred attack points, I am still in the duel."

Yami chuckled at this. "You are a strong duelist, Jason. Your powerful thinking and mostly undeniable logic can get you out of the stickiest situations. But I'm sorry to say, logic is not always a method of automatic victory. Sometimes, you simply have to think out of the box. Allow me to demonstrate.

"I play Monster Reborn… Arise, mighty BLUE EYES WHITE DRAGON (3000/2500)!"

From thousands of feet above the Necropolis, a mighty creature roared in response to the summons, and a vast shadow fell over the field, spreading a tad bit of surprise into the other beast.. This shadow grew in size, and a faintly draconic shape appeared, and from this appeared a messenger, a fusion of light and darkness. Clad in silver armor, and with a wingspan double that of the Shadow Sentinel Dragon, the creature lifted its massive head to its full height, opening and closing its great maw. With its cold cerulean eyes it scanned the field, and once it fell upon Jason, it gave another frightening roar.

"It's still too weak," replied Jason. "Indeed a magnificent creature, worthy of bearing the title of the greatest of dragons. But that is only in name, for my monster could wipe it out with barely any effort at all."

Yami laughed at this. It was quite a carefree laugh. Jason was stunned to see how he had changed during the duel. He had begun as a nervous, apprehensive duelist, who was barely recognizable as the King of Games. He didn't even want to duel at first. But then again, only by confronting one's fears could one overcome them….

"I repeat, you have to think out of the box. I play one of the most powerful magic cards in the game, Intertwined Fates! At the cost of half my life-points, it is treated as any monster in the game, be it in my hand or on the field, but only till the end of the turn. I choose for it to be a second Blue Eyes White Dragon."

(Yami: 750, Jason: 650)

Daniel looked up in awe. He was beginning to see what Yami was trying to achieve…. "Only Yami…" he muttered to himself, as the Pharaoh flipped over to more cards.

They were Versago the Destroyer (1100/900), and Polymerization.

Lightning strikes rained down in a single location on the field, as the first dragon was joined by two massive, beasts started to fly from the blinding light. They had tined, blue skin, and a threatening structure. The long, scaley tails extended from their bodies, as relentless, blue eyes scolded the field.

Suddenly, the three swirled together, blurring all three forms. A new form appeared in the three's place, and slowly came into view. It was a large three headed white metallic dragon with some kind of symbol on their foreheads, blue eyes, two powerful clawed hands and feet, massive wings, a strong tail, and a strong looking body. The dragon touched down onto the ground, causing each head to let out a massive roar that shook the ground.

"Meet Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon (4500/3800)," said Yami calmly.

Jason looked up at it in a mixture of awe and fear. "Impossible…" he mumbled. "Very possible," retorted Yami, holding up the final card in his hand. "By removing five cards in my graveyard from play, Underworld Gem will replicate the effect of Intertwined Fates, which I choose to represent Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon."

Jason didn't reply. He glanced over his hand desperately, trying to find some way to avoid this, any way….

"It's over, Jason. Neutron Blast!"

Each head of the mighty dragon roared loudly and opened their jaws. White energy instantly flooded their mouths and began building like lightning. In a thunderous shot, the three released a white energy beam, which formed into a larger one. The massive beam slammed into the metallic dragon, inciting a large explosion of dust that covered the entire terrace….

But despite this visual obstruction, the result of the duel was clear to one and all.

(Yami: 375, Jason: 0)

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The group of four men and unconscious teenage girl were boxed in by some fifty, ruthless mercenaries. The leader, a tall Slavic man seemed to be talking to his boss on a cell phone, deciding whether to kill them or take them prisoner.

Rikuo flexed his claws. He could take out ten, maybe more in the next half a minute. But eventually, one bullet would be fatal.

The leader nodded and slid his phone into his pocket. He spoke in a thick, accented voice. "Very well. Kill them."

Scarcely had the words left his mouth did Bakura react. He raised his hands and muttered an incantation under his breath. The Millennium Ring gave a slight glow, and the five were suddenly encased in a dome of glowing, golden energy. It was about ten feet in diameter and had a similar height. As it exploded out, the mercenary closest to them was hit by it and was thrown off his feet.

"Fire."

With cries of joy, the contingent raised their weapons. They were varied, from simple shotguns to enormous rifles. As a burst of gunfire tore through the air towards their intended victims, Bakura spoke again. The bullets slammed into the wall, and for a second, it seemed likely that they would bypass it.

The Thief King's brow was furrowed with concentration. Seto was exhausted, and resting on one knee. He could spare no more energy. Rikuo, however, was at full capacity, and with a roar, fired off a sphere of black fire. It splashed against the dome, and instead of shattering it, it was absorbed. Bakura's features relaxed a little, but not by much. With a sudden sharp cry, the dome expanded, and the bullets richotted off. Most of them slammed into mercenaries, injuring most and killing a few. The others fell into the sand.

The Slavic man was impressed. "I expect as much from the killers of the clown. However, it is unlikely such trickery will last for a long period of time. This is a waiting game that we cannot lose. Demons are not immune to the effects of bullets. Sooner or later, one of my remaining forty men will kill you."

Bakura, could, of course, defend against most bullets, but it was foolish to think his vast reserves of magic would last forever. Rikuo's demonic powers were useful in a head to head fight, but their defensive capacity was zero. His amazing strength and offensive magic would dispose of many, but with Bakura providing the group with their sole defensive capabilities, their chances were quite bleak. Perhaps if people like Yami or Ryu were helping them, they might have won the test of time and kept the barrier up long enough.

"Let me out of this place," snapped Rikuo at the Thief King. "I will kill them."

"Do you think I'm holding this thing up for nothing?!" shot back Bakura, a bead of sweat rolling down his forehead. "You take one step out and you'll have more holes in you then Swiss cheese! I don't like you one bit, so just shut up and let me concentrate."

"You won't hold out forever," responded Rikuo.

"Got any better ideas?" This was met with silence. Neither Joey nor Seto could help at this point, either.

In three minutes, Bakura was close to exhaustion. His offensive capabilities were far above his defensive ones. Here, he was literally draining his own body of power. He fell to one knee, and for a split second, the shield fazed out of existence. With a roar, he forced more energy out as it reappeared.

Before anyone could comment on this, a thundering was heard overhead. Everyone looked up to see a helicopter overhead. It was no garden variety helicopter, like the ones that Kaiba Corp. used. It was a fully-equipped, built for attack Nighthawk 21. It was nothing short of magnificent, about twenty-five feet long with huge rotors that threatened to slice through any offenders. Mounted on each side were huge machine guns, and there was a missile hatch at the bottom. With its greenish-black color, one could tell it was equipped for stealth, and few besides the military had such a vehicle.

The mercenaries were horrified. They heaved their guns up, but before they could open fire, the helicopter had already attacked. A hail of bullets rained down on the mercenaries, reducing most of them to either corpses or unconscious and injured wrecks in a minute. With less then ten left, Bakura let down his shield, and the four men attacked.

For the survivors, it was like being assaulted by monsters. Rikuo struck first, slamming his fist into the head of one of them. He then slammed the heads of two more together, cartoon-style. Joey was far more savage, however. He dealt his first victim a terrible roundhouse kick to the jaw. As he screamed in pain, Joey silenced him by grabbing him by the arm and flinging him at one of his partners. Within ten seconds, five were down.

Seto and Bakura worked with just as much as precision and deadliness as they had against Anubis and the Dead Duelists in the Tournament of Shadows. As one mercenary swung his gun around to cut down Seto, the Thief King leapt up from behind the CEO and landed on his shoulders. The sudden weight never affected Seto, for Bakura was off the moment he landed, and then again crashed down on the mercenary. He had broken the man's shoulders, and decided to leave him incapacitated.

He immediatley moved on to the next one, disposing off him with a three fingered jab to the throat. It was not fatal, however, and he followed Joey's example by hefting the unconscious man over to one of his colleagues, who was thrown off his feet by the weight. Seto, meanwhile, ended the contest by kicking one of them in jaw, and a quick punch to the forehead for the other.

The four were left panting as the helicopter began to descend. A quick glance between Rikuo and Seto told them that there was no point in trying to find out who their unlikely savior was, in case they were hostile. Ten confused mercenaries was one thing, but a military helicopter was another.

As they tore towards their own chopper, a voice called down from it. "We are not hostile!"

"_Yeah right_," muttered Joey, as he shifted Serenity onto his own shoulder. But Kaiba stopped him. "This is pointless," he growled. "I don't see why they wouldn't have already cut us to pieces if they wanted to. They may be allies."

Before Joey could reply, the chopper was on the ground. Emerging from it were three figures. Two were female, one being slender and with raven hair, and the other tall and blonde. The first wore a blue combat suit, while the other's was scarlet. The third was a man, dressed in black with long red hair.

Seto looked at them suspiciously. They were armed, which didn't much increase the level of endearment between the two parties.

"Who are you?"

"I think a 'thank you for saving our lives' would be a rather more appropriate thing to say," replied the man sourly.

There was silence. "That of course brings about the question of why you did," replied Seto.

The man was about to answer, when he glanced over at Rikuo. His face was disfigured with a snarl. "It really does. I don't know why I would have wanted to save a demon."

Rikuo raised an eyebrow. "I have heard words like that before, son. You don't want to be against me. You helped us, it would pain me if to fight against you."

One of the girls placed a hand on his shoulder warningly, but he shrugged it off. "I know that your kind are living in secret all over the world… Killing people whenever they can. And what's more, I'm beginning to wonder whether you people really are the ones we were meant to save. You could just be some Paradias operatives."

Sarah had never heard Drake ever speak in anyway other then his usual calm, calculated manner. However, it seemed he had some grudge that was clouding his judgment. But then again, it only made sense. Standard hostage rescue was always carried out with prior information of who their hostage was. Right now, they could be facing all four of Apocalypse's Horsemen, for all they knew. She was beginning to regret launching the mission.

"It's very likely that you're the spies here," shot back Bakura.

Drake narrowed his eyes, and gave a derisive laugh. "You. You're the Thief King, if I'm correct. Eagle knows a lot about Shadow magic and its history. I quite remember those tablets depicting you in an attempt to destroy the Pharaoh's palace with that despicable snake of a soul monster."

Bakura's eyes flashed dangerously. "Do not speak of things of which your knowledge is so sparse."

Drake slapped a hand onto the gun in his holster, when Joey leapt forward, after having remained silent through the exchange. Just as Drake was about to fire, he slammed into him, throwing his hands upward. A bullet rocketed out and hit a rock on one of the cliffs.

Sarah and Serena were too stunned to react. Having never been in a real field operation, they were unsure of what to do. First instinct dictated disabling their opponents, but it didn't make sense, not when they were so unsure of their identity.

Never before had Sarah wished for Jason's presence so much. But he wasn't there, and it was necessary for them to improvise.

But before she could say a word, another surprise took place. Two pants were heard from the cliff above. Everyone except the struggling pair looked up to see two figures. One was about five foot five, with blonde hair and cerulean blue eyes. He was dressed in a blue T-Shirt and jeans. The other was older, perhaps by six or seven years, with long, neat, black hair that came down to his shoulders.

"Kyle," muttered Kaiba.

"I didn't expect Deondre Andersen here," put in Rikuo. Within a minute, they were down on the sand. Drake pushed Joey off, just as they arrived.

"I thought I told you guys to stay back there," growled Kaiba. "How did you get here?"

Kyle shrugged. "It had been over three hours since you had contacted us. We figured as long as we had Zane, Alexis, and the German guy back at base, there was nothing wrong with just hopping out here to find out what had happened. It was a simple matter of getting one of your techies to triangulate the position of your chopper."

Drake seemed oblivious to what was going on. "I don't trust them," he snarled to Sarah.

She glared at him. It was amazing how frightening the pretty girl could look when she wanted to. "As you so intelligently pointed out at base, I am the ranking agent here and in no way will it be up to you to decide whether they are trustworthy or not. _I_ am the director of this operation, and _my_ word will go."

This sobered Drake up a little.

Sarah considered. They were all armed with Duel Disks. That meant that they were either from Paradias or the Council's task force. But then again, one of them was Seto Kaiba. But in the past, Paradias had sent in agents in disguise innumerable times. No, it went against the basic espionage principles to trust them.

"I will not kill them," she growled.

Then she pulled out her Duel Disk and deck from her jacket and slipped it on. "But that doesn't mean I trust them."

There was silence, which was broken by Seto. "A duel. What are your terms? I can tell that you don't want to injure or kill us, as you have no clue about our identity."

"If we win, then you will surrender to our custody until your identity will be verified. I can force you into it now, but I hate using firearms and will only resort to them if absolutely necessary. Reinforcements will be arriving, just to make sure that you don't try anything. It's your choice. You can simply duel, or fight against three armed and dangerous Eagle agents."

The last bit was an exaggeration. Her experience was firearms was limited to the shooting range in the Las Vegas base, and she was always a better tactician then in actual confrontations.

Rikuo snorted. "And what makes you think you can defeat the Shadow Tournament Champion?" As he spoke, he switched on his Duel Disk.

"The fact that it won't be just you or me. It will be a three on three, Serena, Drake and myself against three duelists from your group."

"Well, that's two down," commented Joey, sliding his deck into his deck slot.

"I really haven't had the opportunity to stretch my legs in a while," finished Kyle with a smirk.

Serena and Drake fired off their holo projectors, praying that after the duel it wouldn't come down to an actual battle.

Joey and Kyle flanked Rikuo as the duelists formed a rectangular shape.

"LET'S DUEL!"

(Sarah: 8000, Rikuo: 8000, Drake: 8000, Joey: 8000, Serena: 8000, Kyle: 8000)

Joey gave a sideways glance to Deondre, Bakura, Seto, and the unconscious Serenity. An exhausted Seto collapsed against a rock, and positioned Serenity so that her head was against his shoulder in a more comfortable stance.

Sarah looked over her opening hand. Not a bad one by any means, but she could have asked for something better. Ah well, she had to work with what she was given, like it or not. "I summon Silent Magician LV4 (1000/1000) in attack mode."

A white-haired female magician with blue eyes, and matching blue boot-like shoes appeared by them. Her hair was mostly held down by her hat, but some of it still flowed behind her. She held a thin, white staff, which arched up to a large top. The bottom half of the top was blue, and the top was white; at the top-center was a dark-turquoise orb in-between the surface of the staff's top, and a white, flame-shaped design above it. The very bottom of the staff contained another of the spheres. The magician's white clothes had an ankh symbol worn around her neck, reaching down and starting a blue, circular-shaped pattern that went down to the bottom of the robe, which stopped at the magician's feet. A blue, jewel-like object was on the front of her white spellcaster's hat, which also contained a concave-up stripe of blue below the jewel-like object.

"I set a card facedown and end my turn." A brown backed card appeared behind the young mage, filling up the space directly in front of Sarah.

Rikuo drew, and analyzed the situation. Silent Magician LV4 was a monster that could be used in three different decks: a LV monster deck, a total negation deck, and a spellcaster deck. He had no idea of knowing what kind of deck she was using, none at all. At the least, he would prepare for any kind. He chuckled at the sight of his newly drawn card, but Sarah interrupted.

"In case you're unaware, Silent Magician LV4 gains one counter every time my opponent draws a card. For each counter on him, he gains five hundred attack points." Lightly glowing, the young mage's body slightly grew in height, showing the significance of its gain in power (1500/1000).

Rikuo didn't seem bothered. "I summon Electrocution Android (1400/1000) in attack mode." A man sized monster appeared next to Rikuo. It had bulky, muscular arms, and a visor over its face to conceal its appearance. It had large attachments on its back, in what appeared to be two batteries, surging the being's body with powerful electricity; two electrodes were up top each of the batteries. Wires connected its hands to the electrodes. It raised its hands, which crackled with electricity.

"I then set one card facedown, similar to you. Turn end."

It was Drake's turn. Rikuo, Joey and Kyle stared intently at him, wondering what kind of deck this volatile and enigmatic young man would use.

He smirked and placed a card on his Duel Disk. "I summon Psychic Armor Head (0/500) in attack mode." A futuristic helmet appeared on the field. It was blue in color on the sides, which was attached to a cybernetic, steel top. A black visor descended from the front. Suddenly, it floated over to Drake and slid over his head. It was a perfect fit.

Joey's jaw dropped. "An Armor monster?!"

"I take it you're familiar with them?" spoke Drake in his icy voice.

Joey frowned. He had faced Armor monsters in the past, against Valon, the Orichalcos Swordsman. They were by no means easy to beat. Despite their low attack points, devastating effects and powerful combinations with certain magic cards would always lead to a hell of a fight.

"Then I'll add two facedown cards and end my turn."

Joey drew confidently, and the Silent Magician (2000/1000) grew in strength. He was sure that regardless of what his opponents and their unknown strategies had in store, his newly empowered deck would be able to compete. Now that Serenity was safe, he would be able to duel with absolutely no pressure….

"I summon Marauding Captain (1200/400) in attack mode."

A blonde swordsman in green and teal armor appeared on the field, holding out a rather sharp sword. "In case you didn't know, this bad boy has a nice effect to make up for his sub-par attack and defense points. When he's normal summoned or special summoned, I can special summon a level four or lower monster from my hand. I choose Gearfried the Iron Knight (1800/1600)!"

Appearing next to the first warrior was another one, dressed in thick black armor. Razor sharp gauntlets were attached to his wrists, and the alchemical suit was covered with lines of solid silver that ran all over it. Behind his helmet shone blood red eyes.

"Then I play the continuous magic card Allied Forces! For every warrior and spellcaster in play, all my warriors gain two hundred attack points."

Both the warriors began to glow as the might of unity empowered them (1600/400) (2200/1600).

"I'll call it a turn," he concluded.

Serena drew calmly. She was actually quite a looker, but the anger and enmity between all the men present caused them to ignore her. She hadn't really spoken during the exchange, but she knew that at this point, no one could be trusted, and she'd do anything for the cause that Eagle stood for.

She looked over her hand. "I set two cards facedown and end my turn." Sarah and Drake were not surprised by her less then flamboyant opening move, knowing her obscure yet powerful dueling strategy. On the other hand, it incited a small snort from Kyle as he drew.

He glanced at his new card, and chuckled, despite the fact that Silent Magician (2500/1000) was only a tad weaker then a Blue Eyes White Dragon. "Well, none of you have been able to come up with a good opening move. Perhaps I'll have to show you how it's done… I summon Gemini Elf (1900/900) in attack mode."

Two elf sisters leapt onto the field, one of blonde hair, and one of fiery hair; the one of fiery hair was slightly taller than her twin, wearing a light-violet and sleeveless top, with a short, matching skirt. Her fair-haired sister donned a similar look, with a light-blue-colored suit, but hers had white, cufflink-like designs on the sides, attached to her main dress, holding up two partial sleeves on her arms. Each had patterns on her face, and long, pointed, tan ears.

"I'm not done by far! I play Magical Dimension, which can only be activated when I have a spellcaster in play. Since Gemini Elf fits the bill, I'll sacrifice it to call upon my favorite monster…."

Kaiba was shocked. Damn, this kid was as good as ever. He was going to summon one of the game's most powerful monsters and wipe clear one of his opponent's fields, all in one turn…

"Face the wrath of the Dark Magician of Chaos (2800/2600)!"

A large, yellow casket appeared on Kyle's field. The pair of spellcasters entered it, and it closed. It glowed a little, and then opened to reveal one of the game's deadliest monsters overall.

It was a mage with black tight fitting armor, wearing a strange mage's hat, and held a long black staff in his right hand. His skin color was blue, and he had some black markings. While walking out, his eyes remained closed. Finally fully on the field, the mage opened his eyes, revealing yellow corneas with red irises.

"And when he's summoned, I can then return one magic card from my graveyard to my hand. Since I've only played Magical Dimension, I choose to return it to my hand." He pulled the quick play spell out of his graveyard slot and placed it back among the others in his hand.

"And the final effect of Magical Dimension allows me to destroy one monster on your field. I choose Silent Magician LV4!"

The still open doors to the statue instantly glowed with a dark maroon energy. A beam of dark maroon energy shot out immediately and struck the young magician, making her cry out in pain as he shattered to pieces.

Sarah gave a low whistle but said not a word. "That's not all. I play Premature Burial to special summon Gemini Elf back from the graveyard."

(Sarah: 8000, Rikuo: 8000, Drake: 8000, Joey: 8000, Serena: 8000, Kyle: 7200)

Appearing next to the might of the Chaos Mage were the twin spellcasters once more. Kyle smirked and once again slipped Magical Dimension into his magic and trap card slot.

With another pair of jaunty waves, the spellcasters tumbled into the golden, statue-like casket. Its doors closed, and it again glowed for a moment before opening to reveal the monster that Kyle had now placed on his Duel Disk.

It was a mage, who was in mostly black robes with a little yellow trim. His facial skin was light blue, which was the only skin really shown. The rest of his body was wrapped up in the black robes, with a long black cape on his back and a large black hat on his head. In his hands was a short black staff that was lightly glowing yellow on the end.

"Chaos Command Magician (2400/1900)," he said briskly. He pointed at the Psychic Armor Head. The doors of the golden statue opened and fired out a wave of yellow energy at Drake. It struck the helmet on his head, and knocked him down on one knee as it shattered.

"I end my turn." He left the others stunned in the wake of his ridiculously powerful opening move.

Sarah drew slowly. Losing Silent Magician was a bad blow, but she still had plenty left. "I summon Warrior Lady of the Wasteland (1100/1200) in defense mode." A young, fair, blonde-haired woman in a brown hat rose to the field. She had a green-teal vest on, as well as a green-teal short skirt. She was armed with knives, and some were concealed in her brown gloves on her hands. She also wore long, green boots that came up to her knees.

"I'll end my turn."

Rikuo drew, and a glint appeared in his eyes. "Time for some fun! I activate Electrocution Android's special ability. By sending one monster in my deck with the word 'Jinzo' in its name to the graveyard, I can special summon another monster with 'Jinzo' in its name from my hand. Hmm… I send Jinzo himself (2400/1500) to the discard pile to call upon Jinzo Returner (600/1400) from my hand."

A short version of Jinzo started to rise onto the field, with two yellow, spiked, arched attachments on its shoulders. It had long, lanky arms. Meanwhile, Rikuo quickly found the necessary card within his deck and slid it into his graveyard slot. There was something about the faint smirk on his face that worried his opponents.

Sarah wondered why he would send such a useful and powerful monster to the graveyard to summon a far weaker one from his hand. Obviously, he could revive it later…. But she said nothing, choosing to wait and watch what this demon was going to do.

"Now...I play Red Gadget (1300/1500)!" A circular-shaped, red gear rose to the field, with small hands and two eyes in the center of its top. On its back was a gray, rotating gear. It had short, thin, red legs, and red clodhoppers for feet. "I search for Yellow Gadget from my deck."

Quickly, Rikuo found the necessary card in his deck and added it to his hand. He had now assembled an attacking force worth thirty-one hundred points. He had no idea whom it was wise to attack. The Armor duelist was temperamental and foolish, he couldn't be too dangerous if he allowed his emotions to get the better of him so quickly.

Attacking the raven haired girl would allow her to use Warrior Lady of the Wasteland's effect to summon another warrior. No, that was not worth it either. The final option was the girl named Serena. Her silent opening move hadn't made as much of a statement as the others, but Rikuo knew all too well how deadly subtlety was.

He thought deeply, and decided to take the chance that presented itself on a silver platter.

He pointed commandingly at Serena. "Attack!"

As one, the army of three monsters took action. First, the Electrocution Android raised its lanky arms. The wires connected to the electrodes on its back began to crackle with energy, and a burst of it left the batteries and travelled through the wires until it was spat out from the Gadget's hand. It soared towards Serena. At the same moment, the smaller version of Jinzo let lose a similar assault. Finally, the stronger Red Gadget gave a whir before spinning towards her.

The three attacks hit as one, and an explosion of power covered the field.

Sarah looked over in apprehensiveness. "_Survive it, Serena… Please._"

The smoke cleared to reveal an unharmed Serena. She had a serene smile on her face, and the trio of machines were backing away from her field in horror of the freakish sight that was growing on it.

"Your attack activates my trap...Metal Reflect Slime!" An anomaly of a half-liquid and half-solid creature squirmed into play from the card. It had an appearance almost like a brain, except with a liquid, spiked ball in front of it (0/3000).

"Trap Monster," grunted Joey.

Serena nodded. "And a very powerful one, I might add. You can replay the attack and lose life-points, or end your turn."

Rikuo looked over his hand and grunted. "Fine. Go, Armor duelist."

As Drake drew, he smirked a little. "During my Standby Phase, if Psychic Armor Head is in my graveyard it will always return to the field. I'll call it back in defense mode. So, tough luck, kid. Looks like you ended up destroying it for nothing." As he spoke, the futuristic, blue helmet clapped down over his head again.

"Now, I'll summon another part of the Armor Strategy. It's called Active Guard (0/2500), and this one will be in defense mode." A blue set of futuristic armor appeared over Drake's torso. It consisted of two parts, a slightly silverish metallic part that covered his stomach, while a deep blue chest plate snapped over it and wrapped around his back and chest.

"This one gains five hundred attack points for every Armor monster in play. I count two." (1000/2500)

He looked over at his hand, and shook his head. "_Soon… Soon, I'll show that damn demon why his race should be exterminated_."

"I'll end my turn now. But watch out, you freak… You're going to pay."

Rikuo acted as if he hadn't heard him, infuriating Drake even more.

Meanwhile, it was Joey's turn. He smirked at his next card. It was indeed one of his personal favorites, and would only serve to bolster his attack force. "Watch out, cause I'm calling up Axe Raider (1700/1500) in attack mode!"

The monster that appeared next to Marauding Captain and Gearfried was a tall, brutish man dressed in golden and purple armor. He wore a loose fitting helmet with a small spike on the top. His armor covered his entire chest, but left his arms and his legs from his ankles to his knees bare. However, he held a gigantic axe in one hand, which was about five feet long and a blade that cut through diamond.

"And since three guys are on my field, each one gains six hundred!" (2400/1600) (2300/1500) (1800/400)

"Now, none of them can take out Active Guard, and Psychic Armor Head would be a waste of time to destroy. So… I think I'll have Marauding Captain deal with Warrior Lady of the Wasteland! Commander's Blade!"

With a cry, the blonde haired man tore off across the field. With a single flash of his razor sharp weapon, the female warrior was sliced in half. Her eyes glazed over as the two pieces slowly began to float away, and then shattered.

Sarah smirked. "You seem to have forgotten Warrior Lady of the Wasteland's effect. Using so many warriors yourself, it's a bit surprising. But in any case, I can special summon one warrior in my deck with fifteen hundred or less attack points to the field in attack mode. I choose Wandering Wasteland Paladin (1400/1200)!"

A skinny and fair-haired warrior stepped into play. He wore a light-tan, robe-like jacket, with a dark-tan-patterned front to it. A strangely designed weapon was sheathed on his back - a metal sword which spiraled up in a triangular shape before out-extending in a thin, black blade.

Joey shrugged. "So what? You can't expect to stop Axe Raider with _that_. Go ahead and take it to him!"

As if it had been just what he had wanted to do all this time, the barbaric warrior gave a bellow and in four giant steps had crossed the distance between the two fields. Like an executioner, he raised his axe above his head and brought it down on the warrior with a sickening _thud_. It stuck in its chest, and the paladin let lose a cry of pain before the Axe Raider pulled out his axe and the warrior disappeared.

(Sarah: 7100, Rikuo: 8000, Drake: 8000, Joey: 8000, Serena: 8000, Kyle: 7200)

"Well, Wandering Wasteland Paladin has an effect that will make up for that. I can special summon one Earth attribute monster from my deck as long as its level six or lower, and in defense mode.

"Well, let's go ahead and see...what it is!" Joey pointed at the new card, and it began to emerge. Emerged from the card was a large, temple-like sphinx formation, completely Egyptian, and made out of gold, beige stone, and black jewels for eyes. It had a traditional pharaoh-like headdress on it, with the blue and gold stripes running down the sides of the human-like face. Also on it was a long, stone-made beard with similar stripes on it.

"Guardian Sphinx (1700/2400) is one of the less integral parts of my strategy, but it goes extremely well with some of the Earth attribute monsters that I use in my deck. It's also extremely useful in a One-Turn-Kill situation… Why, you'll find out soon."

Joey wrung his hands in frustration. "Fine. I'll end."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

James and his partner staggered out of the portal, literally gasping for breath. It was an absolutely rotten experience. An artistic person might describe it as something akin to cutting apart a giant fruit, putting oneself between the two pieces and sewing them back together. And then throwing the fruit off a mile high cliff into the stormiest waters in the world. As it was, Paradias' strongest mages had worked as hard as they could to keep the portal together. The only reason Death hadn't detected it was because he was too busy focusing on Apocalypse.

Of course, none of them were as artistically inclined as that, and both resorted to rather strong swear words, collapsing wearily onto their knees before looking around them to get an idea of their surroundings.

It was not like anything they had ever seen before. It was breathtaking, yet horrific. Even hardened duelists like them found it hard to control themselves.

It was a vast expanse of…. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Rocky, hard soil was the base of the endless plain. Barely any grass grew in it. Actually, a lot of grass _had_ grown in it, but their remains were gray, lifeless and burnt. Not a single tree was standing, but a lot of logs lay all over the ground, burnt and brittle. But the most hideous part were the innumerable number of gravestones that were jutting out of the ground. The plain stretched off into the horizon, and the gravestones continued on in all directions. Only very distantly could one see a small range of mountains. On the tallest one stood a single, misty castle whose features one could barely make out.

James looked over at the first gravestone. "I know these names…" George Washington. Albert Einstein. Adolf Hitler. Marilyn Monroe. Al Capone. Literally every person who had ever died had their names inscribed on the gravestones, along with their date of birth and date of death.

"Tutankhamen…" muttered the other man, bending low over a gravestone.

"You might soon end up with your names on one of those if you don't leave now," said a soft, calm voice from behind them.

They wheeled around to see that the voice addressing them belonged to none other then the Archangel Zerato himself.

"You," sneered James.

"Me," said the angel with utmost calm and dignity. "Indeed, this is an affair beyond mortal comprehension. My association with Eagle has led me to assist them in combat against Paradias, but I would prefer not to involve myself in that now. My differences with Paradias are nothing compared to what is about to take place. I would advise you to leave now, so that you will not have to sacrifice your lives for nothing."

James gave a sardonic laugh.

"You amuse you, you do, Zerato. You actually presume to make us believe that you care about what happens to us? No, you're as much a cold hearted jackass as your masters at the Infinity Council. You pretend to be benevolent, but its all an act."

Zerato gave a light hearted laugh. "I've heard that speech many times. I have killed, yes, but it is hardly likely to weigh down on my conscience when I have done so for the greater good. Even the likes of the Pharaoh Yami have had to deal less then desirable fates to others. In this case, your deaths are not necessary, and because you are ignorant of the truth of the situation, I do not wish to have to take action against you. I know you have the means to generate a return portal. Do it now."

James was surprised. Indeed, he did have a special diamond with him that had been given to him by Reflect. It contained enough energy for him to work a spell to open a portal back to Earth.

"And I'm surprised that you don't wonder why we would do that," he spat back.

"Then I have no choice…" sighed Zerato. He flicked his wrist, and a shining white Duel Disk appeared on it. The monster and magic/trap card holding zones of it were made of a large, whitish-yellow angel's wing that extended outwards from his arm. The deck and graveyard zone, along with the life-point counter, were all similar to that of a normal Duel Disk, but were white. In the deck zone appeared a deck. It was fairly thick.

James was about to activate his Chaos Duel Disk, when his partner stepped forth.

Zerato's face darkened. "You. There is still hope for you, at least. Surrender now, and I will wipe your memory clear of this so that you can live free of Paradias' influence."

The man spat on the barren soil in reply. "Bah! Just shut up. You know nothing of what I've been through. Just when I thought I had reached no lower then I ever could, Paradias gave me new power and greater hope. You have no right to judge us and call us evil. From my point of view the Infinity Council is evil!"

"Then you are lost," said Zerato sadly, and drew his first six cards.

As his opponent fired off his holo projectors, Zerato felt a growing sense of discomfort, which was not normal for an entity of his power.

"It didn't have to end this way…… Kevin."

"It did."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Mwuahahahaha! Here you go, Edgar. I told you Kev would be back and in more style then ever. I hope you enjoy the coming duel.**

**As for the three on three thing, it was spur of the moment. I was originally planning a one on one Drake vs. Rikuo duel in which Drake's hatred for demons would be explained, but I thought of this crazy tag team duel, and couldn't resist. I hope I made the enmity between the two groups seem realistic. **

**I do have one poll I'd like to conduct. Its about your favorite OC. This fic has had lots up until now, and I'd like to find out who is more popular then who. It'll be up in my profile within fifteen minutes of me posting this chapter, so please to check it out and leave a vote. Thanks a lot.**

**REVIEW!! Cya.**


	12. War in the Abyss

CHAPTER ELEVEN: Abyss of Death, Part 2

CHAPTER ELEVEN: Abyss of Death, Part 2

**Here's an extra big chapter in celebration of my eleven day vacation. Fourteen thousand words, with a lot of dueling as well as a lot of plot development. The real action starts next chapter, although I'm sure you guys should find this one fun as well.**

**HimmeAmelie: Yeah, Haou is driving Aster crazy, lol. But we won't focus on that this chapter.**

**Candyman123: Your hopes have been fulfilled.**

**DuelistBlake1852: Yeah, Blake, you've made it very clear in our AIM chats that you hate Kevin, but just because you have problems with his creator doesn't mean the character is bad… Well, technically he is a villain, and that will be explained this chapter, but his deck is badass! Just wait and watch.**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: Serena's deck was rather hard to design, yeah. Sarah isn't using a different deck, all of her cards come around a single theme which will be revealed to those who study her duels completely. Strategically it's a total negation one, but philosophically… Well, just look at it, and look at Kyle's, and tell me what you think. Two copies of Reality Warp is crazy, yeah. You'll get to see endless Twilight Shadow fusions, as well as Yami's wild Dark Magician combos, he he. Hope you enjoy the chapter.**

Jason was on one knee, and Yami's Millennium Puzzle glowed slightly, and then he reverted back to the calmer and less intimidating Yugi Moto. Jason's breathing was heavy and forced. He looked up and his eyes locked with Yugi's. They simply held it like that for a moment, before the King of Games walked over and offered Jason his hand. The Eagle agent hesitated, and then accepted it. Yugi pulled him up, and they firmly shook.

The spectators had been silent preceding this, but Brian could contain himself no longer. "Holy smokes, dudes, that was one of the wildest duels I have ever _seen_!"

Jason forced a grin, but it turned into a pained look. "Damn... If that duel did anything it made me want to find a bed."

Yugi chuckled. "It did a lot more for me. I owe you for challenging me, Jason. Without it, neither Yami nor I would have been able to pull ourselves together."

"I'm going to have to challenge you myself pretty soon, Jason," quipped Daniel. "I'd like to wait till we get back for that," replied the Eagle agent. "As good as it was, the duel didn't serve any other purpose but a colossal waste of time. We can't afford to be distracted anymore. Sooner or later, Necropolis will pull us down."

For emphasis, he pointed to his skin. It was even paler then normal. Ryu flinched. "How long would you think?"

"Best guess? Twenty four hours. We would normally have roughly thirty to thirty five, but the amount of dueling we've been engaging in his reduced our systems to a mess. At this rate, it's hardly likely any of us will be able to duel the King when we make it there."

"Which is precisely why I've been planning to leave now," called a voice behind them. They whirled around to see none other then Angel leaning against the banister. "The duel was decent, but I wish you had spoken with me before beginning. Didn't it occur to you that summoning so many powerful monsters, and such intense attacks would attract _someone_'s attention?"

It brought the cheerfulness to a halt. "Yeah…" he continued, drawing a line across the fine wood with his finger, before inspecting the nail and flicking out some non-existent dirt. "But nothing can be done about it now. I'd say we'll have some of the King's secret police knocking on my door within the next… I dunno, two or three minutes."

"How many?" muttered Yugi.

"Oh, three, maybe four hundred. It doesn't matter, because I woke up the ape and we're leaving…." He inspected his watch.

As he spoke, the ground began to shake beneath them. Daniel swore as an invisible force ripped the terrace floor of the cement that fixed it to the roof. The others fought for their balance as CJ rushed up the stairs just in time. Before he could say, "What the-…", the entire floor moved fifteen feet towards the right. From the space between the floor and the house, one could see a massive, wooden stick that was bent and completely convoluted, attaching the two.

"By God…" whispered Daniel. "The house is a freakin' catapult."

"And it's sending us downtown in five, four, three, two, and ONE!" As Angel enunciated the final syllable, the floor lurched forward, and the stomachs of everyone on the floor threatened to spill out their contents. It moved upwards and to the left in a single motion with such force, that all seven men were thrown into the air.

It wasn't your ordinary, middle of the fair, thrown five feet up kind of thrown into the air. It was the crazy, insane, I-wanna-puke-my-guts-out kind of thrown into the air. The wails of the other six and Angel's whoops echoed throughout the vast expanse of dark skies as they were thrown about twelve hundred feet up, the catapult empowered by magic, before the law of gravity began to be obeyed.

"WELL?!" bellowed Angel as they descended. "WHAT THE **HELL **ARE YOU WAITING FOR!"

For a second, which, when you're accelerating at thirty three feet per second, is a lot of time, Yugi was stumped. Then, he laughed and remembered. "Oh yeah!" He fumbled with his Duel Disk momentarily, and pulled out the first card on it.

"Twilight Shadow Bombardier (1700/1400)!"

There was a sonic screech, which was followed by the appearance of the sleek, silver jet that cut through the endless, dark sky. It hovered within a couple of feet of the falling men, and a trap door opened from the back. The pilot himself was standing there, grinning like an idiot.

"Hey, boss? Enjoying the night air?"

"PARACHUTES!" bellowed Yugi. "Barbecue?" muttered the soldier skeptically. "I love a good roast myself, boss, but I think this is hardly the time…" They were less then five hundred feet above the ground.

"PARACHUTES!" repeated Yugi. For a second, he looked confused, and then grinned again. "They want parachutes boys! Well, let's give em to em!" He shouted back to some crew members who could not be seen. Within a second, he flung six parachutes out to the falling duelists, each of whom barely strapped them on in time and ripped open the cord.

Ryu, however, gave a strange cry, and was enveloped by golden energy. As if powered by rocket fuel, he shot off into the sky, just as the others landed. They stared up in wonder, only able to see a small golden speck high up in the gray sky. It was approaching dawn now, and the first rays of the cold, lifeless light were emerging.

Suddenly, the speck exploded across the sky and a massive golden form was hurtling to the ground. As it came closer, one could recognize it as a large, golden armored dragon, with powerful, intense red eyes. It was something Yugi had been told of before… By Kaiba, after his second duel with Kevin Hunter. It was none other then Grand Emperor Dragon – Envoy of Revenge. It was the Grand Dragon General's favorite monster, and the form he took upon transforming into his full demon state.

It gave a roar as the others just touched the ground, and landed with a thud next to them, as if asking Angel for directions.

"Getting to the castle will be anything but easy. The fortifications around it extend for a long way. At the least, it will take us over twelve hours to fight through all the defenses and we will arrive at the King drained."

"Then what do you suggest?" replied Daniel.

Angel allowed himself a faint smile as he glanced around him. They were in a secluded corner of the city. There were no buildings, and no other inhabitants. Necropolis could be seen in the faint distance, about a quarter of a mile away.

"We can't help it. We have no other allies, at all. Once we get the girl out, we will be eight. Maybe, just maybe, we will be able to overcome the King and get the Seal of Immortality. I don't care, I've been waiting too long for this. I need to get out of here. Once the Seal is gone, everyone here can destroy each other for all I care."

The bitterness with which he spoke cut through the air like knives. The others could see how much the elderly man had suffered, choosing to put on his flippant, sardonic side as an act.

Yugi spoke softly. "Don't worry, Angel. We owe you for helping us here. Whatever happens, we will make sure you get back to Earth."

The hopelessness of the situation was weighing down on them, and for the first time they realized how stupid it really was to come here with no allies, no backup, and no other help. They had relied far too much on their dueling abilities and the powers that Millennium Item holders and demons possessed. They had accomplished most hurdles of the like up until now. It was now time to see if their luck would hold out.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was now Serena's turn. She had played a very defensive game up until now, and all eyes were on her, waiting to see if she would continue stalling or reveal her true strategy.

She gave a light, musical laugh as she looked at her next card. "I set a monster in defense mode, and then play the magic card Trial by Fire. I must now roll a dice, and depending on the number that the dice rolls on, I can remove that number of monsters in my deck from play. However, they will then be special summoned on my third standby phase after activation."

A large, fiery dice appeared on Serena's field next to the facedown card and towering slime beast. The color of the dice itself was a blazing red, while the dots indicating the number of the side were a bright yellow. It flew into the air, and Serena's eyes gazed at it intensely as it fell to the floor. It landed on a three. With a bright smile, she found the needed cards in her deck and slipped them into her pocket. "They'll be back, don't worry. I end my turn."

Kyle drew. He was confident of his complete control over the situation. With monsters with twenty-eight and twenty-four hundred attack points, not to mention powerful effects, it would be easy to tear down their defenses. However, the irritating part was that he would need to wait and power up his Dark Magician of Chaos for it to become stronger then the Metal Reflect Slime.

He frowned at his hand, and thought for a few minutes. He could save his cards to wait for the killer blow… He finally decided, and pointed at the facedown card on Serena's field. "Chaos Command Magician, attack that monster with Chaos Magic Attack!"

Pointing his staff at the white mage, the black robed mage released a blast of yellow energy. The blast struck the brown-backed card image, causing it to flip face up. It was revealed to be a lady dressed in a flowing, purple robe. She had long, raven hair, and piercing blue eyes. Her Norwegian features suggested that she had grown up in the harsh, mountainous area of Northern Europe, and not one look of fear entered her eyes as the blast reduced her to a pile of cinders.

"You destroyed Lady of the Lake (300/800). When she's destroyed, I can search my deck for any monster with the word 'Soldier' in its name and place it in my hand." Pulling her deck out of her Duel Disk, she quickly found the necessary card and slipped it into her hand. She then looked over at Kyle, as if inviting him to do more.

"Fine! Dark Magician of Chaos, destroy Guardian Sphinx!"

Spinning his scepter with one hand, the mage finally slammed the tip of it into the ground using both hands, sending a sphere of pure darkness at the giant sphinx. It cut through the ground, leaving a large path as it slammed into the rocky, hybrid monster.

Sarah reacted just in time. "Sorry, kid, but I activate Shrink! This will cut the attack points of your Dark Magician of Chaos in half till the end of the turn. It won't destroy my Guardian Sphinx, and you'll also lose a thousand life-points."

Suddenly, the Chaos Mage glowed, and with a flash of light was half his former size (1400/2600). The sphinx smacked away the sphere of energy, which slammed back into its creator, knocking him into the side of a boulder. He was battered but not beaten; slowly staggering upright.

(Sarah: 7100, Rikuo: 8000, Drake: 8000, Joey: 8000, Serena: 8000, Kyle: 6200)

"Fine," grumbled Kyle. "I end my turn."

"It's quite even," observed Deondre from the sidelines. Kaiba nodded. "The two mutts and the kid have set up a decent offense. But they're going to need much more then that to crack their opponent's tight defense. Each one has a monster in play with at least twenty-four hundred defense points. Their best bet is to really duel as carefully as possible, chipping away life-point by life-point rather then risking an iffy One-Turn-Kill."

"Bah," muttered Bakura, folding his arms. "One can read their strategies with ease. If the two of us had gone out there instead of the mutt and the child, each one would have lost over half their life-points by now!"

Kaiba snorted. "Need I remind you that the mutt lasted longer then you against Dartz, and the kid beat him?"

Bakura decided it was a better time to keep silent, for the sake of his ego.

Meanwhile, Sarah drew slowly. She chuckled at her new card. "All right, I think it's time to introduce you to Steel Paladin LV3 (1100/700)." The monster that appeared next to Sarah's Guardian Sphinx was a warrior similar to Blade Knight, with a number of key differences. For one, the Blade Knight's armor was had a bit of a silverish shine to it. This monster's armor was less polished, and seemed to be built more for sturdiness rather then flexibility. It was heavy around the chest, torso, thighs, and shoulders, while a little lighter around the limbs. It had a flowing, green cape, and had no helmet. Blonde locks tumbled down to his shoulders. In one hand, he carried a long, beautifully crafted spear that was suited to long range attacks.

"Now, I use Guardian Sphinx's special ability. I can flip him facedown once per Main Phase."

The titan of a sphinx was suddenly replaced by a brown-backed card. "And the point of that was…." muttered Kyle.

"This," said Sarah brightly, tapping a button on her Duel Disk. "I flip summon Guardian Sphinx, and in doing so, I can activate his effect and send all monsters on my opponent's fields back to their hands!"

Once again, the brown-backed card flipped face up and revealed the giant of a sandy sphinx. It roared, its new, terrifying visage a far cry from the docile creature that had first been summoned by Sarah by the effect of the Wandering Wasteland Paladin. The sheer force of its roar forced all monsters in play to disappear. Angrily, the duelists plucked the necessary cards of their fields, except for Rikuo, who gave a momentary, peevish grin.

"I activate the facedown quick play spell card, Android Barricade. By using this card, all monsters with Jinzo in their name are completely immune to all effects. Thanks to its effect, Jinzo – Returner can stay on the field."

As he spoke, a green barrier appeared around the lanky, alien-like version of the legendary Psycho Shocker. As the Guardian Sphinx roared even louder, the weak monster persevered on, refusing to leave the field, completely safe under the protection of the barrier.

She shrugged. "Fine. Guardian Sphinx will attack the kid directly." With a roar, the rocky, sandy sphinx rushed forward. It raised a massive, clawed paw, and was about to swat Kyle hard enough to floor him, but Rikuo cackled in delight.

"Sorry, girl, but I use Jinzo – Returner to intercept the attack!" The strange machine buzzed slowly, and with a long jump, leapt in front of Kyle, just in time to be slammed into dust by the large monster, and saving Kyle from the same fate.

"Now that move had a double purpose," continued Rikuo. "First, it saved my team-mate from a chunk of damage, and also, Jinzo – Returner has a nice ability, especially useful if I have Jinzo (2400/1500) in my graveyard. You see, when he's destroyed, I can special summon Jinzo from my graveyard until the end of the turn! I choose to do so in defense mode."

Appearing on Rikuo's field was the tall-standing cyborg, with its brains visible through a transparent type of helmet. It had dark-green goggles on its face, and pink skin. It wore a black and yellow-patterned full-body suit.

"And now that he is on the field, your Steel Paladin is useless, as is Metal Reflect Slime. Thanks to his ever-so useful negation ability, it is reduced to little more then a continuous trap card clogging up your field until he leaves."

As he spoke, the android raised its hands, and a fired off a sphere of yellowish-black energy at the mountain of slime. It was reduced to a mere sea of blue slime across Serena's field by the attack, but she didn't seem worried.

"At the end of this turn, Jinzo will leave the field, and I will once again possess the immovable and indestructible wall of my Metal Reflect Slime to protect me." It was a fair point, one that Rikuo acknowledged with a nod.

"True, but until the end of the turn we are safe from attacks, as I can use Jinzo to defend either Wheeler or Gardner, as he is in defense mode."

Sarah frowned. "Fine. I end my turn." As she spoke, the paladin on her field glowed slightly. Its armor became more polished and silvery. His frame grew into a more bulky one, while his cape grew longer. The symbols on it changed as they became more complicated. His spear disappeared, and was now replaced by a large mace. It was made of chrome, and consisted of a large handle which was attached to a spiked ball with a chain. He was now about six foot six, and had a rather more hardened and experienced face.

"When an earth monster of mine destroys a monster on your field, Steel Paladin will level up to LV5 (2000/1600) during the end phase."

Rikuo drew slowly, and Jinzo exploded. He looked a little disappointed, but his entire strategy did not revolve around simply summoning Jinzo. "I summon Yellow Gadget (1200/1200), in attack mode." A circular-shaped, yellow gear rose to the field, with small hands and a single eye embedded at the center of its top. It had a circular, rotating gray gear on its back. It had short, thin, yellow legs, and yellow clodhoppers for feet.

"When he's summoned, I can add Green Gadget (1400/600) to my hand." He searched his deck for the appropriate card and added it to his hand. After carefully consideration, he decided on a plan of action. "I set two cards and end my turn."

It was Drake's turn now. His movements were slightly weighed down by the heavy armor he wore, but it didn't deter him from a powerful draw off the top of his deck. He laughed quietly to himself. "Now you will face true power, demon. I summon Buster Knuckle (0/0) in defense mode, who can only be summoned when I have at least one other Armor monster in play."

A metallic, dark-blue metal arm rose out of the field and equipped itself to Drake's arm. It looked even more futuristic then the torso armor and the helmet, at one end it had a closed, circular hatch in it, presumably on which another piece of armor would fit. The knuckles are gleaming with energy.

"Buster Knuckle gains two hundred attack points for every Armor monster in play. I have three." (600/0)

"Big deal," scoffed Rikuo.

"Yes, demon, it really is a big deal. Activate Guard itself gains an additional five hundred attack points, giving it a decent attack strength to go along with its powerful defensive capabilities." (1500/2500)

"Then, of course, I choose to switch Active Guard to attack mode. Only one Armor monster can attack per turn, and it may as well be my strongest."

"Attack the kid, Drake," warned Sarah. "He's wide open, and seems to be the most dangerous of the three right now. Don't let your personal feelings get involved in this."

Drake glared at her. "Don't tell me what to do. I've got this right now. It doesn't matter whom we attack, these fools have such ridiculously incompatible strategies that it will be easy for us to pick them apart. Now, you're history, kid!"

With a grunt, he leapt towards Kyle, his arm outstretched. While it was Buster Knuckle that seemed to be doing the attacking part, it was in fact Activate Guard that provided the fuel behind the fire. Energy flowed from the torso part of his armor to the fist. With a savage blow, he lashed out at Kyle, who barely ducked in time. He still felt the force of the blow as it generated a rush of wind above him. But the damage was done.

(Sarah: 7100, Rikuo: 8000, Drake: 8000, Joey: 8000, Serena: 8000, Kyle: 4700)

"You can't keep up in the big league," taunted Drake, oblivious to the growing anger in Kyle's eyes.

"Shut up!" he bellowed. "I will not be spoke to like some random kid who barely knows anything about Duel Monsters. I've _crushed_ duelists who would make you look like a puppy! I can rip you to shreds, and after that Rikuo can incinerate you."

Drake's confidence disappeared at the mention of the demon. He turned to look at the Wolf Demon General, who simply met his steely glance. "That look in your eyes…" growled Rikuo. "I've seen that look in the eyes of so many other duelists. Duelists who haven't been able to _touch_ me. I don't know what you have against me, and frankly, I really don't give a damn. But if you get in my way and work against me, believe me, I don't like killing at all, but it will only take a single slash of my sword to reduce you to a mere memory."

"THAT'S IT!" roared Drake. "You pathetic demons, always flexing your muscles and showing off about how powerful you are and how easy it is for you to kill humans. I have had enough of it. You abominations have polluted our planet for too long, feeding off _our_ precious food reserves, drinking _our_ water, clogging up _our_ cities. This is a human planet, not a demon planet! I will not rest until every last one of you are finished!"

Rikuo was about to answer when Joey held up a hand. "He isn't worth it," muttered the duelist who placed second in Duelist Kingdom, and fourth in Battle City. "He really isn't, believe me. I've met hundreds of people like him on the streets. You can either agree with them, or be completely against them. Don't try to reason. Just duel."

Rikuo simply growled and motioned to Drake to finish his turn. He would have contemptuously spat, but he was wearing a helmet, so he satisfied himself by standing down hard in the sand and ending his turn.

It was now Joey's turn. He looked over his hand, and a smirk curled over his lips. "I summon Gearfried the Iron Knight (1800 + 200 2000/1600) once again!" Appearing on his field was the black armored warrior once again, complete with the strange lines of mercury that ran over him.

"And here comes the encore! I play Released Restraint, which allows me to sacrifice him to summon Gearfried the Swordmaster (2600 + 200 2800/2200)." Suddenly, a wall of red light erupted out from under Gearfried. He began to glow, and his armor was shattered. His entire body was encased in light, and one could barely see his silhouette. His body bulked up, and a loin cloth appeared on him. He grew braids of long, black hair.

Soon, the light disappeared, and one saw him the new monster clearly. He was a large, barbaric man dressed in a loin cloth, with a string around his chest and shoulder. His hair came down to his shoulders, and was indeed extremely messy.

Sarah murmured something in awe under her breath. "Now watch out for Gearfried as I equip him with Sword of Dragon Soul! This grants him an additional seven hundred attack points, but more importantly, it'll trigger his effect. When he's equipped with a magic card, he destroys one monster in play. Since Metal Reflect Slime is technically a trap card, it really won't work on him, so I'll send away Guardian Sphinx and whatever problems he may ever cause!"

Appearing in Gearfried's hands was a large sword made of red, glowing metal. With a cry, he took one gigantic leap forward. The sphinx roared and thrust out a massive paw, but Gearfried was barely able to angle his body out of the way to dodge it. As the paw continued on, he heaved forward with his sword and sliced the paw completely off. For a minute, nothing else happened. Then, the sphinx crumbled into dust, leaving nothing on Sarah's field but the Steel Paladin. (Gearfried: 3500/2200)

"Now, I'll attack Metal Reflect Slime with my new and improved Gearfried. GO!" With a cry, Gearfried leapt through the air again, avoiding the tendrils of slime that extended from the body of the mountainous abomination. It brought down the blade with every single bit of its might, continuing downwards until it had completely cleaved the beast in half. Two, thinner columns of slime stood upright for a moment, teetering, before crashing downwards and splashing a greenish, semi-solid substance all over the field. It soon disappeared.

Joey was happy with a fairly productive move. He looked over his hand one last time before glancing at Serena. "You're up."

She drew calmly. "All right. I will reveal the card I added to my hand with Lady of the Lake: Druid Soldier (1700/1600)." Appearing on her command was a tall, elegant, elven warrior-mage. He was dressed in light, yet sturdy armor. His hair was long and extended down to his shoulders, but was held tight by a firm, yet light helmet. His features were smooth and soft, yet determined.

"Druid Soldier, when summoned, forces all of my opponents to show me their drawn card as long as he's in play.

This caused considerable disconcertment among the three duelists. It was always an advantage to keep your strategy from your opponent, however simple it may be. Yet this one move may have given them an insight into Serena's mysterious strategy…

"Now, I set one card and end my turn."

It was now Kyle's turn. He drew and showed the card to her, smirking. "I summon the ever useful Breaker the Magical Warrior (1600/1000)."

A mage with mostly maroon armor and a cape, with gold trim and some blue jewels, appeared onto the field. He had a hood over his head, which covered blue skin. In his hands were a sword and shield, showing he wasn't just a mage, but was also a warrior.

"Since I just normal summoned Breaker, his effect goes off. He now gains a Spell Counter, granting him an additional 300 attack points (1600 + 300 1900/1000). But he's not going to keep his counter for long, because I'm activating his other special ability. By removing his counter, he can destroy one spell or trap on the field. Breaker, cut that face down card up!"

Serena reacted immediatley. "I chain Wabuko to your monster's effect!" A trio of blue-robed mages appeared on her field. They began chanting, preventing Breaker (1600/1000), Dark Magician of Chaos and Chaos Command Magician from advancing forth.

"I end my turn," he grumbled, while an odd shine entered Sarah's eyes while she drew.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, as the six duelists who were truly unaware of each other's loyalties battled it out, a far more sinister confrontation was taking place in the realm of Death.

(Kevin: 8000, Zerato: 8000)

Kevin drew slowly. "I summon Archfiend Soldier (1900/1500) in attack mode." A purple horned fiend appeared on his field. He wore a golden cape glared at Zerato, showing a bunch of razor sharp teeth. In both hands he clutched a long, black, metal staff with a curved, scythe-like blade on one end.

"I then set one card facedown and end my turn."

Zerato drew slowly. "This is your last chance, Kevin. Surrender and I will not be forced to do something I will dearly regret."

"Just go!" spat Kevin.

"Fine," sighed Zerato. "I summon Jain, Lightsworn Paladin (1800/1200) in attack mode." A tall, noble-looking knight appeared on the angel's field. He was dressed in beautiful white armor, which was crafted by the finest smiths in the world, covered with amazingly intricate designs, which were made by setting molten gold into channels in the armor. He had an extra plate against each thigh, with no helmet.

His features were hard and unforgiving. White hair fell down to the base of his neck. A cape was attached to his neck, blood red on the inside and white on the other. In one hand he held a European broadsword, powerful enough to slice through metal yet thin enough to slide through a pair of ribs. On the other hand was a shield made of similar metal and designed in a way like that of his armor.

"Lightsworn?" quested Kevin, rather surprised. The monster looked rather strange against the eternal twilight in this realm.

Zerato nodded. "A powerful set of monsters I have taken a liking too. Sadly, Kevin, you have incurred their wrath, which would have been easily avoidable. Jain, destroy Archfiend Soldier." The tall knight frowned, and soon his face was the picture of hatred and anger. With a cry, he leapt into the air as Kevin chuckled. As he leapt up, his sword reflected the gleam of the little light of the God-forsaken air, blinding the Archfiend Soldier. With a sickening splat, it sliced the soldier in half.

"What the heck…" snarled Kevin. As he spoke, the ground began to pulse. Suddenly, wrinkled, bony, lifeless hands reached out of the ground. The flesh was rotting, and as if they were possessed, they grabbed the remains of the fiend and pulled it down within the depths. Kevin tried to hide his disgust, but was unsuccessful.

"I warned you. Dueling me in the realm of one of my masters is not a pleasant experience. And to answer your question, Jain gains three hundred attack points whenever he attacks a monster, during the damage step. That set him at twenty-one hundred, two hundred more then your Archfiend Soldier."

Suddenly, a vine shot out from one of the lifeless trees. The vine itself was tattered and colorless, but that did not reduce the sharpness of the thorns on it. They scratched Kevin's arm, inciting a wince of pain from him. He quickly shook it off. "_Bah, these scratches are nothing_. _I hold the deck that would have crushed Yugi Moto! This false angel is nothing to me_."

(Kevin: 7800, Zerato: 8000)

"I will set a card facedown and end my turn." As he spoke, his deck began to glow. Magically, the top two cards were forced out, and would have fallen to the ground had Zerato not pulled them out himself and slid them into his graveyard.

"Great though the powers of the Lightsworns are, they have certain drawbacks. During each end phase, I am required to discard a certain number of cards from the top of my deck, the number depending on the power of the concerned Lightsworn monster. In the case of Jain, it is two."

Kevin chuckled. If Zerato was foolish enough to be using a strategy that actually harmed his own deck, it would be child's play to deal with him. No doubt, this was the reason for his extra thick deck.

He drew slowly. "You idiot! I summon Axe Dragonute (2000/1200) in attack mode." Appearing on Kevin's field was a strange, humanoid, dragon-like creature. Its body was covered in scales. The ones on its limbs and chest were a shiny black, while the ones on its torso and neck were purple. A black helmet covered its head, and cruel, yellow eyes were visible through it. Electric black wings with two sharp pieces of bone sticking out of each end were fixed to its back. It carried a giant axe in one hand, with a bronze handle and a massive blade.

"And I'm not done yet. I activate my facedown Call of the Haunted, using it to revive my Archfiend Soldier!" Appearing next to the much larger, yet looking still quite deadly was the armored fiend, gnashing his teeth in fury at the one who had taken his life.

"But he'll be going away very soon, because I'm playing Double Summon, which means I can sacrifice him to summon Dark Ruler Ha Des (2450/1600)!"

The blue-skinned demon appeared. He was dressed in a dark blue robe, which was covered by heavy purple armor. Instead of a chest plate, there was a large skull. The hellish creature screamed and raised its hand. Infernal flames sprang out of the ground.

Zerato sighed, muttering something under his breath.

Even James looked halfway impressed. He didn't have much of an opinion of Kevin, despite watching him dispose of a couple of middle-of-the-fair duelists that Paradias employed when he had approached Reflect for employment. Of course, he had been using a miserable dragon deck. When Reflect had dueled him soon after, he had won by a margin of over six thousand life-points. Despite that, the boss had seen some promise in the teenager if given a decent deck, especially considering that anger was a powerful tool when used in the right way. But how Reflect had gotten a hold of Ishtar's deck… James had no idea.

"You do have a couple of screws lose," laughed Kevin. "You're faced with two monsters with at least two thousand attack points, and all you do is mutter to yourself? This is going to be easier then I thought. Axe Dragonute, destroy his paladin!"

With a cry, the heavy armored, reptilian warrior charged across the field, heaving his massive axe up. Jain lifted his sword to parry, but the sheer size of the axe, coupled with the fiend's unnatural strength sliced through the sword and reduced Jain to a grizzly mess of armor, flesh and blood. As before, a number of zombie-like hands erupted from the ground, and within seconds had pulled the remains of the unfortunate warrior into the barren soil.

"Dragonute then switches to defense mode," smirked Kevin as the reptile warrior dropped to his knees, with his massive arms crossed across his chest.

(Kevin: 7800, Zerato: 7900)

"And now, Ha Des attacks you directly with Strike of the Dark Ruler." The blue-skinned demon cackled and lifted up its hand, curling it into a spiny fist while extending its index finger. A massive sphere of black energy formed on it, although it started from a small nimbus before growing larger and larger. With a flick of its wrist, the nexus of powerful energy soared towards Zerato.

"Draining Shield, activate."

In front of the tall angel instantly appeared a golden shield of energy. The incoming black stream of energy struck it, sending out a gust of wind and a small shock wave while the blast ground against the shield. "Upon activation, Draining Shield negates your attack and boosts my life-points by an amount equal to your monster's attack points."

As he spoke, the golden shield exploded outward and flung the sphere away. It soared off into the distance, crashing into a mountain and causing a large amount of rubble to tumble down.

(Kevin: 7800, Zerato: 10350)

"Idiot!" snarled James from the sidelines, clenching his fists. "Now you've already given him a massive advantage! I told Reflect not to send you, and I was right."

"Shut up!" shot back Kevin, glaring at his critic. "It's only the beginning of the duel. Besides, he's wide open, which means I can destroy him next turn."

"Just don't screw up like that again," said James in a dangerous voice.

Zerato drew slowly, and looked over his hand of five cards. He was at absolute ease, one could tell he was completely relaxed with having to face this wily and ambitious young man.

"Just go!" snarled Kevin.

"Indeed I will," replied Zerato, with a curious, probing look at the young man. "I find it surprising that you still believe that victory is possible for you."

"In case you haven't noticed, you may have many more life-points, but I, on the other hand, have two very powerful monsters, just waiting to rip you and your pathetic little Lightsworns to shreds. And please don't worry, I have simply an army of monsters waiting in my deck to come out and give them a hand. So don't get overconfident just because of one moves, for I will ram your words of arrogance and idiocy down your throat!"

"A charming speech," muttered the angel, "and I will counter it not in words, but cards. Come, Garoth, Lightsworn Soldier (1850/1300)."

Appearing on his field was a tall, sturdy man. He was far bulkier then Jain, and his armor, too, was much heavier. It was white, similar to the paladin's, and had intricate patterns inset in gold. Instead of only being heavy around the thighs, it was thick and powerful around his entire body, made of several plates that snapped together. His torso was left exposed, but it didn't matter, for the warrior was quite intimidating anyway.

His features were hard, emotionless and unforgiving. He had dark blue, spiked hair that lifted up in the nearly non-existent wind, while his hands clutched a long, deadly, axe-like staff, about seven feet long, and tapering down to one end. The other was huge, however, with a large metal sphere flanked by two blades, one smaller then the other.

"Impressive warrior, but only in looks," replied Kevin, folding his arms.

"Perhaps now, but if I choose to equip him with Lightsworn Sabre, your complexion of him changes completely. Lightsworn Sabre boosts the attack points of an equipped Lightsworn monster by seven hundred. That transforms Garoth from a decent beatstick to a monster whose strength you would find hard to scoff at."

With a disdainful laugh, the warrior flung his axe away. Before it could reach far, vines from a tree reached out and snatched it out of the air. It was pulled down, and once again some hands erupted from the ground, greedily pulling the weapon down into the barren soil.

Meanwhile, a wooden sheath appeared on the warrior's waist. In his hand was a long, thin blade. It was made of magically, reinforced steel, however, and it would be a fool who let the elegant handle and narrow shaft fool him into believing it was a weak weapon (2550/1300).

"Do attack Ha Des now." With a nod, the tall warrior leapt forward. His arm swung back, and with a single, fluid movement, he had used his rapier to cleanly slice of the Dark Ruler's head. He landed in a crouch, and for a second nothing happened, until Ha Des' headless corpse fell over and exploded into dust.

At that, Kevin snarled in shock as a single arm shot out of the ground. Its skin was colorless and the build was bony, ad grabbed a hold of his foot. He kicked it and broke it off from the wrist. However, another one appeared and attempted a similar movement. He dodged it, and it immediatley froze in the harsh light of the abyss, and became hard and brittle. He kicked it angrily, but at the same time, a vine shot out and cut another gash into his cheek.

(Kevin: 7700, Zerato: 10350)

"You should not have challenged me, Kevin!" said Zerato in a dangerous voice. "I said it once, and I will say it again. You are a peevish child, whatever you may think, and involving yourself in such matters beyond your understanding is dangerous."

"SHUT UP!" screamed Kevin, but he was drowned by Zerato's rising voice. For the first time, the calm angel had a tone of anger in his voice.

"You have forgotten about arrogance, Kevin! It will cost you. Everyone must learn a serious lesson, and you are no different. I take no great pleasure in the fact that I am forced to take the role of the one who will teach this to you, but what you have done up until now is inexcusable. Now, Kevin, make your move and show me if you really believe in your own, non-existent capabilities to seize an impossible victory."

"_He's a rookie_," snarled James to himself. "_Why the hell did Reflect send him out here? If he wanted to kill him, then he could have easily done so himself. I would have been able to breath much easier if someone experienced was watching my back… Maybe Sigma… Then again, Sigma is just as untrustworthy as the rest. Damn it, this is stupid_!"

"Unlike other Lightsworns, Garoth's ability does not activate now. I will save it until a later time. Take your turn."

He drew with a shaking hand, and glared up at his opponent. "I leave Axe Dragonute in defense mode, and add an additional monster facedown, to strengthen my defensive line-up." Appearing next to the kneeling, armored reptile was a brown-backed card. Kevin allowed a testy smile to grace his face before gesturing to Zerato to take his turn.

"I draw," said Zerato, although the words were quite unnecessarily, for all spectators could see him doing the same in plain sight.

"I summon Aurkus, Lightsworn Druid (1200/1800) in attack mode."

The man appearing beside Garoth was no warrior, but a more civilized and intelligent man. He was one who preferred to orchestrate the plans of battle before-hand and explain it to soldiers, while reclining in a chair with a glass of wine as blood stained the battlefield. He was as big-built as Garoth, but dressed in white robes instead of armor. Various golden designs were drawn across his robes, while his hair was also a grayish white. His features were rock-like and unpleasant, while he clutched a heavy tome in one hand.

"Garoth, destroy Axe Dragonute."

With a cry of hatred, the towering warrior charged forward once again. He held the sword with one hand, and simply ran past the kneeling warrior with his blade extended. It cut through the reptile's chest, slicing him in half. Hands shot out and greedily ripped away the grisly remains. Soon, not even the horrible purple blood stained the gray ground.

"Aurkus, destroy his facedown monster."

Kevin laughed evilly. "I was waiting to activate this at the right time! I activate the trap card Revival and Destruction. It can only be activated when I have three or more dark attribute monsters in my graveyard. During my opponent's battle phase, I can special summon one of them, and at the same time destroy one monster in play with an attack power higher than it. Rise up, Dark Ruler Ha Des!"

The blue-skinned demon that had kidnapped Hercules in legend rose up through a split in the ground. He blasted the attacking arms with balls of flames, a disgusted look on his face as the ground pressed back over the fighting limbs.

Following that, however, nothing happened. "What the-…" swore Kevin.

"The effect of Aurkus has come into play. Lightsworn monsters are unaffected by targeting magic and trap card, which means Garoth was immune. However, your ability to resummon your Dark Ruler was hampered in no way."

Kevin grunted at this, as Zerato continued. "Aurkus, destroy his facedown monster."

The monk-like man dropped his tome, and moved with agility one would not expect from a man as learned as him. With a single punch, he shattered the brown-backed card, as it flipped up to reveal a four-legged, violet-like monster rose up to the field, sinking its head in a downing fashion. It had a long, pink tongue sticking out from its mouth. The limbs went down to immensely thick and large, white claws. It had gargoyle-like, blue wings on its back, and blackened eyes on its face that spoke the essence of anger and darkness.

"Mad Reloader (0/0)," said Kevin shortly, as he a pair of hands shot up to pull the relatively small fiend, screaming and wailing down into the abyss. "When destroyed, I can draw two cards at the cost of discarding another two, and this is very important, _of my choice_."

With an evil chuckle, he selected two cards in his hand and slid them into his graveyard before drawing two more.

"Very well," muttered Zerato. "I end my turn." Suddenly, his deck forced out two more cards. He picked them up, and immediatley two more were forced out. Kevin's eyes bulged at this, and the angel explained it in an emotionless manner. "Aurkus forces me to send two cards from my deck to the graveyard every turn. Garoth's effect activates when I mill my deck in such a manner, and I discard a further two cards. For every Lightsworn monster discarded in this fashion, I draw one card."

He pulled off a single card from his deck, and then another. "One, the other card I discarded was Repayment of Losses. Two, I sent Wulf, Lightsworn Beast to the graveyard. When he is milled like this, his effect allows me to instantly special summon him to the field."

Flanking Garoth was a bear-like, titan of a warrior. He was humanoid, but had a head more like that of a bear or a fox. A single mane of white hair reached the nape of his neck. His skin was pale, yet his body was muscular. He wore two heavy pieces of white armor, yet again with gold filigree designs inset. A golden, heavy belt was around his waste, while an extra-large white loin cloth extended further down. He had two, daunting pieces of armor on his thighs. In his hand he held a staff-like axe similar to Garoth's (2100/300).

"_He's being dominated_," thought James angrily. "_And from what I can tell, Zerato is using conventional methods. Even if I am forced to face him, I will have to use far more unconventional methods then against Phoenix and Blight. Granted, the confrontation with Blight could have escalated… But I do believe that if Zerato merely is treating Kevin like a ridiculous child and simply teaching him a lesson, his real power would place him right up there with the likes of Yugi Moto and Seto Kaiba…_"

Kevin drew angrily. Despite the fact that Ha Des was now in play, he was still far from holding any sort of advantage, especially considering two of Zerato's three monsters had at least twenty-one hundred attack points, and were immune to targeting effects.

He could switch Ha Des to defense mode, or take out the troublesome Aurkus. It made more sense to do the latter, as Zerato would destroy Ha Des anyway, and he was only saving himself a hundred points of damage, along with Aurkus' potential attack.

"Ha Des, remove the annoyance of that druid once and for all!"

With a nod, the towering fiend pointed his clawed hand at the druid. A sphere of blue flames began to form on it. With a roar, he let it lose. It gathered momentum as it slammed into Aurkus, incinerating him to the point where there were no remains for the strange hands to feed on.

(Kevin: 7700, Zerato: 9100)

As a vine shot out from one of the threes, Kevin couldn't help but taunt his opponent. "How does it feel, you idiot? Where's your macho talk now?" As if in reply, Zerato reached out with his fist and caught the vine. With a small movement of his wrist muscle, it was reduced to dust.

"As I said, I am above your strength," said Zerato with piercing eyes. "These little tricks that Death has placed work on his enemies, not on his allies."

Kevin glared at him. "Just cram it. I set a card and end my turn."

Zerato drew calmly. "Very well. I see you insist on excessive use of expletives during a civilized exchange. Perhaps someone should have taught you to be polite, but that is not my place. However, before I make my move I find myself wondering how is was that you escaped the Infinity Council's mind-wipe."

Kevin's mouth curled into a smirk. "I was wondering when you were going to ask that…." His blue eyes were completely callous now. Gone was the spark that had appeared in them while he dueled alongside Kaiba, Kyle and Bakura. "Maybe I should tell you. Then you idiots will realize how incompetent you really are, after letting me, who will help destroy what you worked for, slip through your fingers."

"After I left through the portal, the spell immediatley began to activate. I was trapped in a strange limbo until the spell finished. From what I could tell, it was sifting through my memories and erasing all those that were even slightly related to Seto Kaiba or my time with Ishtar and Dartz. I tried to fight it, but it didn't work. Then, another entity touched my mind.

"He spoke with me frankly, and said that I was going to lose my memory if I didn't let him help me. Even while the spell was working, I was suspicious, and asked him why he would want to help me. He simply said he wished to extract revenge against an old foe of his, and would call on my assistance when the time came. There was no time to consider. I could listen to him, or lose my memory. I didn't like it, but agreed. He then entered my mind, and I blacked out. I woke up in the empty room of the Empire State Building."

"And who is this entity?" asked Zerato, as if it really didn't matter to him and they were making small talk over drinks.

"Even if I knew, I wouldn't bother to tell the likes of _you_," snarled Kevin. He then calmed down and smiled ruefully to himself. "While he spent time in my mind, I began to understand the real situation of things. I had temporarily allied myself with Kaiba and his friends for self-preservation. I was now free to pursue my own goals, and finally, would be able to avenge my father by bringing Kaiba's world crashing to the ground.

"However, logic took over before my emotions did. I would never be able to defeat Kaiba by myself. He thrashed me in our first duel, and drew the second. With my current deck, it was not possible. That was why I stared exploring the Empire State Building. It was a hundred and two floors high; there was bound to be a few things in there that could be of use to me. The real thing that interested me over all the magic and rituals was the existence of the remains of Paradias. I found it in Dartz's most personal files, and soon realized it was a lot more then just remains.

"Paradias was everything Dartz and Marik were not. It didn't depend on magic for everything, and was a lot more organized then these idiots. They even paid well. I didn't want to go on death-defying missions every day of my life after I ruined Kaiba, of course. I was more then happy to offer them my services, finish off Kaiba, and settle down in a cushy desk job. It wasn't too easy to find them. It took me forever. I hung around New York for days, speaking to all kinds of low-lives and criminals.

"They put me in touch with a guy who was running a small-time money laundering scam in the Chicago Stock Exchange. I spent nearly all my remaining money getting over there. He seemed interested, and took me to his senior. He wasn't too shaken up, and I changed his mind after thrashing him in a duel. He was going to recruit me after checking out my history and making sure I had no ties to law enforcement, and put me in a small time clean-up crew who had to keep all witnesses of one of their projects quiet.

"That wasn't really good enough, and I would have turned him down if one of Paradias' highest ranking agents hadn't contacted my new employer. After learning about me, he spoke with the new President of Paradias, and arranged a meeting with him. I batted aside all duelists he sent against me, but I could tell from their decks they were fairly small fry. The President himself dueled me, and I will admit that I lost miserably. But I didn't care. He employed me, impressed with my dueling skills and gave me my new deck. I don't need those dragons anymore. Everything I require to extract vengeance and bring Kaiba to his knees is right here in my Duel Disk. And you, Zerato, are going to be the first to feel its wrath. Make your move so I can CRUSH you!!"

Zerato ignored his anger. "I set one card facedown in defense mode, and choose to destroy Dark Ruler Ha Des with Garoth. Lightsworn Sabre!"

Once again, the tall warrior ripped his rapier out of its sheath. With a cry, he charged towards Ha Des, the thin blade glinting in the light. All of a sudden, a massive, metal, totem pole appeared vertically in front of Ha Des. It shivered, and a massive 'clang' reverberated throughout the air. Garoth dropped his sword and clutched his ears, hollering in pain while retreating to Zerato's field.

"Command Silencer negates your attack and allows me to draw one card," smirked Kevin. "And since you used up your Lightsworn Warrior's attack, you now have no monsters strong enough to take out Ha Des. Tough luck, but it looks like I can destroy you come my turn!"

Zerato was not amused. He looked over his hand, and finally set a card before ending his turn.

"Wulf does not force me to discard any card, so therefore, Garoth's effect will not activate," he explained when his Duel Disk coughed up no more cards.

Kevin drew. He had four cards in his hand, plus a powerful monster. Easy enough to launch a counter against normal opponents, but Zerato was anything but normal. He hadn't used this deck before, that was the problem. For a split second, a burning thought entered his head that Reflect had betrayed him and purposely armed him with a deck that would fail against Zerato. He dismissed it, and looked up at his opponent.

"I summon Dark Crusader (1600/200) in attack mode!" A man wearing a dark, blood-red cape leapt onto the field and drew out a short, but thick buster sword-like weapon. He wore dark, metallic armor, and had shoulder pads that were large semi-spheres. He had blood-red short hair on his head, and a golden-painted design across his forehead.

"When he's summoned, I can discard one dark monster from my hand to the graveyard in order to increase his attack points by four hundred. My choice would indeed surprise you…" With a smirk, he held it up for Zerato to see. It was an image that any duelist would instantly recognize. The golden, armor-plated arm, the light behind it, the chain… Right Arm of the Forbidden One (200/300).

"You're discarding an Exodia piece?" said Zerato incredulously. "Leave alone that, where on Earth did you acquire such cards?"

"Working with Paradias has certain perks," replied Kevin nastily, as the man began to glow (2000/200). "Yes, I do have the pieces of Exodia, and yes, I am discarding one of them. Not only that… I choose to discard one more dark monster, Dark Blade (1800/1500) to further boost his attack points!" (2400/200).

"Doing so negates the purpose of running an Exodia deck, unless of course they are simply fodder for the effects of your dark monsters."

"And why on Earth would I even _think_ about revealing things like that? At this point, all you can do is watch in despair as I bring your little Lightsworn Strategy tumbling down around you. I'll use Ha Des to destroy your facedown monster with Dark King Flames!"

The blue-skinned demon nodded, and once again raised his clawed hand. A nimbus of devilish blue energy formed on his fingers, floating in the thin air like a balloon. He dropped his hand, and the energy sailed forth, literally slamming into the facedown monster. It flipped up to reveal a wolf, similar to the Lightsworn Beast, but different in a number of small ways. For one, this creature was not at all humanoid, but a complete wolf. He still had armor plates with inset gold patterns on his shoulders, and a golden diamond fixed into his skull above his cold eyes. His teeth were bared, and with a roar he vanished in the energy. However, the diamond began to glow, and spat out a torrent of golden energy at Ha Des.

"Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter (200/100) is actually Wulf's protégé. When flipped, he destroys a single card in play, while I send three of the top cards from my deck to the graveyard." However, Ha Des laughed and contemptuously flicked the spheroid of golden energy away.

"Ha Des negates the effects of all monsters whom he destroys," laughed Kevin, folding his hands. "That means no destruction, no discard, and no drawing cards from Garoth's effect."

"_Intelligent move_," thought Zerato. "_He realized that his best bet was to use Ha Des' ability to negate any and all damage that my facedown monster could have done. Perhaps this boy is better then I thought… After all, he does seem to have some unusually powerful cards in his deck_."

"Now, Dark Crusader, destroy his Lightsworn Beast!" With a nod, the warrior raised his large, buster sword and dashed madly towards the titanic, humanoid wolf. The latter roared, and began taking heavy steps forward. The ground literally shook with his heavy movement, which was quite strange in contrast to the Dark Crusader's light footwork. Wulf raised his massive axe to slice the crusader in half, but he deftly dodged it and took a fleeting jump. With a smooth movement, he beheaded Wulf, leaving the head rolling to the ground as the heavy body crashed downwards.

As he landed, however, he was forced to watch in revulsion as once again zombie-like hands erupted from the ground, madly tearing away at the carcass. Chunks of flesh that were there one present had disappeared. Crimson blood soaked the soil as the last bits disappeared, leaving nothing but a large stain on the gray mud.

(Kevin: 7700, Zerato: 8800)

"Then, I'll end my turn by setting one card facedown." His hand was now completely empty.

Zerato drew carefully. Against such a wily strategy, you could _never_ be too careful. If Kevin was running Exodia, the entire duel was changed. He was now forced to end it as fast as possible, for he could never be too sure about whether he was holding the vital pieces that an Exodia strategy was based on or not. Every turn was crucial, for time that Zerato himself spent stalling was time that brought Kevin one step closer to an unlikely, yet dangerous victory.

He was now faced with a rather strange situation. He could attempt an attack against one of the two monsters, but he didn't like the odds, what with the facedown card and Kevin's confidence in leaving two weaker monsters in attack mode. He could use the other monster he had in order to solve the situation, but that would leave Kevin with a power advantage…

"I set one card facedown in defense mode, and add another facedown card. Turn end."

Kevin drew violently. "You're in for a world of pain, Zerato! I play Pot of Greed, allowing me to draw two cards." He snapped off the top two cards from his deck, and his grin widened. "I really didn't expect to draw this card so soon… I play Foolish Burial, in order to send one monster from my deck to my graveyard. I choose Slate Warrior (1900/500)."

Searching his deck for the appropriate card, he smirked and slid it into his graveyard.

"Now, you're about to face one of the strongest monsters in my deck. I was planning on not bothering to use some of these more powerful cards against a pathetic weakling like you, but it seems like you've pushed me too far, and now you have to pay the price. By removing from play in my graveyard one wind monster and one dark monster, I can special summon to the field the dark side of the ultimate power of wind: arise, Dark Simorgh (2700/1000)!"

Appearing on the field was the spirit of a tall, brown warrior. He wore a blue mask and wielded a deadly halberd. It was the Slate Warrior. Next to him was the bulky, armored form of the Archfiend Soldier. His teeth were bared as he swung his staff around. Soon, the two spirits converged in a blinding flash of light as a new form exploded onto Kevin's field.

It was a bird, but what a bird. It reminded one of a large, black mountain, with a bulky torso, covered with black metallic scales, upon which fickle feathers provided a little bit of decoration. It had thick legs extended down from its torso, which tapered down to three toed, reptilian feet, each one with a large, deadly looking claw. Its wings were a little less bulky then the rest of its body, but when it spread them wide a shadow was cast over the field. A large, bony and metallic ring arched over its head, which was topped with a ruby diamond. Its eyes were crimson, with a razor sharp beak. It screeched, bringing Garoth to his knees, clutching his ears.

"_Finally, this guy decides to get his game going…_," thought James contentedly. "_Let's see if Zerato has it in him to fight against this particular beast_."

"Twenty-seven hundred attack points? Impressive," mused Zerato, although one could tell he really didn't find it very impressive.

"Now, I have a monster strong enough to destroy your Lightsworn Warrior once and for all! Destroy him with Dark Wing Burst!" The bird screeched, and with a single flap of its gigantic wings, which also threw up a cloud of dust, it was in the air. It flapped once more, but this time it was far harder. The powerful gust of wind crashed into the bulky warrior. For a second, he was motionless, and then the powerful air current lifted him up and threw him into a rock. He was shattered into many tiny pieces, which were immediatley sucked into the ground.

(Kevin: 7700, Zerato: 8650)

"Now, I'll use Dark Crusader to cut your facedown monster to shreds!"

With a cry, the armored soldier raised his blade and rushed at the card. With a heave, he brought his weapon down on the card. It flipped up to reveal a blonde haired young man with large golden wings sticking out his back and a white tunic and shorts. He gasped as he was split in half by the sword. The two pieces fell sideways, and once more, the undead hands pulled them down into the depths, eager to feed on the corpse.

"You destroyed my Shining Angel (1400/700)," said Zerato. "When destroyed, I can special summon one light monster with fifteen hundred or less attack points from my deck to the field. I choose a second Shining Angel." Appearing on the field was another copy of the winged man, boldly staring at Ha Des.

"Very well… If you insist on sending up your monsters as a snack for mine rather then allowing them to come to the main cause and directly rip you apart… They'll just be more aggressive when they get to you. Dark Ruler Ha Des… Destroy it!"

With a deep, evil laugh, the blue-skinned fiend sent forth a massive sphere of black energy. It slammed into the angel, incinerating him to such an extent that only a few bits of dust were left. They settled on the soil, and soon disappeared.

This time, no vine shot out. Instead, the ground suddenly shook a bit, and the soil about ten feet to the right of Zerato began to vanish. Upon behind over, Kevin saw that it was dropping into a hole whose diameter was growing by the second. Silence reigned for a minute, but then a chilling scream was heard, and a small, almost child-like form erupted out of the ground and slammed into Zerato.

The sight took Kevin by shock for a moment, but upon looking clearly he was shocked to see a humanoid zombie wrestling with Zerato, desperately attempting to throttle him. It skin was gray, clammy and lifeless. It had no hair, and its eyes were empty and lifeless. It wore a single loin cloth around its waist. With a single shove, Zerato flung it to a tree. It hit the tree and immediatley disintegrated into dust.

"Now do you see what I meant, Kevin?" said Zerato in a piercing tone. "The more the damage dealt, the more your nightmares will come to life. Every person you ever feared is buried underneath you, and they can come out at any time and confront you. For me, it does not matter. But what happens when I deal you a substantial amount of damage? Will you have the courage to face the abomination that leaves the void?"

(Kevin: 7700, Zerato: 7600)

Kevin shivered. This duel was truly an unnerving experience. It would have been tough to face Zerato under normal conditions, but his surprising immunity to the penalties that Death had set up all over the place made it even more difficult.

He shook it off. He had dealt Zerato nearly three thousand points of damage, while sustaining only three hundred himself. He clearly had a power advantage.

"Now, I'll use Shining Angel's effect to special summon Jenis, Lightsworn Mender (300/2100)." The monster that appeared on Zerato's field was a woman dressed in something similar to a nurse's uniform. It was a white robe that came down to her ankles, and like the attire of the other Lightsworns it was bordered with gold. She had a cape on, which was golden on the outside and white on the inside. She wore a white top hat, and her attractive yet determined face was framed with red hair. In one hand she held a golden staff, which had green diamonds on one end.

"I'll end my turn," grunted Kevin.

Zerato drew calmly. "I switch Jenis to defense mode, and set one monster facedown."

As he attempted to place a monster card facedown on his Duel Disk, Dark Simorgh opened its beak. A small red dot was visible in it. With a roar, it fired out the dot in the form of a blast of crimson power. It hit Zerato's hand, inciting a grunt of pain. He dropped the card, and to his dismay it fell so that it was facing up.

"Dark Simorgh has a rather special ability. As long as he is face-up on the field, you cannot set any cards facedown. Which means no monsters to defend you, and absolutely no traps to trouble me. Looks like you're in a mess, you arrogant idiot."

Zerato seemed impressed. "Fine. It seems like you wish to indeed play this the hard way. I have no objection. Turn end."

Kevin drew slowly. "Now let's see how well you stand up to an army of zombies! Dark Crusader, cut his Lightsworn Healer to pieces!"

The Crusader nodded, and drew once again his long sword from its sheath. With a cry, it charged towards the unfortunate, magical nurse, who raised her staff in a hope to protect herself from the onslaught. It was quite hopeless however, for the sword of the Dark Crusader easily cut through it, and was about to slice her in half when she suddenly glowed, and he was knocked away by an invisible force.

"What the-…" swore Kevin.

Zerato laughed. It was a free, piercing laugh, so relaxed that it chilled Kevin. "It's a simple quick-play magic card called the Reliable Guardian. It grants my monster seven hundred extra defense points, meaning that even your Dark Simorgh will be unable to destroy it." (300/2800)

Kevin grudgingly looked at his one card. There was no point in trying to continue, for what Zerato said was correct. He sighed and ended his turn.

"Now, Kevin, I am about to show you exactly why it was so foolish of you to challenge me."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

As Ryu landed with a thud, he glowed and transformed back into his human form. "I ain't never going to get used to that," muttered Brian, at which the dragon demon gave a derisive, cold laugh.

Angel spoke for again. "To tell you the truth, something has been praying on my mind that really has not occurred to me prior to this moment. At first I said we have no allies. It is not true. We _do_ have allies."

"Who?" said Yugi, curious.

"You don't think that all of the Necropolians are satisfied with this rule, are you? A lot of the spirits who got here are not necessarily evil. Granted, they may have done things that one would consider beyond moral boundaries, but all here are not heartless murderers and tyrants. In fact, the King has a few horrible magicians who are able to pull spirits into Necropolis through their consciousness. It is not a pleasant process, and I am no expert at magic, so do not ask me how it is done. But a lot of those who were forced here have turned fugitive. Some are Duel Spirits, some are normal people, but of various species. I know some of them personally. If we are to have any hope of breaking into the King's castle, it will be essential to get their help."

"How long would it take you to find them?" asked Daniel, folding his arms.

"Lots of them hang around in the shadiest part of town, where all but the most powerful Necropolian generals don't dare to venture. Round trip, it would take me about five hours to get there inconspicuously, speak with some of my acquaintances, and get back to you with plans for the raid."

"And that would, of course, allow you to risk being captured," put in CJ. "No way man, I'm coming with you."

"It is impractical," snapped Angel. "I can navigate my way through the city easier. It'll look a lot more conspicuous if I have a man the size of a bear walking next to me…"

"And a lot safer as well," interrupted Brian. "If CJ and I accompany you, we could fight off any attackers without having to resort to anything but physical strength. The authorities would put more importance to a person who could use Shadow magic then a thug who broke someone's nose with a punch. C'mon man. It makes sense!"

Angel glared. "Fine." He then pointed to the distance. It was a rather mountainous area, and there was a small cave in one of the mountains. "You four go hide there, and _stay out of trouble._ With that freak running about the city and all those soldiers, not to mention your own idiocy, I know that'll be hard, but do try. I'll be back by noon. Hopefully, we'll be able to launch the raid by nightfall. I'd sleep, if I were you."

CJ and Brian put on the robes they had gotten from his house. With the hoods on, one might just mistake them for regular residents of Necropolis, albeit big ones. Meanwhile, the other four began to short trek to the cave, with sleep being the only thought on their mind.

CJ, Brian and Angel walked at a brisk pace. Slowly, they entered the city again, and in the harsh, strange daylight they could finally see the city properly. All of the buildings were quite dilapidated. Okay, _very_ dilapidated. They were really quite a mess. Doors were hanging off their hinges, windows were shattered, the paint jobs looked like they hadn't been touched up for centuries…

But it was not this that allowed the two big men a glance into the true misery of the lives of the Necropolians. A lot of them were common people, who could have committed no great crime in their lives. As Angel had said, they probably had just simply stole a little money or hurt someone, all in the hope of a better life. But even these small incidents were enough for the King to hold his terrible sway over them…

CJ's fist tightened as he saw the misery and hopelessness in the face of a young, five year old girl. What crime could she have possibly committed? Was it that that blasted King was able to use his sick rituals on weaker people? Cowards only attempted their trickery on those weaker then them. It seemed so clear now. It was easy for him to pull weak people into Necropolis, those whose mental strength was not enough to be able to save themselves from this horrible fate. And they spent an eternity as slaves in this hell…

They walked on in silence for about half an hour. Quiet people went about their business on the streets. Some of them engaged in low conversations, others carried piles of unhealthy looking meat in their hands. It seemed like everything one enjoyed during life on Earth was gone on Necropolis. Were these people even aware that their fate was something that they couldn't escape? Did they know that after their untimely deaths, the King had brought them here to this cruel existence, or were they unaware of their existence outside this place, simply hoping that the abyss of death would bring them sweet salvation in the years to come?

Angel led them into a small alley. "We can't walk that far." With a smirk, he tapped the wall of the building next to him. Suddenly, a glowing dot appeared on it, and it began to expand until it had formed a golden sphere on the wall. He placed his hand on it and pressed down hard. For a second, nothing happened.

"A little trick my friends and I invented so that we can get around easily," explained Angel. Suddenly, the ground beneath them exploded into a hole, which left the three of them tumbling into infinite blackness, two of the three bellowing their heads off….

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

CJ and Brian woke up on a rough, concrete floor. Groans and grunts filled the air as they tried to clear their vision. They could see Angel bending over them, but the image of his wrinkled face was quite blurred. "What the-… What the heck-…" mumbled Brian, propping himself up on his elbows.

"Oh, pull yourself together, it was only a three hundred foot drop. If he were going to the other part of town it would have been over a thousand." CJ bolted upright at these words. "We… We fell three hundred feet?"

"Uh… yeah," muttered Angel. As CJ's vision cleared, he saw that they were in a back alley, although this one was not as empty. There were a few figures in the dark corners talking discreetly. Angel was sitting on a stool with a glass filled with yellow liquid in his hand. CJ looked at the glass, then at Angel, and then back at the glass.

"Hey, it's just one glass!" defended Angel. "Not like I'm gonna get drunk or something. Anyway, you two look like you need some yourselves."

"How did we get here?" pressed Brian.

"A long time ago, Necropolis had a fire problem. To save themselves, some of the nobles got together and built underground tunnels, with tracks and carriages, rather like a mining facility, leading to the outskirts, so as to escape any wild fire. But after the King clamped down and banned any kind of burnable substance, they fell out of use. But my pals and I decided to continue using them. It took a single, tricky spell at each tunnel entrance, so that only certain people could open them. That was what the hand print was for. You guys passed out before we reached the bottom. Don't worry, there were _things_…. To break your fall. I loaded you to apes into one of the carriages, and believe me, that was _not_ easy, and we started down the tracks. It took about an hour. And when I reached this place, all I had to do was load you guys on the elevator."

"And where are we now?" grunted Brian.

Angel jabbed a thumb backwards. They saw a rotten, wooden door, framed with grime, swung wide open. On top of it was a sign that depicted a large, green demon carrying a sword. His tongue was sticking out and he was roaring loudly. Next to him were the words, 'The Mean Demon Inn'.

"You might want to wait here," said Angel, standing up. "I'll go in and speak with some of my friends."

CJ staggered upwards, head still reeling. "No… Way, man. I'm coming." "Suit yourself," said Angel, and trotted off towards the bar, the duo following him.

As they entered the tavern, one could tell it wasn't really so different from one on Earth. It was peppered with tables, with at least one, bristling man sitting at each one. Whoops of laughter, heavy grunts, and shouts filled the air. A number were seated at the barman's counter. The barman himself was a heavy-boned man, dressed in a red outfit, with a large beard. He was mopping up the counter with a filthy black rag, all the while glaring at Angel as he entered.

Angel walked up straight to him. "I'd like one more please," he muttered. With a grunt, the fat man reached underneath the table and pulled out a bottle, before pouring some of the yellow liquid into the glass. Angel tossed a coin onto the table and collapsed on a chair not far from it. He motioned for the other two to do so as well.

He gulped down the entire glass in one go, and with a sigh set it down. The drink seemed to invigorate him, for he pointed over at a table at the far side of the room. A single figure sat on it, and was leaning over an empty glass. Normally, most bars didn't allow people to sit for hours with one drink, but the aura that this guy gave off was quite enough to deter anyone from challenging him.

"Hey, barman," he called out. The man looked over at him with a filthy look. "Give him a refill. On me."

The fat man trudged towards the dark figure, and poured some more wine into his glass. However, he did not touch it. They exchanged a few inaudible words, and the man rose, grasping his glass, slowly making his way towards the table where CJ, Angel and Brian were seated.

As he came into view, they could see him more clearly. He was at least six foot six, maybe more. The barman didn't even reach his shoulder. He wore black armor, with a similar cape flowing down to his ankles. His helmet was spiked, and a grille covered his face, revealing a pair of crimson eyes. What drew the most attention was the sheathed sword at his waist. He was quite recognizable. Unmistakably, Angel had sought the company of Dark Blade (1800/1500).

He sat down on the chair opposite Angel. He spoke in a deep, raspy voice. "Angel. Long time, no see. What made you come out to this godforsaken part of town?"

Angel snorted derisively. "Not one part of this town is godforsaken. Actually, the entire place is. Anyway, I came here to discuss something with you."

"Well, you certainly got my attention." He indicated the drink in his hand. "Shoot."

Angel nodded, and looked from CJ to Brian. "See these two big-boned men here? They came to our humble home from a place I'm sure you remember…. Earth."

Dark Blade grunted. "You two were pulled in by the King too?"

"No," replied Angel. "They were sent here." The warrior laughed. "_Sent _here? My, my, we have ourselves a pair of right idiots, Angel. Anyone who would willingly come here deserves to spend an eternity here just as a punishment for extreme stupidity."

Before CJ could retort angrily, Angel held up a hand. "No, not like that, old friend. It's not just them, there are five others. Four are waiting outside town, while one has been captured. Our aim is to rescue the latter…. And get the Seal."

Dark Blade's eyes flashed. He leaned over, clutching his drink tightly. "The Seal? Now things are getting interesting."

"Of course. I reckon that since they were still alive when they came here, they have about twenty one or twenty two hours left before they lose it. We can't break in ourselves, so we need a little bit of help. After that, he plan on escaping."

"Escaping?" mused Dark Blade. "An interesting concept indeed. You do know how much magical energy would be needed to open a portal, right?"

"Of course. Our friends have enough. Plus, we have support on the other side. No, the only help we need is to break in."

"But if I pull together a force to break you people in, we'll be on the run," replied the Dark Blade, leaning back in his chair and fixing Angel with a stare. "They'll hunt us down. I can defend against Archfiend Soldier idiotic enough to join the King, but the day he sets one of his Cosmo Queens on me… I don't know if it's worth it."

"Which is why I came here with a different idea," enunciated Angel, his eyes gleaming. "Oh?"

"One word, friend. One word. _Revolution_."

Silence reigned for a moment. Then the Dark Blade spoke. "I always knew some crazy people, Angel. That Vanity's Fiend… One Chthonian Soldier really stuck out. But you… You take the cake. You're mad, Angel. Just psychotic."

"So are you in?" laughed the old man, raising his drink.

The Dark Blade clinked his glass against it. "There's bound to be a whole load of guys in this dump as crazy as you. Damn right, I'm in. I'd rather die at the King' hand with a chance of victory then live an eternity on the run. Too damn long we've been waiting for this. We just needed someone as mad as you to get it stared. I know guys, a lot of guys. In the eighteen or so months since we last met, I've made a number of shady friends. Mostly Duel Spirits; your kind are all but completely subjugated. Give me a day or two, and I'll be able to rope together something."

"We don't have a day or two," replied Angel sharply. "Like I said: twenty one hours till this place gets to these guys and they lose it. We need a force ready and organized by evening, and we'll need to attack before midnight. It's all or nothing, Dark Blade. If you take too long, you might be able to fight your way through his guards, but no one here expect two or three of my friends outside town can take him on."

"That gives me about ten hours," growled the warrior, pushing his drink away. "Not a very practical guy, are you, Angel? Wait here." He got up and went over to another table. He exchanged a few words and another man joined him, coming up to the table.

He was an elf warrior wearing brown long sleeved shirt, tan pants, a purple cape, and green and silver armor with a green helmet. On his waist was a sheath similar to that of the one that Dark Blade had. One could almost instantly recognize him as an Obnoxious Celtic Guardian (1400/1200).

"So you're Angel," he muttered. His voice was low and sharp. "You want to revolt in ten hours? If anyone but Dark Blade here had told me that, I'd have laughed. Meh, I know some guys. So does Dark Blade. Wait here for about two hours. We'll go out and check with our friends."

"No can do," muttered Angel. "We have to get back to the rest of our group. I used the tunnels. Even then, it'll take us a good couple hours to get back. Meet us on the outskirts, near the mountains." The Guardian looked over at his fellow warrior questioningly, but he nodded.

"Fine. We'll see you there. But be prepared, because with the size of the force we're rigging up, I don't know how many will want to wait."

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**Well, hope you enjoyed that. Not much action other then Kevin vs. Zerato, but it will definitely start soon, don't you worry. **

**REVIEW!!**


	13. War Zone

CHAPTER TWELVE: War Zone

**Metal Overlord 2.0: Yeah, that was pretty off the bat and wild, lol. I've been focusing mainly on Kevin vs. Zerato these past two chapters, but yeah, from now on, you'll see Serena's true strategy at its best.**

**HimeAmelie: I don't know a thing about either show. But thanks for the review.**

**DarkOynx: I thank you for the praise. Such compliments always helps an author. I hope this chapter is better then the last one; I worked hard on it, without blowing my own trumpet.**

**Candyman123: Your praise is well appreciated, although I don't know if I deserve it.**

**DuelistBlake1852: As usual, your card rulings are correct… Damn, I've got to learn to mention that I've changed card rulings. Anyway, have fun with this one.**

None of the four were able to sleep. The limestone that made up the cave was just far too uncomfortable. After tossing and turning for hours, Daniel and Ryu simply sat up and engaged in a low conversation. Jason's eyes were closed, and he sat up against the wall with his legs crossed. Yugi impatiently paced up and down the cave, his frustration at having to wait to rescue Tea was getting to it.

Damn it all. He wasn't going to sit tight in this blasted cave waiting for the old man to return. With a grunt, he walked out onto the base of the hill. It was about a couple hundred feet tall, but not too steep, so it was easy for him to climb. However, he noticed small holes in the limestone. He had no idea what they were, and decided to avoid them just to be safe.

He walked in silence. It was a little steeper then it looked, really, and for then once he stumbled and scratched his knees. Finally, he made it to the flat top, and gazed out into the darkness. It wasn't really darkness. He was looking into an endless abyss of nothingness, that just stretched on and on and on….

It was hard to describe it, really. It seemed to be a physical manifestation of Chaos. Beams of light were mixed with patches of darkness, and the entire thing was moving back and forth in such a way, that one would think of it as a sea of Chaos. Sometimes, patches of light wove themselves together and took abstract shapes, before erupting into nothingness again.

Yugi looked down. The hill was not at all steep, and was bordered by a beach. Slowly and cautiously, he made his way down the windward side of the mountain. It took him two minutes to touch down on the sand. It had a strange feel to it. It was purer then any sand he had ever felt, even though Necropolis was the most hellish place he had visited.

He now faced the sea itself. It extended to over fifty feet above him, and he was almost afraid that it would come crashing down on him. It looked like a wavy lightshow, with tendrils of blue, green and red energy curling all around, similar to a sleeping giant whose chest rose and fell with snores. He was mesmerized by it, the organized, yet chaotic way in which it moved was hypnotizing. He simply stood there for at least half an hour.

Sounds began to touch his ears. Beautiful sounds, but not sounds at all. He simply stood on the sand, his eyes glazing over as musical chaos flitted in an out of his ears. All of his senses were being teased to their limits. His eyes moved up and down, following the loping curves and waves of light and darkness, while his ears pricked up, eager to absorb any of the divine music that echoed throughout the emptiness of the sky.

Even his skin was covered with goose bumps, his hair standing on end as he simply waited. A strange smell filled his nose, not one unlike mixing the scent of a rose and the stink of a garbage heap together. It was oddly satisfying. Lastly, as a sour taste blanketed his tongue, it was washed away by the sweet feel of the most delicious chocolate, and yet again was replaced by the sourness of lime.

It was as chaotic as chaotic could be. He didn't know how much time was passing, but he didn't care. It was as if the experience _owned_ him, and had ordered him not to leave. Not that he wanted to. Even Yami's voice was blanked out in his head.

He reached out with a hand, and tentatively pulled it back. "_It's nothing_," said a voice in his head. "_Just touch it_…." He reached out, and was about to touch it when he felt a powerful hand pull his back. He whirled around, fist outstretched, only to see a grim Angel behind him.

"I thought I told you to keep out of trouble," he said sharply, and dropped Yugi's hand. With that, he turned on heel and began trudging up the mountainside. Yugi trotted after him. "What… What was that?"

"The Abyss," said Angel shortly. He was walking so fast that Yugi was having trouble catching up. Panting, he asked, "The… The Abyss?"

"Yes." As they reached the top of the hill, Angel stopped and turned around. "You don't ever want to go near that, _ever_ again."

"But what _is_ it?"

"It's the place that separates dimensions," said Angel in a quiet voice. "Every time someone dies, there spirits float off into the abyss, and then follow the natural process of whatever happens to spirits. I'm afraid that's how the King drags people to this place when they drift closer. Getting near the Abyss means opening your mind to every single dead person ever. Who knows what temptation one might yield to? The thought of conversing with dead, loved ones is almost too strong for any to deny. I know so many people who have reached the edge of a dimension, only to be sucked into the Abyss. Don't go near it. _Ever_."

They stood in silence for a while, watching the majestic beauty of the Abyss, and Yugi broke it. "How did it go?"

Angel shrugged. "We don't know yet. It took us about a couple of hours to get back, and we were just searching for you all that time. I suddenly got the idea that you had pulled a fool's move and gotten attracted to the Abyss."

"But, but… I couldn't have been down there for more then a half hour!" defended Yugi. Angel shook his head. "Do you know what time it is?"

"What?"

"Around six p.m. You were down there for eight and a half hours and counting. Like I said, human minds are frail. No one can understand them. You lose track of time when you see all those things, hear all those beautiful voices."

Yugi was stunned. "_I told you not to go down_," growled Yami in his head. "_You did_?" muttered Yugi.

"_Yes. But it seems you were far too distracted by that experience. I spent eight hours trying to shake you out of your reverie, but nothing worked. It seems like you had no mind of your own. The power of Chaos is something we must respect Yugi. We have to take better precautions in future_."

"_Indeed_."

With that, he followed Angel down the mountain, and back to the cave. He was met with rueful glances from all those present, and he sweat-dropped anime style. "Sorry about that, guys. I'm not going anywhere near there again. Not one more time."

He settled down against a rock. He was exhausted. He wanted nothing more then to sleep, but it was not possible, for soon they would have to launch their raid against the castle, allies or no allies. He felt his eyes drooping, but he struggled to keep them up.

He lay like that for a while, warring with the inevitable lethargy. There was complete silence in the cave. Daniel was on watch outside, while the rest were simply left to their own thoughts. It seemed the silence and bore of it all would continue forever, when it was interrupted by a flash of light across the cave.

"What was that?" he whispered. "I don't know," muttered Angel suspiciously. "Either they've found us, or it was a messenger from one of my friends." There was another flash of light.

Yugi was pale. He could barely stay alert.

"_Let me take over_," urged Yami. "_I've been recuperating in here for nearly ten hours! You're exhausted Yugi, you have to admit that. Just retreat into your soul room and let me deal with this_."

Yugi was too tired to argue. He gave a thankful and exhausted smile before he was replaced by the ancient Pharaoh with a flash of light from the Millennium Puzzle.

Yami trained his magically enhanced vision out on the already darkening sky. He could faintly see a stocky, armored form hiding behind a rock somewhere a little below them on the hill. He growled under his breath. "Daniel… Three o'clock."

"Got it." At that moment, the wolf demon leapt out of the cave. His momentum carried him straight forward, and the surgical presicion with which he had jumped was so great, that he landed directly on the intruder. They rolled around in the rocks, grappling wildly until Daniel dealt his opponent a powerful blow to the head. He immediatley slumped over.

Gripping him by the collar, he dragged him up the rocks to the cave. Now that he was in plain sight, he was instantly recognizable. He was dressed in green, Japanese armor, and built like a samurai: short and stocky. The armor was especially heavy around his chest and elbows, and he had a spiky pony-tail. His features were Japanese, and he had a long katana at his waist. It was Mataza the Zapper (1300/800).

"Hey, easy on the hair, mate," he mumbled. Strangely enough, he spoke in a rough, British accent. "The girls love it."

"Well, I wouldn't want to upset the girls, would I?" growled Daniel before throwing him to the floor. Angel kneeled over him.

"Now why don't you give us one good reason for why we shouldn't just throw you over the side of the mountain into the Abyss?"

"Maybe because I was sent here by your old mate, Dark Blade," replied Mataza, straightening up. "Oh?" muttered Angel, moving back. "I see, so you're a messenger. Interesting, indeed. The chances of this being a lie are miniscule, especially since no one really knows that I was friends with him. Hmm… What does he want?"

"He's wants you to meet him downtown. He says that he's got something for you." "Got something for me…" muttered Angel, "…Interesting. Fine. How do we get there?"

"I'm supposed to take you there, ain't I?" defended the Zapper, standing up and dusting himself off. "Although why I would after I was so brutally assaulted by Mr. Paranoid here…" He gave Daniel a dirty look. "We've got a Labyrinth Tank (2400/2400) waiting around the corner. It should be inconspicuous enough."

"A Labyrinth Tank?!" gasped Angel. "Where the hell does a weak warrior like you get such a powerful machine? I tried to buy one, but the dealer said that you needed a permit from the government for something like that. Just how big of an organization have you people got here?"

"I dunno, mate," replied Mataza. "I'm just doing what I do to put bread on the table." He stumbled out of the cave. "You coming or not?"

"I guess so," replied Angel under his breath, and began trudging after the dark warrior. Slowly, Yami and the others followed him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was really quite strange. The insides of the vehicle were every bit as technologically advanced as that of those on Earth, and then some. It was complete with plush seating, air conditioning, and even a refrigerator with an assortment of refreshments. That aside, its control panels were like those of a cockpit of a commercial airliner. The number of dials and buttons present on it were uncountable.

And sitting at the head, along with Mataza, was a Gadget Driver (200/200). He was really quite a little guy, only about four feet tall, and quite gangly to go with it. His body was made of mechanical parts, with the torso being stainless steel. It was a simple rod that branched out into limbs, which were rather more bulky. At the end of his yellow hands were five, small fingers. He had to sit on three phone books in order to reach the wheel, which he was actually maneuvering quite well. Well for him, that is.

At first, the six had all attacked the refrigerator, with CJ and Brian getting the best of it. Now, however, both of them were wishing for a toilet. The Gadget Driver made another squeaking noise as the tank lurched over an extra large hole.

Angel was going green. He was not as bad as CJ and Brian, however, both of whom were lying back in their seats with their eyes closed, groaning in agony. "What kind… What kind of driving is this?" bellowed Daniel, as the small machine took an extravagant turn, one that almost tipped the tank over on its side.

"Don't worry, boys, we're almost there!" screeched the Gadget Soldier as he slammed his foot down on the accelerator. It lurched again as it leapt over a pot hole. CJ had had enough. "Sorry about this," he groaned before leaning over and retching.

Mataza looked back impatiently. "Oh, don't puke in the tank, mate. It's not that bad. Besides, I have some good news for you." The group looked up weakly just as the tank grinded to a halt. It had no windows, and the Gadget Soldier drove by relying on feed provided by a camera from the bottom of the tank, so they had no idea where they had stopped.

The Gadget Driver pressed a button, and the cover of the tank slid out. With a whoop, he leapt out. Groaning and staggering, the six men followed him, gasping for fresh air. "Never again…" muttered Yami, rubbing his temples.

They found themselves in a large, empty room. It was more like a garage then anything, and upon looking around they could see a number of other Labyrinth Tanks, and if they strained to look into the distance, some more large forms were visible. But everyone's attention was focused on the tall, dark warrior standing in next to the parked tank. Dark Blade.

"Damn it, man, I asked you for some help, but this…" trailed off Angel. The warrior snickered.

"Nah, I didn't do all this. You're not worth it. But it turned out that there were a larger number of guys out there then I thought, who shared your sentiments. They've been plotting revolution for over a year. It's been very quiet, they can't do much without attracting attention… It all began when… No wait, I'll let them speak to you himself."

"Who's _they_?" asked Jason.

"Oh, you'll see. But before that, I think you guys need to pay a little visit to the infirmary."

"There's no time for any of that," snapped Angel. "We have to be out of here by morning, or there's no hope."

"Which is exactly why he wants you to go there. I don't know if you know, but its not impossible to temporarily ward off the effects of this place with a certain kind of medicine. It won't work forever, but it'll provide these guys with an extra two days at least, at full strength. Besides, you're a mess. You need some decent rest and food before invading the castle. Were you actually planning on breaking into that place in this state?"

Angel's eyes widened. "Two days? What kind of concoction is this?"

"Hey, do I look like an Injection Fairy Lily? Don't ask me, man. Mataza will take you there, and I guess after you guys don't look like you've been put in the washing machine, you'll meet the boss. Angel, I guess you could come with me."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The infirmary was a small, yet neat room. It had no windows at all, and the furnishings consisted of a few beds, and a desk. The only attendant present was a surly looking man dressed in a white coat. "Yeah, Dark Blade mentioned you'd be coming here," he muttered, rummaging through the drawers of the desk.

He pulled out a bottle. It contained a transparent liquid. "I know it doesn't look like orange juice, but it'll do you guys a helluva lot better, state you're in."

"How exactly does it work?" asked Jason, leaning against a wall.

"The ingredients are quite rare, really. Mostly herbs that are found on the edge of the Abyss, so they aren't polluted by this place. I didn't make it myself, that was done by some higher level fairy. It strengthens your immune system temporarily, so that it can ward off the effects of whatever stuff is hanging around in the air. Lots of people talk about magic and the like, but at the end of it, it comes down to basic essentials. The reason why Necropolis does this to outsiders is simply because of certain components in the air that don't exist anywhere else. If you inhale them, they block the flow of certain hormones. It'll make you feel depressed, slow your reaction time, and whatever else. This potion will only work for two or three days however, and if you're not out of here by then, then God help you."

He pulled out a set of five syringes. Within two minutes, he had injected each and every one of them with the liquid. Instantly, Yami began to feel drowsy. His head reeled, and the fleeting thought entered his mind that they had been betrayed, but there was nothing one could do about it now. All of them collapsed onto beds, and within seconds were sound asleep.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"So what's the deal, old friend?" asked Angel as Dark Blade led him through a door and down a staircase. The place was actually larger then he expected. The staircase was rather narrow, and didn't even have a railing. He could see nothing beyond that other then infinite darkness, and stuck to the wall as far as possible.

"Fine. I'll give it to you in broad strokes, as we don't have much time." After a moment of silence, the Dark Blade began as they continued walking down the spiral staircase.

"It started with one guy. Just one Duel Spirit. He was pulled in here about fifteen years ago. At first, the King tried to recruit him, but it didn't work. He was chased all over the town, they set so many soldiers on him. But it didn't work. The soldiers just disappeared. He even had one of his generals start up one of those Ancient Gear Golems (3000/3000), and let it rampage across the place. After it made it out into the outskirts, no one saw it again.

"Well, obviously, it sparked some attention in those who weren't satisfied with the regime, guys like us. He was quite good at hiding though, and it took the first to track him down, a Spirit of the Pharaoh, that is, about five years. Well, he realized that many people sympathized with him, and he began garnering support. He's quite rich, you know, this entire complex is his. The King has left him alone because other then himself coming out to confront him personally, there is no way to beat this guy.

"Slowly, over many, many years, he assembled quite the army. He's got at least five or six hundred troops within this complex alone, not to mention an incredible amount of technology and arms. He hasn't been able to revolt though, because he's still unsure of whether he could face the King one on one and win, because he knows that eventually it _has_ to come to that. He does have quite a lot of political influence though. Lots of the nobles are even more afraid of him then the King, for the mere fact that the latter doesn't deal with things personally and leaves most things to his judges and generals, while he actually confronts his enemies.

"But since we do know that you have some powerful demons on your side, as well as a Millennium Item holder, he's quite optimistic about our chances. I convinced him to provide them with a special potion that'll keep their symptoms at bay for the next two or three days, and give us an opportunity to rally our forces and launch a surprise attack."

"But just who _is _this guy?" asked Angel, as they made it to a pair of large doors, at the bottom of the staircase. As he glanced up, the mouth of the rocky garage that he had exited looked so high up, it made him dizzy.

"You'll see," muttered the Dark Blade, and pushed the door open. Entering it, Angel was surprised to find himself in a vast, open expanse that stretched as far as the eye could see. It was a cave, but a cave so huge that one could not understand the magnitude of its dimensions. As he looked up, all he could see were the edges of stalactites that disappeared into an infinite blackness. He touched one the walls, and it felt cold. He looked on, and could only see the far wall right at the end, in the form of a distant darkness.

But the main attraction was the number of Duel Spirits there. They were all in pairs, and seemed to be sparring. They were of every single type and attribute, and of all different levels, but mostly fiends, warriors, and machines. It was quite a free for all, and all were battling with no restraint.

Another Dark Blade, was mounted on a Pitch-Dark Dragon (900/600), which was a black dragon with many spikes covering its body and wings, had just slammed his blade into the strange, drill covered and robotic form of a Drillago (1600/1100). The machine was knocked over and seemed to be out for the day.

As the Dark Blade was celebrating, the hulking, gray, bulky form of a Giant Orc (2200/0) slammed its bone club down on the helmet of the warrior, knocking him off his dragon. The strong helmet protected him from harm, but he was quite unconscious as he hit the floor, and the towering fiend lifted the squealing dragon and flung it at a pair of charging Marauding Captains (1200/400) (x2).

Not too far away, the spherical Mechanicalchaser (1850/800) was having trouble hacking through the shield of a Big Shield Gardna (100/2600). All of a sudden, the Gardna mumbled something under his breath, and with a single slash of his short sword, he had disarmed the mechanical hunter.

"Shield and Sword," muttered Dark Blade, as he led Angel through the crowd. The latter had to duck and weave many times to avoid the attacks, once especially when an angry Chaos Command Magician (2400/1900) dealt a Command Knight (1200/1900) a particularly powerful attack, which sent her flying in the opposite direction. He was barely able to dodge as she knocked over a Flame Swordsman (1800/1600) instead.

It seemed like forever until they reached the other end of the cave. This section, strangely enough, was a place where the roaring, grunting and swearing seemed to dim, even though it was less then a hundred feet away.

As he looked away from the wildness of the free-for-all battle, Angel visibly flinched as he noticed a white-caped giant pacing himself toward them. He was a spirit of some sort, with dark-blue wings fluttering behind his back. He was donned in a long, cerulean robe that reached down to his sky-blue-booted feet. The top portion of his robe was masked by a type of metallic armor, with three gray pendant-like bulbs, two on the sides and one on the bottom-front. An enormous, smooth, ultramarine buster sword was in the clutches of his pale-skinned, right hand. His face was similarly light, with a full head of white hair, worn down, and reaching down to his chest. On top of his head was a type of flat, golden disk. His right eye was concealed, but his left was a bright green.

He gave a deep laugh. "Now, now, Mr. Angel, there's no need to be afraid. If I had the intention of cutting you to pieces I would have done that by now." He leaned on his sword and fixed Angel with a stare. "We have much to discuss about the role of your allies in this revolution."

"Who… Who are you?"

The warrior gave a brief smile. "I am the founder of this resistance. You may call me Belial the Dark Marquis."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

She drew slowly, a smile crossing her face. "Now, I'll reveal the ability of my Steel Paladin. During my standby phase, he gains one Iron Counter. Each Iron Counter on him boosts his attack and defense points by two hundred."

As she spoke, the metal armored warrior glowed, and he bulked up a little more (2200/1600). "Ok…" muttered Kyle. "So your so-called powerful monster is simply supposed to sit around for five or six turns until he has enough power to actually do something."

"No, not really," replied Sarah, and slid a card into her magic and trap card zone. "I can remove the counter and instead place it on one monster on the field." As she spoke, the paladin shrunk a bit, and pointed his mace at Gearfried. A sphere of energy shot out from it, and hit the juggernaut in his knees. His pupils dilated for a moment, and he fell to his knees.

"What the-…" gasped Joey wildly.

"Relax, he's not in the graveyard, just incapacitated. Now, as long as this Iron Counter is on him, your monster is forced to remain in defense mode. Annoying, I know, especially since the counter is destroyed immediatley after the end phase of the card's owner, leaving us with plenty of time to figure out how to do away with it before it can do more damage."

She checked the other cards in her hand. "I set one card facedown and end my turn."

Rikuo now had six cards in his hand. He smirked at his next one, and showed it to Serena. It was Boot-Up Soldier – Dread Dynamo.

He chose a card and slid it into play. "I summon Green Gadget (1400/600)!" A circular-shaped, green gear rose to the field, with small hands, as well as a divider between its head, and its one eye on the center top of it. On its back was a gray, rotating gear. It had short, thin, green legs, and thick, green clodhoppers for feet.

"My no means am I finished yet. I activate my facedown Ultimate Offering, allowing me to continue to make as many normal summons as possible this turn, at the cost of five hundred life-points per. Quite reasonable, considering I can pay a thousand and summon both Red Gadget (1300/1500) and Yellow Gadget (1200/1200)!"

A circular-shaped, yellow gear rose to the field, with small hands and a single eye embedded at the center of its top. It had a circular, rotating gray gear on its back. It had short, thin, yellow legs, and yellow clodhoppers for feet. Next to it was a circular-shaped, red gear, with small hands and two eyes in the center of its top. On its back was a gray, rotating gear. It had short, thin, red legs, and red clodhoppers for feet.

"So you have an army of your little toys, now," snarled Drake. "How is that going to help you, demon?"

"More then an idiot like you would understand," snapped Rikuo. "I pay a further five hundred to special summon Boot-Up Soldier – Dread Dynamo (0/2000) in attack mode!" A circular-shaped, brown robot-like machine rose to the field, with mechanical hands in the shape of a fist. On its back was a gray, rotating gear. It had short, thin, silver legs, and thick, brown clodhoppers for feet.

(Sarah: 7100, Rikuo: 6500, Drake: 8000, Joey: 8000, Serena: 8000, Kyle: 4700)

"Dread Dynamo gains two thousand attack points if I have a Gadget monster in play. Unfortunately for you, I have _three_." The large, robotic creature began to glow as its attack points increased from being pathetic to respect-worthy (2000/2000).

"Now, I don't like suiciding monsters, but I'm afraid it's quite necessary. Boot-Up Soldier - Dread Dynamo, destroy Steel Paladin LV5!" The robotic creature leapt into the air, one of its fists pulled back in an effort to slug the unfortunate knight in the face. However, Sarah pressed a button on her Duel Disk just in time.

"I activate Shrink, which will slice the attack points of your robot in half, therefore allowing my Steel Paladin to cut it to pieces!" As she spoke, the iron-clad knight glared upwards at the weakened machine (1000/2000) and jumped into the air, its sword extended horizontally outward. It cut through the metal of the machine like a hot knife through butter, leaving the two pieces to explode as it landed cleanly on the sand.

(Sarah: 7100, Rikuo: 5500, Drake: 8000, Joey: 8000, Serena: 8000, Kyle: 4700)

Rikuo was impressed. "Not bad, girl. But destroying one monster isn't everything. I set a card and end my turn."

Drake drew slowly. "I now summon Jet Gauntlet (0/1500)!" Appearing on the same arm that had Buster Knuckle was a piece of shoulder armor that extended from his shoulder blade to his elbow. It consisted of a heavy metal plate on his shoulder, which came down to his elbow as a powerful, blue sheet.

"Now, I can sacrifice Jet Gauntlet to destroy one of my opponent's monsters." He looked from Dark Magician of Chaos to Gearfried the Swordmaster. Obviously, the latter was not only stronger, but as he continued to equip it with magic cards it would destroy more and more monsters. But then again, this one would be in defense mode for a while…

He decided. "I remove it from the field, and target Dark Magician of Chaos," he smirked, much to Kyle's dismay.

He lifted his arm, and it began to glow. It was so full of energy, that he could barely control it as it vibrated wildly. Suddenly, it seemed to overload, and it exploded, sending forth a wave of white energy in the direction of the black mage. The power consumed him, and he was able to give one scream of pain before exploding to pieces.

"You'll pay for that!" snarled the magician duelist.

"Maybe… Maybe… I'll then switch Active Guard to defense mode, and set a card. Then I end my turn. See what I told you about my Armor monsters? You may think you're a big shot, kid, but against this, you're nothing."

It was now, of course, Joey's turn. He drew, and sighed in frustration. He held up his Hero Signal for Serena to see.

Here he had a monster with thirty-five hundred attack points, and it _couldn't attack. _Who knew, what with the wild and powerful strategies his opponents were using, it would most probably be gone by his next turn. He could, of course, add some extra monsters, but they were too weak, and would simply be destroyed.

"I set a card and end my turn," he grunted.

Serena drew calmly. "Now, I sacrifice Druid Soldier in order to summon Fairy King Truesdale (2200/1500)." Replacing the elven soldier was a tall man dressed in flowing green robes. He too had elven features, but they were far less noticeable then in his predecessor. He had neat, brown hair that came down to his shoulders. Across his chest was a plate of green armor, and large, feathery wings extended from his back. He held a small, thin staff in one hand.

"Now, he increases the attack points of all plant monsters by five hundred. Since he himself is a plant type, he is now almost as strong as a Blue Eyes White Dragon." (2700/1500)

"Destroy Gearfried the Swordmaster." The tall ruler of all flora raised his staff, and wind began to whip around him. He dropped it to a horizontal position, and the influx of razor sharp leaves and bitterly cold winds exploded out in the juggernaut's direction.

"Not so fast!" warned Joey. "I activate Negate Attack!" A spinning black vortex appeared in front of the kneeling Gearfried. The vortex quickly sucked in the swirling vortex, and soon disappeared, leaving the large monster on Joey's field unharmed.

Serena sighed. "Fine… I equip Truesdale with Time Bomb. Now, he will destroy himself on the third end phase of all duelists following me. One monster of my choice will be dealt damage equal to his level multiplied by three hundred, and then one duelist of my choice will be dealt a similar amount of damage."

Joey swallowed nervously. It was quite obvious that she was planning on severely weakening Gearfried.

"What's a card like that doing in a plant deck?"

"Plant deck?" laughed Serena softly. "Mine is no plant deck. It is indeed one of the deadliest strategies you would ever find, although many common duelists reduce its prestige and might. None of them are ever too successful…"

"A burn deck," snapped Kyle, folding his arms. "Pretty obvious, and a pathetic strategy. Just make your move."

"Not only a burn deck, but yes, you are partially correct. There is a reason why the three of duel together so well. It will be revealed quite soon. Turn end."

Kyle drew and snarled to himself. All he had was Chaos Command Magician, which itself was a bit too weak to take on Truesdale and prevent it from dealing any one duelist of the group a large amount of damage. That didn't mean he couldn't target Sarah though…

"Chaos Command Magician, destroy Steel Paladin LV5 with Chaos Burst!" Pointing his staff at the white mage, the black robed mage released a blast of yellow energy. The blast struck the iron knight, causing it to fall to its knees. The mage pumped even more energy into the attack, but for some strange reason the monster was simply not falling.

"Oh, rather simple really," muttered Drake. "I activated my facedown magic card Blitz Defense. I can change the target of one attack to a Psychic Armor Head on my field. So now your Chaos Command Magician will be forced to change its target."

As he spoke, the magician swung its staff around, and the energy that was pressing at the Steel Paladin disappeared. Instead, it crashed into Drake's head, knocking him too his knees. However, when he got up there was a smirk on his face. After all, his Psychic Armor Head would return during his following turn, leaving Sarah's plans for her Steel Paladin untouched.

"Fine," sneered Kyle, looking over at Sarah. "I end my turn."

She drew slowly. Obviously, one could tell that Serena, Drake and herself were dominating the duel up to this point. Still, things like that could always change in an instant, and it never paid to get cocky early on in the duel…

"I level up Steel Paladin LV5 to his strongest form, Steel Paladin LV7 (2400/1900)!" Finally, the iron-armored knight on her field was ready to reach its true potential. Its muscles bulged, and it burst out of its rusted, iron armor. A wave of light cascaded across her field, consuming the knight. When it cleared, he was now about seven feet tall, with his armor being a dark blue shade, with white lines forming designs all over it. He had a scarlet cape, and his mace was replaced by a long sword. Otherwise, he was pretty much the same.

"When Steel Paladin LV7 is summoned, I can automatically equip him with one equip magic card from my deck. I choose Fusion Sword Murasame Blade." As she spoke, the long, red sword appeared in the hands of the towering knight, and he gave a grunt as his power reached new heights (3200/1900).

"Now, I can place one Iron counter on him as well. Unlike Steel Paladin LV5, he gains no attack points, but it's quite useful all the same. I can remove this counter from the field in order to remove one card in my hand from play in order to draw two more." Carefully, she selected a card and slipped it into her pocket before pulling out two more from her deck.

"Now, I could use him to get rid of Gearfried the Swordmaster, but that would ruin Serena's plan, wouldn't it? Instead, I think I'll target Chaos Command Magician before it causes us any problems!" Within seconds of her command, the most powerful form of the armored knight drew his sword, and leapt towards the wizard. He blocked a sphere of yellow energy on his shield, and sliced downward to shatter it into pieces.

(Sarah: 7100, Rikuo: 5500, Drake: 8000, Joey: 8000, Serena: 8000, Kyle: 3900)

Kyle was on one knee, coughing and panting in pain. Slowly, he propped himself up and fixed Sarah with a glare.

"I end my turn," she said, without any fear.

Rikuo drew. He gave a wild, free laugh. "Now you idiots are in some real trouble. I sacrifice Red Gadget and Yellow Gadget to summon one of the most powerful monsters in my deck and one of the most powerful machines to ever exist. I introduce to you the undeniable might of the Ancient Gear Golem (3000/3000)!"

A tall, human-formed and buff, rusted mechanical being ascended onto the field. It had a long, thick right arm made out of the same material, and a mighty as well; its left arm was much thinner. Some rusted gears were rotating on various portions of its body, and it had one single eye, its left eye, light up as a small, circular red on its head. Its head made it seem as though it were wearing a mechanical helmet, with a pointed fold at the top. The underside of its body had another rotating gear, and its thin, lower body contained attachments to tall, thin pipe-like legs that led down to the thick feet.

"Oh crap…" muttered Drake, shrinking away from the metal giant. He knew about this card, without having faced it before, luckily. Now, of course, it seemed that fate was placing all kinds of obstacles in his path to ultimate revenge.

"_I will defeat you, demon. Count on it_."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Belial?" stuttered Angel.

"Indeed," replied the white giant in his deep voice. "I must say, I'm surprised that my recruitment division has been unable to locate you over all these years. You keep a rather low profile for a man with such powerful friends."

"It was necessary," he replied heavily. The head of the resistance movement was tactful enough not to pursue the topic.

"I was planning to leave discussion of battle plans until your friends joined us, but I'm afraid this cannot wait. The drug administered to them gives them three days immunity from the effects of this city, and we cannot afford to waste any times. Given the fact that the window has thankfully been extended, we can put off the attack for twenty four hours, giving me time to consolidate my forces and plan a proper, organized offense."

He looked over at the fight. "We should discuss this in a less uncouth place. I detest violence, but it proves necessary and far too useful to avoid in the long run. Now, Mr. Angel, perhaps you would care to join me in my office for a drink?"

He strode off without an answer. Angel glanced at his friend, who nodded, and drew his sword before charging into the fight. Angel trotted along beside his new ally, panting to keep up with Belial's giant steps.

They walked in silence through a small, dark corridor that opened from a door in one of the cave walls. Soon, they entered a rather grandiose room, one far more so then the combat room or the infirmary. It's ceilings were about as high as that of a two storey building, and a pair of staircases located at either side of the room curled up along the walls to meet at a wooden, bridge-like structure some way below the ceiling.

Underneath this was a mahogany desk, with a chair at one end and another behind it. The walls were lined with bookshelves, each one bursting. "Please, be seated," said Belial. Angel did so, nervously, even though his host did not. He chose to walk over to one of the shelves, and let his fingers trail over the large tomes.

"They should be here now." His timing proved impeccable. There was a knock on the door. "Enter." The door opened to reveal a tall Freed the Brave Wanderer (1700/1200). "Sir, they're here from the infirmary."

"Send them in." As he spoke, the light warrior walked away, and in walked Daniel, Yugi, Ryu, CJ, and Jason. They all looked at Belial cautiously, ignoring Angel. He gave a deep laugh. "Yes, I have that kind of effect on a number of individuals. It's not always necessarily a bad thing… Do come in." They shuffled nervously into the room, still silent.

"I believe my identity has been made known to you. I began this resistance over eight years ago, and have always been confronted with one problem. I speak of having to deal with the King himself. Indeed, upon hearing that Mr. Angel here has allied himself with those whose power matches the King, I was quite surprised. I do hope that this will not be a false hope…"

He trailed off, and fixed the five was a steely stare. "However, we will work on the assumption that these rumors are indeed not false. They have come from reliable sources, those who saw you battle with the likes of the Cosmo Queen. Such an opponent would be difficult for even me to confront, and I am at least partially convinced that without being the solution, your presence would be a valuable asset to this resistance.

"One more thing. Although we are allies at the moment, please understand that I do not trust you, and so do none of my men. I have spent over a decade in my opposition to this monarchy, and if any one of you behave suspiciously, I will be forced to deal with you immediatley. I cannot have the risk of traitors in my army. Is that understood?"

"Quick question," spoke Ryu in a steely voice. "Are you threatening us?"

Belial's voice relaxed slightly. "No, I am not. I am merely warning you. Surely a demon of your experience and age would understand how necessary it is to keep an eye on your allies. Come now, let us forget this unpleasantness.

He spoke as if he hadn't just threatened them with such dire consequences.

"Now, from what I understand, your group is interested in two things. One, you wish to break out a certain ally of yours who has been imprisoned by the King. Two, you need to confront the King himself and steal from him the magical Seal that he has taken immense interest in. Both of these are ambitious desires, I assure you neither will be easy. We will be willing to provide you with support, as long as you stick to your part of the deal and battle the King when we finally confront him."

"You can rest assured that we'll deal with him," said Jason coldly. "Now, give us the details of the defenses."

"Very well. You will want to rescue your friend first, I assume." He found a map in his desk, and spread it over the table.

He pointed to a large, circle on the piece of parchment. "This is our underground base." He then dragged his finger straight across a line, which probably represented a long street, until it reached a turn. He followed the angle, and let it stop at a picture that depicted a simple, black castle.

"This is the Necroguard Prison. Most royal prisoners are kept here. Do not worry, there is a ninety-nine percent chance your friend is still alive. The King himself is judge and jury in Necropolis, and on average he deals with one case on an average of every three or four weeks. People who have been arrested twenty years ago are still rotting in that prison. If your friend was captured yesterday, there is a chance that one could survive the conditions of the prison for a little over a day or two without going mad."

Yugi flinched at this, but said nothing.

"The gate is guarded by a Ryu Kokki. I have tangled with a few during my younger days, and they are not the most pleasant zombies to battle. In fact, the entire prison is full of zombies. The most recent prisoners are kept on the top floor, which is not a very beneficial factor, as the governor of the prison himself has his quarters there."

"How do you know all this?" questioned Brian, narrowing his eyes.

"I was imprisoned there myself, at one time. I broke out within two days, being the first and only one to achieve that feat. It was not an easy task, I assure you, and neither is breaking in." He pulled out a fine, ink pen from a stand on his desk, and drew a circle around the castle on the map.

"After defeating the Ryu Kokki, there is a moat. It is about fifty feet wide. No one has really measured its depth, but some estimate it to go down as much as three hundred feet. There is no drawbridge, and the only way to get across is by boat. There is one waiting there, along with a boatman. It would not be too difficult to convince him if he witnesses you defeating the Ryu Kokki, if that happens."

He gave a shady laugh at this and continued. He pulled out another map. This one was not so much a map as a plan of a building. He traced a path with his pen from the entrance. "After making it across, you will need to dispatch of the two sentries at the gate. Try to avoid dueling at all costs, it will be a waste of time in situations like this. Once that is done, progress up the stairs as quietly as possible. You cannot show mercy to any and all guards whom you confront, and believe me, there will be a lot of them. Certain enchantments are present around the cells as well, but after I had escaped many believed that the spells had been reworked. I am afraid I have no knowledge of the new manner of enchantments, this is something you will have to deal with on the spot.

"The governor has his guards on the floor, as well, and they tend to trawl all over the place. Try to sedate them, and not kill, if possible, as it would make the governor suspicious. Once breaking your friend out, proceed to the top of the building. We will have transportation waiting for you."

He then put the map back on top. "It will be aerial transportation, and it should not take you less then twenty minutes to arrive at the army. There are many, many defenses around the King's private castle. I can tell you, he is a very paranoid man, and every single defense is absolutely top class. The castle is not too big, really, and is right in the middle of a large circle of defenses."

He pricked a small dot of ink with his pen. "This is his castle." Then he proceeded backward to a large square, surrounded by squiggly lines. "The first defense is a labyrinth. There is a veritable army of guards outside it, and we will be forced to engage in a full-fledged battle. The labyrinth is like a life-size maze. It is easy to get lost in. Waiting at the other end is the legendary creature that had once been three, the Gate Guardian."

Yugi swallowed nervously. He had faced the Gate Guardian _twice_ before, and neither had been a pleasant occasion. It was neither easy to face it in a duel, nor in an actual battle.

"After that is a second cave. This one is a much smaller, but just as challenging. Legend has it that eons ago, this creature existed in the Dark World. It was pulled to a separate reality by the King, and he put it in chains, forever destined to guard his home. Putting it out of its misery would actually be a generous deed. I speak of the Ultimate Obedient Fiend."

Ryu let out a light, yet nervous chuckle. Two monsters with at least thirty-five hundred attack points. The King was not pulling punches.

"The third and final one is not one of brute force, but rather one of intelligence and magic. The entire cave is filled with magic at its purest form. I have myself only heard stories about it. Some say that the King actually managed to infuse a portion of the Abyss into the air molecules of the cave. I do not know how true it is, but have deduced that there is probably a very, very powerful spellcaster waiting at the other end, who is simply casting spell after spell, which gives the impression of a wild, chaotic nature to the atmosphere."

He sat down in his large chair. "There you have the details now. This is the route one must take to arrive at the King's personal quarters, where he stores his precious Seal, whatever it is. The soldiers will not be accompanying you, as their aim is to finish off his army completely. However, you will have a backup in case you fail at one of the obstacles."

"Who?" asked Yugi.

"Me, of course. As I said, despite the information I have given you, I do not trust you, and who better to keep an eye on you then myself?," he said, matter-of-factedly. "Mr. Angel, I presume you will accompany, us, yes?" Angel nodded.

"Well, we will be nine, when you rescue your comrade. Even if two of us are required to bypass each challenge, three will still be left to battle the King. I have one last question, however. After defeating the King, if we are able to, and retrieving that Seal, what do you wish to do?"

"We will return home," said Daniel sharply.

Belial raised his eyebrows, if one could say the strange creature had any. "I see. I take you will do so by your own means, and no assistance will be required from my party?"

"We will manage," replied Yugi. The Marquis shrugged. "Very well. Our deal entails overthrowing the King, and I do not have the inclination or the time to care about something that does not affect me. Now, there is are empty quarters in the far wing of the complex. You may wait there until tomorrow. I will have to address my troops, for preparations will have to begin now."

He pressed a button on his desk. The Dark Blade appeared, an uneasy look on his face.

"In case you need to contact me, you will inform him, and if he deems it important enough, I will speak with you. I advise you to ready yourselves, for neither mission, rescuing your ally nor retrieving the Seal, will be easy."

He didn't say a word, and they took it as a sign to leave.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Zerato and Kevin stared down each other. "Now, Kevin, you will regret challenging me to this duel. I activate the field magic card, Realm of Light." There was an explosion of light around them. James raised his eyebrows, and Kevin grunted at the brightness. Zerato and Jenis simply watched it impassively.

As the light receded, they found themselves in a location entirely different from the realm of Death. There were beautiful, luscious bushes around them, a far cry from the rotten vegetation that had peppered the ground previously. High peaks towered over them, and sheets of icy water tumbled down to a long, snake-like river. Marble towers erupted from the soft earth all around them, and streaks of light streaked the sky.

"This is the heavenly home of the Lightsworns. In this place, they are truly powerful. They were challenging before, now you will be hard pressed to defeat them. Its effect will come into play later. I sacrifice Jenis to summon Gragonith, Lightsworn Dragon (2000/1600)."

The tall nurse disappeared. There was an echoing roar throughout the Realm of Light, and a shining speck was seen in the sky, thousands of feet above them. It hurtled towards the ground at over a hundred miles an hour, finally crashing to a halt on Zerato's field with a loud roar.

It was a large dragon, perhaps a rival in size for the legendary Chaos Emperor Dragon. It was snow white, and had pure, metallic armor, again with gold filigree roped all over them, on its shoulders, thighs, back and chest. Two, almost god-like, angelic wings spread out, pure and feathery in appearance. A long main of golden hair tumbled down its head, coming to a rest at the bottom of its back. Its otherwise dainty and angelic appearance was swatted away by the gnarled, large claws on all limbs. Its eyes glinted white underneath a helmet, and a large horn stuck out from its head. It looked more like a monstrous, flying unicorn then anything else.

"What a monstrosity…" murmured James. He nervously fingered the Demise, King of Armageddon (2400/2000) card in his hand. He hoped he wouldn't have to use it, as that would mean that Kevin would lose.

"Probably one of the strongest Lightsworn monsters in the game, Gragonith gains three hundred attack and defense points for every Lightsworn monster in my graveyard. I have Jain, Garoth, Aurkus, Ryko, Wulf, and Jenis, for a total of six. That's a total boost of eighteen hundred points of Gragonith."

The translucent spirits of the monsters named by Zerato exited his graveyard, and slammed into the towering dragon (3800/3400). It gave a roar, one which shook the rocks of the waterfall, causing the water to splash around more.

"Destroy Dark Simorgh."

The huge, feathered dragon gave a strange, almost croon like roar. It was so pure, so devoid of any outside influence, it sent a shiver down Kevin's spine. Even behind monsters such as Ha Des and Dark Simorgh, he felt very disconcerted while facing down this behemoth. It opened its mouth, and a blaze of celestial flames washed over the avian demon, reducing it to a pile of cinders in so many seconds.

(Kevin: 6600, Zerato: 7600)

"Damn it…" groaned Kevin. "Now you can set cards…"

"And indeed I shall," replied the angel imperiously. He slid a facedown card into his magic and trap card zone. "Turn end."

At that moment, his Duel Disk forced out three cards from his deck. He picked them up, and smiled before sliding them into his graveyard. "Now, the effect of my field magic card activates. Every time I am forced to send cards from my deck to the graveyard, it gains a single Shine Counter. Each Lightsworn monster in play gains one hundred points per counter active."

Gragonith gave a roar, and its attack points took a slide turn upwards (3900/3400).

Kevin drew nervously. "I switch Ha Des and Dark Crusader to defense mode. I'll call it a turn." The blue-skinned demon, and towering, armored warrior nodded to their maser before both falling down onto one knee, crossing their arms across their chests, looking up at Gragonith with a mix of anticipation and fear.

Zerato drew imperiously. He glanced at the card, and added it to his hand. He pointed at Ha Des, with a hard look on his face. "Gragonith, attack now with Celestial Storm." At his command, the angelic dragon opened its mouth, and roared so loudly that its own hair whipped back out behind it. A literal storm of translucent energy escaped, washing over the ruler of the underworld. He roared in agony, as the energy rent flesh from bone, reducing him to a pathetic skeleton, before his remains were pulled into the ground by its strange denizens, forever lost…

At that point, Kevin gasped in shock as vines began to twist out of the ground. They looped around his legs as he struggled to break free, forever holding him in their unbreakable grasp. He fought and swore, but the more he struggled, the tighter the vines held him. He found himself choking as one of them wound its way around his throat, cutting off his air supply. He would have been killed if the Dark Crusader, concerned at its master's state, had not cut through a mass of the vines with his blade, leaving the rest to unwind and slide back into the soil.

(Kevin: 4300, Zerato: 7600)

"How the… What the…" gasped Kevin, slowly staggering to his feet. "Gragonith deals damage through defense," said Zerato sadly. "I'm sorry, Kevin, I didn't want it to end like this. You'd have had such a bright, promising life ahead of you… Now, all possibilities are wasted." He sighed, and nodded to his opponent.

As Zerato placed the three cards his deck forced out into the graveyard, a shaking Kevin drew, all the while eyeing the newly powered up Gragonith (4000/3400). "In a few minutes, Zerato, a dark phoenix will be reborn, and reap its revenge upon you," said Kevin, out of the blue, his eyes fixed on his opponent and the large dragon on his field.

"I hold a certain monster in my hand. If I have three or more dark monsters in my graveyard, two of them may be removed from play, and I can then discard this particular monster. If this happens, I may then special summon it to my field during my next standby phase. So!" He pulled Axe Dragonute and Mad Reloader out of his graveyard and put them in his pocket, before sliding another card into his graveyard.

"Your move."

"I summon Ehren, Lightsworn Monk (1600/1000) in attack mode."

Bounding down from one of the grassy hills was a jovial woman dressed in ninja like attire. She had armor on her torso similar to the other Lightsworns, made of sharp steel and laced with melted gold. A bracelet, which had two rubies, wound its way around her head. She wore a crimson battle skirt, plus white boots that went up to her knees. Her face was the picture of concentration, and she held a long, golden staff in one hand.

"Now she also gains two hundred attack points thanks to my field magic card." The female warrior monk glowed slightly (1800/1000).

"Time for assault, I would believe. Gragonith, obliterate Dark Crusader."

With another roar, the divine dragon roared, and a sphere of translucent energy formed within its mouth. It spat it out in the direction of the knight with complete disdain, its eyes glinting arrogantly behind the helmet. The crusader raised his sword bravely in defense, but the blade was shattered. The shards of metal slammed into his chest, piercing his armor and killing him. His corpse tumbled over.

This time, however, no hands appeared. Instead, the grass around it grew, and continued to grow until it had enveloped the Dark Crusader's carcass, pulling it down into the ground, leaving the ground with not even a single blood stain.

"And now you lose thirty-eight hundred life-points," remarked Zerato, consulting his Duel Disk for information of Kevin's current state. To his shock, his feisty opponent still had a full forty-three hundred life-points remaining.

"The quick-play magic card, Protection of the Destined. It is a magic card version of Kuriboh, and negates all battle damage for one attack." These were the only words Kevin said as he slid the card into his graveyard. Immediatley, a wall of energy appeared all over his field, preventing Gragonith from touching him. Zerato shrugged.

"You are only delaying the inevitable. Now, Ehren will attack you directly." As he spoke, the robed woman nodded and took up a combat stance. Tensing her knees, she vaulted into the air. Kevin stepped back apprehensively. This being the first direct attack of the duel, he found himself wondering what the strange magic of the area would twist it into.

He didn't have to wait long. Upon landing, Ehren dealt him a resounding punch across the face. He snarled in anger, and before he could react she had slammed her staff into his stomach, causing him to double over in pain. It continued, as the Lightsworn twisted around for a painful roundhouse kick. She had aimed for his face, but he was just able to take a step back, and it instead hit his shoulder. He squawked in pain; she had nearly dislocated it.

Finally, his anger got the better of him. With a roar of rage, he burst through her fast, calculated attacks, and his thin, long fingers wrapped around her throat. It felt oddly solid, but then again, this was a place where the magic of life and death was more active then in any other. He squeezed down hard, but with a jab of her elbow, she broke free and retreated to her master's field.

(Kevin: 2500, Zerato: 7600)

Kevin's head was reeling, but single, wicked thought echoed through his head. "_If his weak monk could do that kind of damage with a direct attack… Just think about what will happen to this dolt when I pull out something really powerful. What he doesn't realize is that this enchantment works both ways, and that arrogance will be his downfall!_"

"I end my turn," said Zerato. His voice held no emotion, not even the weary sadness with which he spoke of how much he hated to destroy Kevin.

His deck forced out six cards, and he shortly explained that he had to discard three cards from his deck for Ehren's effect as well as Gragonith's. "Now, Realm of Light gains two more Shine Counters." The dragon and the female monk both glowed even more intensely as their attack points went to insane and respectable, respectively (4200/3400) (2000/1000).

Kevin drew. "I promised you the rebirth of a dark phoenix… And in dueling, promises are meant to be kept. Rise up from the depths of my graveyard, Dark Nephthys (2400/1600)!"

Black flames shot up all around Kevin, escalating high into the air and starting to form the shape of a huge bird monster. Soon, the dark-steel-bodied phoenix exploded from the black flames, causing the flames to spread in all directions rampantly, as it soared down and forward to reach Kevin's field. As its steel wings were on its sides, the actual content of the wings were red-orange and wild flames. Similar flames burned at the top of its head, and along its back. It had a long, thin tail, and sharp talon-like, metal claws.

"What beast is this?" whispered Zerato, taken aback by the sheer ferocity and malice of the beast.

"The beast that will aid me in your downfall! When he is special summoned by his own effect, I may destroy one magic or trap card on the field. I choose your annoyance of a field magic card."

The phoenix, like a wild animal released from captivity, beat its wings with gusto and took off into the air. It flapped its wings forward, and hurled sphere after sphere of black energy at the ground. The energy at first just bounced off the grass, but soon resulted in large craters. With an eruption of smoke, the charming scenery disappeared, and was represented by the bleak wasteland that was the realm of Death.

James looked around appreciatively. This was far more subtle; he preferred it to the bore of the Realm of Light.

"You have succeeded, but only partially. I could have protected my card, but you actually did me a favor, which will assist me in the future. Although you have considerably weakened Ehren (1600/1000), Gragonith (3800/3400) is still far too powerful for your phoenix to destroy."

"Perhaps…" mused Kevin, setting a card. "We will see soon enough. I will meanwhile end my turn, turning the board over to you, Archangel Zerato."

Zerato drew with a kind of uneasy shudder. Dark Nephthys was definitely a creature even he would not wish to confront in a dark ally, but he would need to crush it first, in order to finish off Kevin and prevent him from causing problems for the Infinity Council. Still, he found it strange that he had not attacked Ehren with Nephthys. Perhaps he thought that would strengthen Gragonith, but then again, what was another three hundred attack points when you had nearly four thousand to begin with?

He could stay off, but it was a waiting game, which Zerato had no patience for.

"Gragonith, I command you to obliterate his perversion of a phoenix with Celestial Storm!"

The Lightsworn Dragon growled, and its mouth shot open. A wave of golden energy splashed across Kevin's field, threatening to envelop the bird as it flapped its wings, desperately attempting to fight its way out of the nexus.

"I defy you! Trap card, Rising Energy, activate!"

Zerato paused midway through his triumphant flourish of declaring Ehren's attack. Rising Energy allowed him to discard a card, but then boost his monster's attack points by fifteen hundred. That, of course, meant that Gragonith was screwed.

With a roar, Nephthys (3900/1600), burst out of the wave of energy, its metallic feathers crackling with electricity. Its wings pinned to its sides, it shot off across the field. Gragonith could barely growl as it was speared by the phoenix's razor sharp beak, which glowed with energy. It shot right through, splitting the Lightsworn Dragon in half, and continuing on until it veered off to avoid a cliff, and returned to Kevin's field with a flap of its wings. The zombie-like hands once again erupted, ripping the remains to shreds, and leaving nothing remaining.

Zerato didn't even notice the thorned vine as it shot across his face, leaving a cut on his cheek.

(Kevin: 2500, Zerato: 7500)

"Most impressive, Kevin, indeed, most impressive," mumbled Zerato. "You have grown considerably from the impertinent and foolish child who challenged Seto Kaiba to a duel and fell to his Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon (4500/3800) in less then five turns. Yet, you have still not gained common sense. You deal me a hundred points of damage, and believe that you have somehow negated the beating you took throughout the duel? The fates are not on your side! You will not make a miraculous comeback just because you think you will, Kevin. This is a battle of skill, and I have proved time and again to be superior."

"Shut the hell up," snarled Kevin. "I discard Repayment of Losses, so whoop-de-do, I draw one more card." He glanced at his newest card, and smirked. He couldn't wait to see the look on Zerato's face when he pulled off his newest combo.

"I switch Ehren to defense mode," said Zerato stiffly. "I end my turn."

"Whose playing defensively now?" jeered Kevin. He slammed a card onto his Duel Disk. "I'm about to summon up a beast so powerful, it only inhabits people's nightmares. Maybe one with a personality as drab as yours doesn't get them, but after this, believe me you will! When I have exactly three dark monsters in my graveyard, like I do now, I can call upon the terror of the Dark Armed Dragon (2800/1000)!"

Through nearly blinding darkness, a tall and scaley black dragon started to ascend. It had deep spikes sticking out of the end of its snake-like tail, though the tail fattened out at the peak. Blade-like wings were on the back of the monster, and sharp claws were its hands and feet; it wore spiked bracelets on its forearms. Its head had dark horns, with its face containing shadowy eyes and a dark-smoke-snorting nose. The teeth were nearly flashing white, but were noticeably sharp as well.

It gave a roar. It was not a deep, reverberating roar, but rather a screech, like a knife being drawn across perfectly smooth marble.

Zerato took a step back. "Impressive monster," he murmured. "But what can it do?"

"I'll show you! I can remove from play one dark monster in my graveyard in order destroy one card on the field. I'll send my Dark Blade (1800/1500) in order to blow your Lightsworn Monk to pieces!" With a roar, the monstrous dragon bounded forward, talons outstretched.

His massive paw sliced across the woman in combat dress. She bit back the pain, and dealt the dragon a powerful blow with her staff. But it simply bounced off his armored scales, as one of the spines on his back began to glow with energy. It exploded out, slicing through the monk and exploding. When it cleared, Ehren was gone, a victim of Kevin's beast.

"Now, Dark Armed Dragon and Dark Nephthys attack you for a combined total of fifty-two hundred points worth of damage!"

A burst of black energy stemmed from the mouth of the fierce drake, while the phoenix pinned its wings to its side, and took off through the air. The tip of its beak crackled with energy, and it slammed hard into Zerato's torso. He gave a grunt, and faltered backwards, falling onto one knee. Before he could stand up, one razor sharp wing descended, slicing through the material of his shirt and leaving a deep cut. The beak descended once again, but this time, he caught it. But he wasn't in time to avoid the blast of energy, which knocked him off his feet again. The dragon bounded forward, and raised its massive talons, ready to finish him off.

At that moment, his eyes dilated, and there was a massive explosion of light came from his body, slamming into the two beasts of the shadows, throwing them back to Kevin's field. As Zerato stood, the cut on his shoulder instantly healed.

(Kevin: 2500, Zerato: 2400)

"See!" boasted Kevin. "You were so arrogant and foolish, you forgot that when _I _attack you directly, it's much worse, since I'm not the one who has weak, pathetic monsters in my deck. _You're_ the foolish one here, Zerato, for simply being so arrogant in thinking that the side-effects of this little game will not affect you. Go on, make your last move so that I can prove why Seto Kaiba should fear the name Kevin Hunter!"

Zerato drew calmly. "Come now, Kevin. We both know that a simple move like that will not suddenly turn the duel to your favor in the manner in which you seem to describe. I summon Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner (1000/1000) in attack mode."

Appearing on the field was a tall, tanned woman dressed in a loose, white robe. It was fringed with golden cloth, and a similar scarf was present around her neck. She wore gold bracelets on her arms and legs, and arcane energy danced across her fingertips. Short, blonde hair fringed her forehead, coming down to her back.

"I then set one card facedown and end my turn."

Kevin drew aggressively. "I normal summon Dark Grepher (1700/1600)!" A dark-skinned and white-haired madman leapt onto the field. His muscles were bulging with might, matching the large, straight sword he carried. He wore black overalls with a white, spinal cord design running down the center, and black pants with faded flames to match. His eyes were bloodshot and orange.

"He as an effect, but I cannot utilize it at this point. Instead, I use Dark Armed Dragon's, removing from play Dark Crusader and Dark Ruler Ha Des to blow away both your facedown cards!" The massive dragon bounded forward, and its claws cut through one of the cards with ease.

"Psychic Defense, when destroyed by a card effect, prevents you from destroying any cards through card effects this turn. So Lumina and my facedown monsters are safe."

Kevin shrugged. "Grepher, send his Summoner to the shadows!"

The tall man hoisted his sword upwards, charging forward with a roar. He spun around on his heel, driving his sword into the palms of Lumina's hands. They struggled for a moment, but then the woman's hands began to glow even brighter, and with a cry she pushed the sword away, sending Grepher tumbling back to Kevin's field.

"What's this?!" snarled Kevin in anger. "How the hell did your Lumina fend off Grepher? He's got seven hundred attack points on her."

"That would be my facedown continuous trap card, Lightsworn Barrier," indicated Zerato. "I can discard two cards from the top of my deck to negate an attack against a Lightsworn monster." Lumina flexed her arms, as if daring Dark Armed Dragon and Dark Nephthys to challenge her while she was protected.

James frowned. "_The idiot! He's making amateurish mistakes, letting victory slip through his fingers every time he gets closer. It's like the fool doesn't want to win! God only knows what else Zerato has lurking about in his deck. He's taking time for granted, and he's going to get himself killed like that_!"

Zerato drew, still as calm and emotionless as before. Despite his advantage, this continued to frighten Kevin more then anything. "The effect of Lumina is quite intriguing, really. I can discard one card from my hand, which happens to be Repayment of Losses, to special summon a level four or lower Lightsworn monster from my graveyard. I choose to resurrect Wulf, Lightsworn Beast (2100/300) from his slumber."

The bear-headed, titan of a warrior appeared next to the petite spellcaster. His armor reflected the few ions of light in the realm, and he raised his large, axe-like staff with a roar that seemed to intimidate Dark Grepher, but had no effect at all on the phoenix and dragon.

"Now, I will call upon one of the few non-Lightsworn monsters in my deck, but still one impressive enough to warrant a place among them. When I control two or more light monsters, I can special summon from my hand to the field my Guardian of Order (2500/1200)!"

The creature that joined Wulf and Lumina on Zerato's field was more of a machine then a warrior. He was fully covered in futuristic armor. It was made of pure steel, and the pieces loosely snapped together across his body, leaving small channels which glowed golden. On his back were four metallic spines that extended out in all directions, making it look like a four-pointed star. His gauntlets had large balls topped with small spikes, while a golden helmet covered his features.

He shone so brightly that even the dark monsters on Kevin's field seemed impressed.

"You've impressed me, I'll admit it… But whatever happens, I will clear your field with Dark Armed Dragon next turn and end the duel."

"Talk is cheap," replied Zerato calmly. "Wulf, destroy his Dark Grepher."

With a roar, the beast-warrior raised his weapon and leapt forward. The blade descended like that of an excecutioner, slicing through the tough armor of the madman, even as he let lose a final, chilling scream. The messy carcass fell to the ground as a single, green stalk-like vine erupted from the ground and pulled it in.

Kevin gasped in pain as bush nearby fired out a spine which caught him on the knee. He ripped it out, but this did not stem the flow of blood. Hurriedly, he ripped off a piece of his coat, firmly binding the wound just as Zerato ordered his Guardian of Order to do away with the dark phoenix.

The machine-like angel warrior raised his gauntleted hands. They glowed with white energy, and after a few seconds it began to build up more and more. With a cry, he let lose the energy, which crashed into the avian beast of darkness. It was no match for the superior power of light, and was instantly atomized, leaving not a particle for the inhabitants of the soil to consume.

(Kevin: 2000, Zerato: 2400)

"I set a card and end my turn," finished Zerato calmly.

Kevin drew nervously. "I activated Offerings to the Doomed. This lets me destroy one monster on the field, at the cost of skipping my next draw phase. As powerful as your Dark Armed Dragon is, it cannot survive common magic cards that are the ones that destroy all."

Kevin watched in horror as the spine-covered dragon gave a single roar of hatred and exploded. The shards of armor were scattered all over the field. This time, they were not absorbed by the ground, leaving a grim reminder to Kevin. They were practically laughing in his face.

"Now, I chain Reckless Greed, which allows me to draw two cards in order to skip two draw phases. Since I've already been forced to skip one, it doesn't make much of a difference."

He gritted his teeth. "Fine. I call upon Armageddon Knight (1400/1200) in attack mode!" A very large, red cape draped over the field, retracting into the cape of a tall, dark-haired warrior with very tan skin, who wore a chain mail-like vest, and metallic, open pants. He held a gray-handled sword of a pirate in his right hand.

"When summoned, he allows me to send a dark monster from my deck to my graveyard." He held up the card for James and Zerato to see. The angel couldn't resist a shiver, although he hoped it wasn't too visible. Left Leg of the Forbidden One (200/300). He didn't like where Kevin was taking this…

"I'll set a card and order Armageddon Knight to destroy your Lightsworn Summoner!"

The tanned woman never stood a chance. She put on a brave face, and battled it out till the very end with a stream of energy from her hands, but the knight cut his way through it easily, slicing her in half. Zerato sustained a bruise on his shoulder from a tree branch that suddenly swung forward, almost knocking him off balance.

(Kevin: 2000, Zerato: 2000)

"I end my turn."

Zerato drew, eyeing Armageddon Knight hatefully. "Wulf, strike down his knight and clear the path for my victory."

The hybrid angel raised his gigantic battle-axe. The blade shimmered slightly as he began taking heavy steps towards the dark warrior. Kevin's monster raised his blade in anticipation, but it looked like it would be over before it began as Wulf's axe slammed into the sword, and a crack spread over the blade.

"I activate Negate Attack!" bellowed Kevin. To Zerato's eternal shock and annoyance, a spinning vortex appeared in front of the warrior. Try as he might, Wulf could not get past it, and retreated, for fear of being sucked in.

Zerato held six cards in his hand, but not one could help him in the situation. He frowned, and ended his turn.

The Paradias duelist snapped the top card off his deck. He was top decking, and didn't much care for the situation. Luckily, he had just found a card that would help him immeasurably, even though it was considerably risky.

"Card of Demise!" he declared, sliding the card into his Duel Disk. "Now, I draw five cards, at the cost of discarding my hand in five turns. But it does not matter, for by then you will have lost and I will have proved my worth to Paradias. Now, watch as another Dark Grepher (1700/1600) ascends to the field, for I activate his effect, allowing me to discard one level five or higher dark monster to do so."

He held up Cosmo Queen (2900/2450), and slid her into his graveyard. Appearing on the field was the same, while the bulky, troll of a man, with ash-like skin that was covered by animal skin pants and a heavy, metal jacket dotted with spikes materialized next to the Armageddon Knight. He had unhealthy looking white hair, and flaming red eyes.

"Now I will use his effect. I can discard one dark monster to send another from my deck to the graveyard. So I'll toss out Left Arm of the Forbidden One (200/300) to send from my deck to the graveyard Right Leg of the Forbidden One (200/300)."

The large, shackled, golden limbs appeared on the field. With glee, Grepher drove his sword through them, cleaving them in half before they shattered and Kevin eagerly slid them into his graveyard.

Zerato shifted uncomfortably. "_That's four…_"

"Then I set one card facedown and end my turn."

Zerato looked at a card in his hand, and a look of excitement danced over his eyes momentarily. "Now, your end is approaching. I sacrifice Wulf to call upon one of my three strongest Lightsworn monsters… Celestia, Lightsworn Angel (2300/200)."

The werewolf-like beast roared and disappeared. Fluttering down from the dusky sky was a woman of such beauty and majesty, words could not be used to describe her. She wore white and golden armor just like all the other Lightsworns, but hers was also inset with diamonds and other precious stones. Her armor extended only till her shoulders, and long satin gloves covered her long, dainty hands. Her features were soft and exotic, while framed by long, flowing sapphire hair. She loosely held a long staff in one hand, which had a ring at the end, from which hung several cones and had a sapphire in the middle. Large, snow-white angelic wings fluttered out from her back.

"You traded in a twenty-one hundred attack point monster for one with twenty- three hundred?" laughed Kevin.

"Indeed I did. Her effect more then makes up for it, however, as I can now send the top four cards on my deck to the graveyard in order to destroy up to two cards on your field. Celestia, strike down his creatures of Hell with Golden Angel Burst!"

Celestia began to sing. It was so wonderful, yet so terrible, that Grepher and Armageddon Knight were on their knees in minutes, clutching their heads. She slowly, gracefully raised her staff, and a bolt of golden energy escaped. It split into two, one shattering each warrior, leaving Kevin's field bare except for his one magic card.

"Now, Guardian of Order… End it!"

The metallic, futuristic warrior began to charge up energy on his palms. Kevin's reaction time was next to nothing.

"I activate my facedown Dark Crystalum! This continuous trap card can only be activated during my opponent's turn, and it allows me to special summon one level seven or higher dark monster from my graveyard. At this point, the best choice is none other then her Royal Highness the Cosmo Queen (2900/2450)!"

The woman appearing on the field had a strange cylinder like hat that was gold and maroon with spikes on the ends of the cylinder. Her skin was light purple, and only her head and hands were exposed. On her shoulders was a green and gold set of shoulder pads. The rest of her robes were maroon.

"The side-effect of Dark Crystalum states that the monster summoned in this monster cannot attack. However, it does allow me the added benefit of sacrificing the summoned monster and this card itself on my standby phase to perform a certain action… Whether I do so or not remains to be seen, depending on my draw. Now, I assume you wish to end your battle phase."

"Indeed," replied Zerato, glaring at the empress on Kevin's field. His fist clenched more tightly, and he spoke through gritted teeth, showing true anger for the first time in the duel. "I end my turn."

Kevin drew, and from the look on his face, he could barely contain his excitement. "I sacrifice Dark Crystalum as well as Cosmo Queen to send a single, level four or lower dark monster from my deck to the graveyard. I choose Exodia the Forbidden One (1000/1000)."

A pulse shot through the field at that time. "_It's complete_…" thought James. "_Maybe he isn't such a weakling after all… I will enjoy watching Zerato trying to deal with this_."

"Magic card, activate. Contract with Exodia!"

Five gravestones appeared on Kevin's field. Each of the gravestones depicted a piece of Exodia.

"No..." muttered Zerato._ "I was wrong all along.... He wasn't storing them in the Graveyard to return them to his hand!'_

"Now you get it!"

Dark thunder began raining down on Kevin's field, striking each of the gravestones. A very large pentagram formed on the field, with a dark outline. Black magic began swirling around the field, and the thunder struck the pentagram, as a very large, dark and tan-skinned arm, encased by chains started to emerge from it. Soon, another arm; then, below, large feet. And finally, the head of the beast, with a strange type of head dress on its head, red and white lines running down the sides of it while the top was covered in darkness. The monster walked out of the pentagram, towering over everything. Forcing its arms and legs forward, it instantly shattered the chains holding it.

"Behold, Exodia Necross (1800/0)!" proclaimed Kevin, triumphantly holding his arms up.

"I should have known!" snarled Zerato glancing from one monster on his field to another in anger and frustration.

"Now you stand head to head with the one monster that will come as close to divine power as ever possible without being an Egyptian God!"

"Tough talk for a monster that you have summoned in defense mode," retorted Zerato, indicating the horizontal position of the monster on Kevin's Duel Disk.

Kevin smirked. "Poor idiot… If you only knew… I end my turn."

Zerato drew angrily. "Fine. Time for this duel to end, once and for all. Celestia, destroy Exodia Necross!" The angel raised her staff, and fired off a bolt of golden energy at the titan on Kevin's field. By all rights, the fact that comparing her to Exodia Necross was like comparing a flea to a mastiff should not have mattered. But to her shock, the avatar of the Forbidden One simply raised his hand, and the bolt was absorbed by it. That was it.

"My mighty beast cannot be destroyed in battle," sneered Kevin. "Nor can it be destroyed by magic and trap cards. Essentially, your only hope is monster effects."

Zerato still seemed calm enough. "Yes, but with eighteen hundred attack points it matters not. You will deck yourself out. I, on the other hand, have an exceedingly large deck to cope with the effects of my Lightsworn monsters. Despite your claims, your demonic perversion of Exodia is nothing but a wall."

"You are so wrong…" cackled Kevin, spreading out his arms. "Just finish your move!"

Zerato shrugged. "I set a card. Turn end."

Kevin drew, but barely glanced at the card he drew. "During each of my standby phases, Necross gains five hundred attack points." The black titan roared, and his entire body glowed emerald. A shining aura had appeared around him, and the power he gave off disconcerted even the Guardian of Order (2300/0).

"So that's it…" muttered the angel, folding his arms as Kevin used three fingers to smoothly twist the position of the card so that it was now vertical. The avatar of Exodia raised his hands and roared. It was a loud roar, one that pierced the air, and caused a large number of vultures in the distance to start cawing in fright and fluttering off.

"Now, attack his Lightsworn Angel with Obliteration Fist!"

The giant roared once more, and descended upon Zerato's field, one fist raised and glowing with hellish green energy. It literally tore through the beautiful, winged woman, leaving not a trace of her as the sheer force of the punch caused a vibration in the ground. Dents appeared, apparently caused by invisible air currents.

"Since they were equal in strength, you lose no life-points. Consider yourself lucky."

With a morbid laugh, Kevin ended his turn.

Zerato drew slowly, despair slowly creeping over his face. He could switch Guardian of Order to defense mode, and strengthen up his field to withstand the real assault, which would come when Necross crossed three thousand. If he attacked, he would do little damage, for the cost of suffering some more when his turn came.

"I switch Guardian of Order to defense mode, and add another facedown monster. Your move."

Kevin drew, and the Exodia Necross (2800/0) once again roared as its attack points increased. "Now, to strengthen my attacking force I call upon Dark Valkyria (1800/1050)." A demonic, female magician joined the gigantic terror already on Kevin's field. She had deep purple skin, and wore a metallic robe. It came down to her knees in the form of a dark plate, while the part over her torso was a deep blue. Massive, steel wings spread out from her back. Crimson eyes made her almost as frightening as Necross. Her gauntlets were spiked.

"Time for assault, as you put it just a few turns ago. Dark Valkyria, prove the superiority of darkness by finishing off his pathetic Guardian of Order."

The freakish mage nodded, and with a flash of light, a long, metal scepter appeared in her hand. She twirled it around a few times, and then pointed it at the warrior. A blaze of crimson flames escaped, burning through Zerato's monster with absurd ease.

"Exodia Necross, reduce his monster to ruins with OBLITERATION FIST!"

Once again, the monster's fist began to glow with emerald energy. Its eyes set upon Zerato and his only remaining facedown monster. The feeling was electrifying. With that, the demon fell upon the brown-backed card, its fist boosted with hellish energy, and it ripped through the material, which barely had time to reveal itself as a small dragon, made of emerald. Its eyes shone like sapphires, and although its body seemed for too heavy to move, it was able to attempt a quick getaway, before, however, it was destroyed.

"Moonstone Dragon (600/700), when destroyed allows me to remove one light dragon from play. On my second standby phase after activation, that monster is added to my hand." He slowly found the necessary card in his deck and slid it into his pocket, all the while fixing Kevin with a knowing smile.

"Whatever your monster is, it doesn't matter! You will not be here in two turns."

"Really?" muttered Zerato. "Of course. I will see to that personally. I end my turn, allowing you time to accomplish setting up any pathetic defense you might find necessary."

The angel drew heavily. "I activate Swords of Revealing Light!" Three, massive swords descended across his field. They were made of emerald light, and were at least twice Zerato's height. They glowed so brightly that even Necross was forced to shirk away from it.

"As you know, this is one of the most famous magic cards in the game. It will remain in play for three of your turns, preventing you from setting monsters as well as attacking."

Kevin frowned. "Then I set a monster in defense mode and end my turn."

The ex-dragon duelist drew, and Exodia Necross (3300/0) grew even stronger. "Now, I'll activate Dark Valkyria's special ability. She's one of a new breed of monsters known as Gemini monsters. When first summoned, they are normal monsters with no special abilities. However, I can normal summon them again on my next turn, and they gain an effect. I'll do just that, allowing her to gain a spell counter every time a magic card is activated. She gains three hundred attack points per counter."

He then looked over at his opponent's field, and sighed.

"I end my turn." One of the three towering swords disappeared.

Zerato drew, and allowed a brief smile to cross his face. "_Only one more turn…_" "I'll just end my turn."

"I can't see _what_ you're fooling around with, and quite frankly, I _don't care_!" snapped Kevin, and added a third card to his hand. Dark Valkyria looked up in awe at Necross (3800/0), who was now nearly as strong as Obelisk the Tormentor.

"Just to eliminate your chances of victory completely, I equip Necross Malevolent Nuzzler, boosting its attack points by seven hundred!" The avatar of the Forbidden One's eyes glowed a dangerous crimson, and Kevin laughed madly as its muscular form bulked up further, now seemingly absorbing all the light from around them (4500/0).

"_I never thought so, but the kid has as good as won it. It'll take a miracle for Zerato to pull out now_," thought James grimly to himself.

"You can't win, Zerato!" laughed Kevin, throwing his arms back. "Just surrender."

"I suggest you stop engaging in meaningless bravado and finish your move."

"You seem to enjoy pain. I will make sure you get your wish," growled Kevin. The calm, sometimes temperamental teenager was gone. In his place was a raging tyrant. First, he had been fighting to avenge his father's loss to Kaiba. Now, he was simply fighting for power and greed. It was odd how power changed people, mused Zerato. Indeed, he had known many such instances, some of them very, very personal… The thought of it made him shudder. He didn't need to think about this right now.

"I set a card and end my turn."

Zerato drew, and didn't even look at the card. "It's time… Kevin. You've been prattling on about _power_ this entire duel, but it's now time for you to receive a serious wake-up call. You don't even know what _real _power is."

He gave a derisive laugh. It was oddly chilling, coming from the normally collected and soft-spoken angel.

"When I have four different Lightsworn monsters in my graveyard, I can special summon this card from my hand. I now introduce to you the card I added to my hand with Moonstone Dragon's effect…. Kevin Hunter, meet your end at the hands of Judgment Dragon (3000/2600)!"

There was a swirl of white energy. Lightning struck Zerato's field on five different places, and the bolts coalesced on the barren soil. They formed a massive sphere of light, which expanded even more and began to grow tendrils, and shrink in some places. It was taking the shape of a large dragon. Soon, the light cleared, leaving on the field one of the most beautiful, yet terrible, creatures Kevin had ever seen.

It was gray in color, and certain aspects made it resemble a chimera more then a dragon. It was completely covered in feathery scales up to its chest, which stuck out like spikes. A fringe of long feathers, like those of a peacock, extended down from the top of its neck. Its eyes were a deep crimson, while massive, eagle-like wings spread out from its back. Despite its reptilian origins, its limbs did not have scales, and looked like that of an elephant, while marked with three, large, red claws.

"I hope he's impressed you," chuckled Zerato.

"Not one bit!" snarled Kevin. "Even _if _you destroy Dark Valkyria, next turn Necross will wipe out your dragon _and _your life-points."

"But there will be no next turn, Kevin!" thundered Zerato, closing his eyes. "When summoned, Judgment Dragon allows me to pay a thousand life-points to destroy every other card on the field. So in other words, Kevin, the game is up."

The Judgment Dragon roared, and pointed its head to the sky. It exhaled, and a column of white energy erupted outwards. It continued on into the sky, going higher and higher until it just disappeared. Kevin looked at it for a moment, dazed, when suddenly, there was an outward explosion and a rain of meteors fell out from the dark sky onto the field.

It was like a waterfall of might. Power simply explode across Kevin's field, drowning Necross and Dark Valkyria in an infinite sea of energy. It literally ripped through them in waves, knocking off pieces of their bodies one by one, leaving them as still as statues as they were decapitated, leaving nothing on the field.

"The duel is over! Judgment Dragon, Divine Lightsworn Cannon!"

With a roar, the brown-feathered dragon spat out a sphere of white energy at Kevin, while James stared on in harsh amusement. "_I guess this is a lesson for Reflect… Don't risk your rookies unless you want em' dead_."

"Quick-play magic card, Contagion of Madness! Now, you're dealt half the attack points of your monster as damage!" As Kevin spoke, the attack struck. The look of shock was barely visible on Zerato's face as a massive explosion took place, enveloping the only three living individuals in the area.

(Kevin: 0, Zerato: 0)

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Exactly one hour, twelve minutes and seventeen seconds later, a brown haired man opened his eyes, lying on the barren desert of the realm of Death. He had an angelic Duel Disk on his right arm. Slowly, he staggered upwards, and looked up to the sky.

"_The stars do not bode well… Death will need my assistance_." White wings cracked open over Zerato's back, and he took off into the open sky.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

James groaned and shook his head. Being hit by god-like explosions was _not_ part of the job description… Okay, it was, but he still didn't like it. If he wouldn't have been killed by the results, he would have liked to sue Reflect…

He got up slowly, and looked around him. He was in a similar area, but closer to the mountains. There was a large, dark patch, a good few miles away from them. He lurched upwards, and rested his hand against a tree for a moment. He gasped in shock as a searing pain went through it and leapt backwards. "Blasted plant…" he growled.

Turning around, he roused Kevin with a quick kick. The Dark duelist gasped and opened his eyes. "That bloody pigeon…." he screamed as he lurched upwards, only to stop at James raised eyebrows. "I… I drew the duel?"

"Yeah. Landed us a good few miles away as well, it did. The angel is gone. Which means are best bet for survival would be continuing on and at least find out the identity of the Horseman, because going back with nothing would leave the boss pretty angry. Plus, I'm very curious as to who it is myself. Who the hell would Apocalypse go through so much trouble of resurrecting, especially if the other henchmen are as powerful as Zerato."

Kevin nodded. "Next time I get my hands on that guy…"

"You mean the next time he gets his hands on you," corrected James. "And pray that doesn't happen, because you won't have lucky cards to save your sorry behind next time. Now shut up and follow me. We'd better arrive before Apocalypse leaves, otherwise we will have to face Death alone, for no purpose."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Four figures exited the portal at the base of the towering mountains. One of them was prone, the other were erect and stock still.

"**It will be a long and difficult journey**," echoed Apocalypse. His inhuman voice pierced the heavy mist that hung over the Realm of Death like an arrow through cloth. "**Death's safeguards will trigger alarms if we attempt to travel by magic. He waits at the top of the highest peak, surrounded by a variety of defenses.**"

His iron fist tightened. "**I cannot kill him. I admit it. Doing so would be inviting disaster. However, his henchmen will be dealt with appropriately. Haou, Blight, you will destroy any individuals who attempt to hamper me. But do not engage in combat with Death… Because if you do so, I will not be there to help you out of his clutches**."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Finally…. Two weeks and a massive writer's block stood in the way of this chapter, but I finally got it out. It's been the hardest chapter to write up until now, why, I don't know. I hope you guys enjoyed it, because it was a killer to write. I'm especially interested to know your opinions on the upcoming battle royale in the Realm of Death. REVIEW!!!!!!!!!**


	14. Prison Break

CHAPTER THIRTEEN: Prison Break

**HimeAmelie: I don't get PM's at all, unfortunately. It's terribly annoying. You can tell me what you want in reviews, though. I'm also going to start a forum for the fic, sooner or later.**

**Aelsthla-Mental: Thanks a lot. I'm pretty sure this one will be better.**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: Well, I'm sorry your ideas weren't able to be used in this duel, but trust me, all three cards will make explosive appearances in the fic, **_**especially**_** the last one. It was really cool, truly helped me get my thoughts in order for that particular deck. I'm glad you liked that chapter, hope you like this one.**

**Candyman123: Well, the wait is over my friend, so dig in and enjoy.**

**Mysticlife: I haven't seen her in any movie other then the two HSM's, unfortunately, but I took a liking to her just from those. I'm glad you liked the chapter, and I'll get to your fic as soon as I have the time.**

**DarkOynx: Seto vs. Joker was your favorite? If you like duels then I recommend reading the previous fic, Advent of Power. The plot wasn't too great, but I think some of the duels were nicely done. A friend of mine went as far as calling one of them the best he's read on . I wouldn't go that far, but you'd enjoy them. Thanks a lot, anyway.**

**DuelistBlake1852: You're right about the life-points, but Contagion of Madness is a quick-play magic card, and Kevin activated it from his hand… I don't need life-point calculators though, I do it all in my head. I'm glad you liked these though, Kevin vs. Zerato was especially difficult to write, because technically Zerato should have kicked Kevin's behind to Earth and back, but I needed to salvage a draw. I do hope you enjoy this one though. Just update soon, man!**

"They're coming, are they not?" said the authoritative, flat voice of the King of Necropolis. The Elemental Cosmic Sentinel nodded. "Indeed they are, sir. My scouts have noticed that a number of Duel Spirits all across the realm have been converging upon a single area. I haven't issued orders for any attacks, as I was waiting for your opinion."

"It is obvious that the intruders will want to rescue their ally," mused the King, leaning over his golden desk, sipping some wine. It looked quite odd, the huge, hulking form on the massive chair, with the scarlet liquid swirling around in his glass. The Sentinel often wondered why his King bothered with such strange pleasures. It was almost the same as money. It all began when some lazy idiot who didn't have anything to exchange anything of value for favors, and decided to give away some shiny rocks instead.

"They are fools. They have taken me to be just like one of the rest of their foes. But I am not the fool Apocalypse is, powerful though he may be. The Infinity Council will hunt him down to the ends of existence and kill him, regardless of the consequences. Bah, I care nothing for those foolish idiots and their high-ended ideals. I simply need the secret to my Seal…. And then invincibility will be mine."

The Sentinel did not reply. He also thought it quite bold of the King to speak of the most powerful being of destruction to ever exist in such a negligent manner, especially when his knowledge of the Lord Apocalypse was limited to bits and pieces he had gleaned from interrogated sorcerers who dabbled in magic most would never dream of.

"Belial will no doubt lead the attack himself, he sees it as a perfect opportunity to dethrone me himself. But the fool does not realize what I have backing me… He thinks he's Sherlock Holmes."

Despite himself, the Sentinel dared to challenge these words. "Sir, I believe that is Professor Moriarty." "Holmes, Moriarty, both of them look the same when I have their skeletons hanging around my throne room." He gave a sinister laugh, allowing it to trail off. "Tell me, Sentinel, has the corpse been prepared?"

"Yes, sir. It waits right now in the magician's chambers."

"Good." With that, the King took the last swig of wine and crushed the glass in his gauntlet covered hand. He stood, and the Sentinel respectfully moved aside to allow him to pass. Shoving his desk aside, the King continued on, but stopped as he was in line with his servant.

"I cannot say I am sorry…. Sentinel." Before the fused being could react, he felt a piercing pain in his torso. He looked down to see a massive shard of glass sticking out of his stomach. It was a piece of the glass from which the King had been enjoying a drink. Blood was beginning to leak out.

He would have tried to attack, but his head was blanking out. His vision was going in and out of focus. "Obsidian," muttered the King, throwing the remains to the floor and crushing them under his feet. "It was taken from the volcano near the Abyss, so naturally, it has properties that are not very pleasant in terms of mental and physical health. I'd give it two minutes before the infections spreads to your heart and kills the pumping mechanism. After that, your life essence will still be remaining for my mages to steal away and re-animate the corpse of my greatest enemy…. So that I may watch him die, over and over and over again!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I will not be surprised if the King has a defense ready," muttered Angel, lowering his binoculars. "Why?" questioned Daniel.

"He has spies everywhere. Of course, he's just too lazy to step out and lead an attack himself, and against Belial any one without him is suicide. In one on one combat, Belial has the ability to best even his strongest generals. He just sits high up in his castle, enjoying his wine and brooding over the Seal. It's a little hard to imagine him as the terror of a town as cutthroat as Necropolis…"

He gave a derisive snort, and groaned as the first clap of thunder sounded. He sank back behind the rocky dune, where the rest of their company, consisting of Yugi, Ryu, CJ, Jason and Brian, along with some troops provided to them by Belial for backup, waited.

"Well, at the least we'll be able to catch Ryu Kokki by surprise. That breed of zombies aren't known very well for seeing twenty-twenty." The final words were obscured by another crash of thunder, and the sound of water hitting the ground. Daniel groaned himself and flopped his head back against the rocks. Within seconds, they were all soaked to the bone.

"No umbrellas in Necropolis?" called Brian to Angel. The old man glared at him and looked back into his binoculars. "Well, I can vaguely make out a large form stalking around the gate about two miles from here. We're lucky we're far enough, he'd make mincemeat out of us if he chanced upon us unprepared."

He looked over to the Dark Blade. "I can't expect you guys to help us, it would be quite unfair considering the special power that Ryu Kokki was born with. We don't even know if there are any more in there, or anti-warrior traps, especially since the governor really _hates_ warriors. But be here, we'll send out a signal if we're needed. Once you see the aerial transport leave, you'll know that you have to make for the King's lair."

He stood up and extended his hand. Dark Blade shook it firmly. The humans of the group limped upwards, giving brief nods to their temporary allies. "We don't even need cover," bellowed Angel over the rain. "He won't see us coming through this. Our best bet is to hit him hard and fast."

But still, it was inadvisable to go walking towards an angry zombie without any protection, regardless of whether he could see you or not.

They resorted to creeping along behind a ridge of rocks. The prison was quite isolated, so at the least they didn't have to worry about being spotted by other servants of the King. Working their way across silently, it must have taken them a good thirty minutes to cover the two miles. When they were less then a hundred feet away, the gatekeeper of Necroguard Prison was fully in view.

Through the rain, he was just a dark shadow. The massive, creaky iron gates to the prison were bound by a rusted iron chain, and the walls to which they were attached were about twenty feet high, tipped with spikes, meaning that even from another side, one could not enter. Behind the gate was the muddy moat. It extended on, and on.

It seemed like Belial had not been exaggerating. In fact, he had been playing the situation down. The prison was a dark speck in the distance, more like an island in a man-made, in this case, monster-made lake.

"Now what do we do?" muttered CJ. Jason spoke.

"We treat this like a normal retrieval mission. Our primary aim is to get past him. He's the gatekeeper, after all, and he won't follow us into the prison if he avoid him. His job is to stay at the gate. We don't need to defeat him if it's not necessary. Once we're on the boat, I don't know if he'll follow us."

"I don't even like the look of that lake…" said Daniel uneasily. Obviously, someone who had taken the effort to build a wall that went right around a lake wouldn't take chances with security. Who knew what was lurking in those deep, dark waters….

There was another clap of lightning. At this, they suddenly noticed that the dark form was gone.

"What the-…" Daniel began, and he barely had the time to glance up as a huge fist came crashing down towards him. He leapt off lightly, and the punch shattered a rock. The group scattered, and standing in the middle of them was a most hideous zombie. A grey creature with some red and blue on its chest, made up of skulls, rotting flesh, and other disgusting pieces was trudging up and down the gate (2400/2000).

"So that's the Ryu Kokki…." muttered Angel.

The zombie roared, and flicked its beady eyes from one intruder to another. "Nice and easy there, boy…" muttered Brian, taking one tentative step backward.

At this movement, the undead beast gave an unnaturally loud howl and took off into the air, this time aiming for Brian. He was, however, far more largely built then Daniel and not able to make such a quick and light escape. He instead braced himself, resorting to a powerful punch to the creature's bony chest as it landed.

He flinched. Beads of blood appeared on his fist as the zombie swiped at him with its long claws, unaffected by the attack. He took an involuntary step back, and avoided the brunt of the blow. However, its talons grazed against his chest, leaving shallow cuts. The pain overtook him for a moment, and it would have finished him off had a bolt of golden energy not slammed into its back.

Yami stood behind him, tall and proud, his Millennium Puzzle activated in full force. He bellowed a word in Egyptian, and another bolt lanced forwards, catching the beast in the face. It roared in agony, and Yami responded with a barrage of blasts from his Puzzle, one coming after another. One or two slammed into the zombie's face, but with a bellow it slapped away the other few even as it rumbled forwards.

Yami's eyes widened in shock. The Puzzle was having no effect. He barely rolled out of the way as the monster slammed another fist down. The group of six formed a circle once again.

"Leave him to me," growled CJ. "Make for the boat. I'll join you guys." The others didn't think this an appropriate time to argue. With that, he gave a loud cry, similar to the Ryu Kokki's own, horrible shriek. This caught the zombie's attention. After all, he was the member of the group nearest to him in size and intimidation factor.

At first, one might think it was a foolish move, for Brian was just as large and physically strong as him, and his punch had had no effect. But then again, CJ was the Horse Demon Lord. The powers afforded to him by the post increased his strength and speed, and bolstered his reaction time. He didn't even flinch as the zombie started forward.

"Yeah, yeah, real scary," he said out loud.

If this wouldn't impress, Ryu Kokki would try something different. He roared loudly, beating his chest. CJ looked bored. He had dealt with far stronger and worse opponents in his time. As a group, the Ryu Kokki had the advantage of feints, as well as creeping up on them. But one on one, CJ would be quite a match for it. He didn't want to resort to summoning monsters, as that would drain him considerably.

"I'm warning you, now, dude, I'm prepared to break you into tiny pieces if necessary." CJ felt ridiculous engaging in macho repartee with a zombie would could only roar back in reply. But it wasn't the words he spoke, it was the tone he employed. At the end of it, Ryu Kokki was just a dumb beast. A powerful beast, yes, but a dumb and wild one. And all wild beasts could be tamed…

He spoke like a trainer. "Easy now, dude… I want you to slowly, slowly put your hands down." The zombie was confused. It was used to normally tearing its opponents to shreds if they persisted to irritate it. But for some reason, this one was not afraid. In fact, the little intelligence it possessed had it intrigued by the new being.

Just as its primal sense of destruction came into play, CJ struck. The confused zombie was less invulnerable then before, and coupled with CJ's own deadly strength and demonic power, it was quite a stunning blow. He caught it right on the chest, and its momentary relaxation had caused its advanced muscle structure to soften a bit. The sheer force of the punch would have broken CJ's fingers and burst through the other end of the monster had it not rolled to the side a little.

But still, it was a powerful blow. CJ had used the assumption that its structure was roughly similar to a human's, and had aimed for the equivalent of the solar plexus. Whether the zombie possessed the fickle bundle of nerves or not, the blow had aided CJ's purpose. It had knocked the creature of balance, and it collapsed down onto one knee.

But single blow was scarcely enough to fell the hellish protector of the prison. It lashed out with its claws, which sank into CJ's chest just as he pulled away. As a result, they left shallow cuts, but still enough to cause him to roar in pain. The agony was beyond anything he had ever felt.

Anger gave him strength. He leaned forward, and slammed his palms into the zombie's shoulders. The knobby skin felt horrible under his hands, but he ignored it and drove his knee into the creature's stomach. It wasn't as effective as the punch, however, and the Ryu Kokki was able to slash at him once again. This time, it caught him on the knee. The sudden, agonizing pain weakened his knee, and a brutal shove knocked CJ off his feet.

With a roar, the Ryu Kokki advanced, its large jaws salivating as they opened. CJ placed his hands on the ground behind him, and using them as leverage lashed out with his feet. They caught the monster in the face, and using his massive size as momentum, he allowed the kick to carry him forward so that the creature was thrown against one of the walls to which the iron gate was attached.

The wounds were beginning to hurt more. He raised a fist, but the zombie caught it before it could complete its journey towards the Ryu Kokki's skull. He attempted to struggle out of it, but the wounds were throbbing more then ever. He pulled and rained blows on the zombie with his free hand, but it was in vain.

The zombie shrieked and raised a paw. If it met its mark, CJ's back would be broken. Suddenly, he felt his muscles bulge. The pain seemed gone, if for a moment. He took no time in using his sudden invulnerability, and while it clutched his wrist, he swung the zombie up into the air.

It was a risky move, especially with his wound. But the sudden movement caused the Ryu Kokki to suddenly let go of his arm. Since they were right now in front of the open gate, it was thrown across into the dark lake behind.

CJ suddenly felt his momentary strength disappear. He gulped in dread, as the unnatural agony returned to his wounds. His vision grew bleary, and any second now he expected to see a very wet and very angry Ryu Kokki emerge from the dark lake, ready to rend him in two.

He didn't see that. He did, however, see a very wet and very shocked Ryu Kokki erupt from the water on a miniature tidal wave, far further out then CJ had chucked him on that lofty throw. Before it could reach the shore, a gigantic form erupted out behind it. It had a long, snake-like boy with purple spikes along its body. Its underside and jaws looked slightly mechanical, plus its eyes were a deathly pale yellow. Its arms weren't very long, but the deadly claws they came with did more than make up for it.

It roared and dived below the surface. For a moment, the zombie was left awkwardly floating in the water, before it was pulled in with an ominous screech.

CJ could barely think. His wounds were bleeding seriously, and he fell to one knee. "What… What was that?" he croaked to no one in particular.

There was a flapping of wings, and a thickset dark form grazed to a stop on the ground. He could hear the Dark Blade's familiar voice calling out. "That was a Levia-Dragon Daedalus (2600/1500)," he muttered, leaning down beside the large man. "Damn it, why the hell did Angel allow you to face Ryu Kokki alone? I explicitly told him that the poison in Ryu Kokki's claws were especially dangerous to warriors and magicians, namely, humans. If it hadn't been for that Covering Fire spell we were able to activate just in time…"

CJ felt a jab in his arm, but it was discernible in the agony of his wounds. "There… That antidote should do it…"

For a moment, he felt nothing. But slowly, ever so slowly, he felt a speck of warmth enter his blood. It began to spread, blotting out the unbearable pain of his wounds. He gasped for air, and for the first time since his first wound, he could actually feel it flooding his lungs. "You won't be able to take on the King, now, that's for sure."

But the medicine seemed to have done its job in counteracting the poison in the Ryu Kokki's claws. CJ sat up slowly.

Behind the Dark Blade was his mount, the Pitch-Dark Dragon, along with Freed the Brave Wanderer (1700/1200) and Robotic Knight (1600/1800). "Wait… But if there's a Levia-Dragon Daedalus in there, we can't underestimate them anymore. There could be any number of creepy things in that lake, especially since it's far bigger then originally estimated. They won't be able to handle this themselves…"

"We'll need to join them," said Freed firmly. He was a tall, handsome young man, who spoke in a confident deep voice. "The only danger was Ryu Kokki, after that it'll be the same as any normal battle."

"_I agree_," put in the Robotic Knight in its mechanical voice. "_Objective is retrieval of prisoner. Presence of Ryu Kokki lowered chances of success to thirteen point two percent. New chances of success estimated at forty two point four percent_."

CJ gave the machine a strange look. "But there's one dragon and four of us."

Dark Blade pointed to a second boat floating around near the dock. "Ryu Kokki was very negligent when he wasn't hungry. Many times, the King's soldiers needed to chase some of our soldiers who attempted to break in and get their friends out. We know more about this place then they think…"

He looked up and gave the black island, which was about three hundred feet from the shore, a distasteful look. "I'll be looking forward to tearing it down."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Ancient Gear Golem…." muttered Sarah. "One of the most powerful machines in the game…"

"Powerful is truly putting it lightly with this bad boy," replied Rikuo, pointing at the Fairy King Truesdale. "It never pays to underestimate your opponents, girl, and I'm about to show you why! Ancient Gear Golem, destroy Fairy King Truesdale with Mechanized Melee!"

The mechanical behemoth rushed forward, raising an arm as it went. It struck out with its fist, knocking the king of plants to the ground. Just as Truesdale stood up again, he was met with an even more powerful punch, one that threw him into the sea. He did not surface.

(Sarah: 7100, Rikuo: 5500, Drake: 8000, Joey: 8000, Serena: 7700, Kyle: 3900)

Serena sighed. It was true, she hadn't counted on Rikuo summoning a monster stronger then her Fairy King Truesdale. Her golden chance to weaken Gearfried the Swordmaster, their opponent's most powerful monster, had vanished. Now, she was also defenseless. If it wasn't for Serena's Steel Paladin LV7, one could say the duel was slipping out of their control.

"Then I set a card and end my turn."

Drake drew. "Psychic Armor Head (0/500), returns to me!" The futuristic helmet reappeared on his head, joining Buster Knuckle (600/0) and Active Guard (0/2500).

He cocked his eyebrows towards the Ancient Gear Golem. It was a formidable monster, and destroying it was beyond him at the moment. None of us monsters were strong enough to defeat Gearfried the Swordmaster as well.

"I'll leave Buster Knuckle in attack mode, and the other two in defense mode. Then I set a card and end my turn."

"Now you'd better watch out!" declared Joey triumphantly, sliding the card of Gearfried the Swordmaster to a vertical position. The barbaric warrior got to his feet, finally happy to have broken lose of its master's opponents bonds.

"Now, he has a bone to pick with your Steel Paladin. Attack now with your Sword of Dragon Soul!" The muscular warrior raised his blade, and he jumped across the field, eager to get revenge for his temporary imprisonment. The heavier set, armored soldier raised his own weapon, and the two blades struck, and sparks shot out.

"I activate Defensive Transformation! One monster in play is now considered to be an Armor monster until the end phase. That monster is obviously Steel Paladin LV7," declared James. "And the effect shared by all Armor monsters, of course, allows me to divert the course of an attack from one to another. So my Psychic Armor Head shall bear the brunt once again!"

Sarah looked over at Drake, alarmed. He still had a careless grin on his face, as he leapt in the way of Gearfried the Swordmaster. It looked annoyed, and with a single blow from its sword, it had shattered the helmet. Drake looked a little winded, but said nothing.

"_Drake has been taking the most beating from all three of us… I don't know how long he'll be able to keep this up. He hates demons so much that he's willing to put his own interests behind those of defeating these people. Come to think of it, it may have been silly of me to think of them as spies! They were fighting those Paradias thugs! But I can't do anything about it now. We'll need to stall until backup arrives and sorts this mess up_."

"I set a card and end my turn," Joey grumbled.

Serena's eyes glowed with defiance as she drew. "I set a card facedown in defense mode, and add a facedown card. That's all for now." The two brown-backed cards filled up her otherwise empty field, and she looked over to Kyle.

He ripped the top card off his deck, and smirked. "Well, this is not going to be good for you guys at all…"

"I first play Pot of Greed." He drew two cards, so that he now held four cards in his hand. "I drew a useful card that I added to my deck called Skilled Apprentice Magician (400/200). When I draw him, he's instantly special summoned to the field." Appearing on Kyle's field was a short magician dressed in black armor, and holding a small, emerald dagger. His hair was long and unkempt, but his eyes had a wild gleam in them.

"I now sacrifice him immediatley for Dark Magician Girl (2000/1700)."

Instantly the blonde magician vanished and in his place, a young woman with long blonde hair, bright blue eyes, wearing a skimpy blue and pink mage's dress that showed her cleavage quite well with the dress barely covering her back side, a blue and pink mage's hat, and a staff in her right hand took to the field.

"When Skilled Apprentice Magician is sent to the graveyard, I can add one Apprentice Magician (400/800) from my deck to my hand." He quickly located the card and slid it into his hand. "I'm not done yet, for I play Sage's Stone. When Dark Magician Girl is in play, I can automatically summon my Dark Magician (2500/2100)!"

The stronger mage in purple armor with flowing purple robes materialized onto the field. He wore a strange set of armor, with a strange mage's hat, and had a powerful green staff that was nearly as tall as his body. His long hair that could be seen hanging out of his hat was purple and his eyes were the color of lilac.

The Dark Magician Girl gave a light coo of happiness at the sight of her master. Sarah's eyes widened. "A Dark Magician? How did you…"

"Yes, it is true that other people besides Yugi Moto _happen_ to have a Dark Magician in their decks," snapped Kevin angrily. "He hasn't copyrighted the card, you know! Anyway, now I'll use him to destroy the facedown monster _you_ just set." He pointed to Serena for emphasis.

At his word, the powerful mage twirled his scepter, and let out a battle cry before pointing his staff at the brown backed card. He quickly released a green sphere of energy straight at it, which flipped over to reveal to reveal a strange, scarlet creature. Upon looking closer, one could see it was actually a humanoid… flower. It was a short, imp-like man, dressed in a red bodysuit, with several petals attached to his body. He was easily incinerated.

"You destroyed my Rose Defender (300/1200). When he's destroyed, I can add a level four or lower plant type monster from my deck to my hand." Going through her deck, she made a selection, and slid it into her hand.

Kyle shrugged. "Dark Magician Girl, attack her directly!" Winking at Serena, the female mage began twirling her scepter till she finally pointed at her. A pink spear instantly formed at the tip of the scepter and was launched straight at the Eagle agent.

"I activate my facedown trap monster card, Dark Venus (0/0)!" Appearing on her field was a huge Venus fly trap. It sprouted out of the sand, although how any plant could survive in the filthy New York beach was beyond all minds. It was a shade of dark green, consisting of a long stem with large leaves, topped with a gigantic mouth that was filled with razor sharp teeth.

"Dark Magician Girl will blow it apart anyway!"

"I beg to differ. Dark Venus gains a thousand attack and defense points for every plant monster in my hand, although it cannot attack. I possess two at this point. If you wish to bring about the mutual destruction of your monsters, I have no objection." (2000/2000)

Kyle paused, as the Dark Magician Girl's attack faded away. He grunted. "Fine. I set a card and end my turn."

Sarah drew a card slowly. She did have her Steel Paladin LV7 with thirty-two hundred attack points, and he was also going to gain one more Iron counter. As his attack points rose to thirty-four hundred, she immediatley picked up another card from her hand, and drew two more cards. It was anyway stronger then the Ancient Gear Golem, and two hundred attack points made no difference.

"Steel Paladin, destroy his machine!" The armored warrior raised the Fusion Sword Murasame Blade and took a gigantic leap across the field. He brought his blade downward, attempting to thrust it through the shoulder of the large machine. However, the rusty old mecha immediatley reached up and grabbed it, before throwing it back to Sarah's field. It landed unsteadily on one foot and tumbled over to one side.

"It was my facedown magic card Mechanized Defense. All machine monsters are invulnerable to destruction by battle until the end of the turn, and I can draw one card," chuckled Rikuo.

Sarah bit her lip. "Fine. I summon Silent Swordsman LV3 (1000/1000) in attack mode." The medium-sized, turquoise-skinned, red-eyed blonde swordsman with a blue helmet-like pirate's hat leapt into play. He donned his silver-buttoned, blue jacket with silver and blue shoulder pads, as well as blue, cape-like pants with the silver stripe. He had a silver belt on, with the center containing a capital "S" on it. He wore blue boots with a silver-lined center, containing light-silver bullet marks on them. With his right, white-gloved hand, he gripped onto a thick, gray buster sword, holding it forward.

"Then I set a card and end my turn."

It was back to Rikuo, of course. "I summon X-Head Cannon (1800/1500)." A flying machine with yellow and blue arms, and a blue body appeared. One cannon laid above each side of its head, and it had a blue, spiked bulb on the bottom of its body.

"Now, I'll use X-Head Cannon to destroy Buster Knuckle!"

Two spinning spheres of energy appeared on the tips of the large machine's cannons. It buzzed, and the energy exploded outward in the form of two, long beams. Drake snarled. "I won't let you do that, demon! Activate, Shield of the Guardian, which allows me to increase the attack points of one monster on my field by the defense points of another. Now, Active Guard will boost the might of Buster Knuckle (3100/0)!"

As he spoke, his fist suddenly glowed with energy. He snarled and punched into the oncoming blast, fighting through it and reaching Rikuo's machine. With a single, mighty blow, it was completely shattered.

"You really irritate me, you know that!" snarled Rikuo. "Ancient Gear Golem, annihilate his Active Guard with Mechanized Melee!"

Drake knew of Ancient Gear Golem's effect. It dealt damage through defense, and allowing his Psychic Armor Head to take the fall instead was simply not worth twenty-five hundred points of damage. He braced himself as the gigantic machine reached backward with its fist and slammed it into Drake's torso. He groaned in pain, and fell to his knees. He had now taken his first life-point damage of the duel, leaving only Joey unharmed.

(Sarah: 7100, Rikuo: 4200, Drake: 7500, Joey: 8000, Serena: 7700, Kyle: 3900)

"I end my turn," muttered Rikuo. (Buster Knuckle: 400/0)

Drake drew immediatley. "I activate Armor Clone! Now, I can special summon one Armor Clone (?/?) for every Armor monster in play. I have two, which means I gain an additional two clones!" A pair of cannons appeared on his shoulders. They were identical in every way, and were firmly fitted onto a strong metallic base that clamped down over his shoulders.

"These guys gain two hundred attack and defense points for every Armor monster in play, including themselves. Don't forget, since they're counted as Armor monsters, Buster Knuckle gains an additional four hundred more attack points."

The two rocket launchers glowed, as did his fist, as their attack points increased (800/800) (x2) (800/0).

"Now, I activate the effect of another Armor monster in my hand. I must remove Buster Knuckle from play in order to special summon him. I call upon Destruction Fist (0/1200)!" The metallic fist gauntlet disappeared, and was replace by a far more futuristic one. It was covered with hatches and buttons, and had a sleek, golden shade. The hatches snapped open, and a number of rocket launchers appeared, ready to fire.

"Destruction Fist gains six hundred attack points for every other Armor monster in play, and one, of my choice, will gain a thousand attack points. I choose Psychic Armor Head, whom I now switch to attack mode." (1800/1200) (1000/500)

He looked at Kyle. "This is going to smart, kid. I can sacrifice one Armor Clone in play to reduce the attack points of one monster on my opponent's field by its level multiplied by one hundred. I'll sacrifice both in order to target Dark Magician as well as Dark Magician Girl!"

Kyle gasped in shock as the cannons on James' shoulders began whirring. With explosive force, a pair of missiles shot out, targeting the tall mage and his apprentice. The former attempted an encouraging smile, but it wasn't much help as the missiles caught them head-on. Both mages were brought to their knees, gasping in pain (1800/2100) (1400/1700).

"You'll pay for that!" bellowed Kyle.

"For some reason, I don't think I will. I'll play my final card, Clone Skirmish! For every Armor Clone that was destroyed this turn, I can special summon another Armor monster from my deck. I choose Destruction Slide (1400/1200) and Destruction Helm (1000/1400)!"

"A set of Armor monsters within Armor monsters?" gasped Kyle, as the top part of another helmet clamped down over the Psychic Armor Head. It was a sky-blue in color, and turned upwards to the front, to give it a futuristic, yet traditional look. Drake extended his left hand to allow a thin gauntlet to slide over it. It was a little thinner then the Destruction Fist, but had a pink energy blade extended out, compensating for the lack of artillery on it.

"Destruction Slide gains four hundred attack points if there is an Armor monster in play. Destruction Helm, on the other hand, gains two hundred defense points for every Armor monster in play. He cannot be in defense mode, however."

Drake's entire body began to glow with an otherworldly, gray light as the various parts of armor on his body began to fluctuate in power (2400/1200) (1800/1200) (1000/2200).

"Now, I'll use Destruction Fist to destroy your Dark Magician!" He prepared himself, and with a grunt he leapt towards the mage. Lashing out with his fist, he deflected a sphere of green energy from the Dark Magician's staff, sending it back at him. It collided with his torso, weakening the armor and bringing him to his knees. With a final punch, Drake shattered the iconic spellcaster.

"Now, I'll take out your Dark Magician Girl with Destruction Slide!" He dodged a pink spear of energy, and this time used his left fist to attack the female spellcaster. She squeaked and disappeared, leaving Kyle's field open.

(Sarah: 7100, Rikuo: 4200, Drake: 7500, Joey: 8000, Serena: 7700, Kyle: 2900)

"I won't allow that!" bellowed Kyle. "I activate my facedown Call of the Haunted, allowing me to special summon one monster in my graveyard to the field. Rise up and defend me, Dark Magician of Chaos (2800/2600)!"

The mage with black tight fitting armor materialized, wearing his strange spellcaster's hat, and held a long black staff in his right hand. His skin color was blue, and he had some black markings. He glowered at Drake, who bit his lip and backed off. There was no way he could defeat this behemoth, not at the present.

"I end my turn."

Joey drew aggressively. "I summon Goblin Attack Force (2300/0) in attack mode!" A group of about eight green-skinned goblins appeared, wearing blue, rag-torn clothes, and golden helmets. Some of them drew clubs, while others drew spears. All eight of the goblins had a muscular build.

"Now, I've got two powerful monsters on my field! Gearfried the Swordmaster, take out Iron Paladin LV7!"

"I won't be able to help you this time, Sarah!" warned Drake as the barbaric soldier raised his weapon, charging towards his armored opponent. He raised the weapon, and Sarah's shoulders drooped in defeat as it finally cut through the heavy armor of her paladin, slicing its way into the warrior's body and cleaving it completely in half. The other two pieces vanished.

(Sarah: 6800, Rikuo: 4200, Drake: 7500, Joey: 8000, Serena: 7700, Kyle: 2900)

"Now, Goblin Attack Force can slice and dice Silent Swordsman LV3!"

Sarah braced herself as the literal tide of goblins washed over her field. They took to attacking the child-like warrior with their primitive weapons, followed by sick whoops of glee in response to the swordsman's cries of pain.

"I activate my facedown trap card, Instant Level Up! This card only works on a LV monster if it is the first of the series. Since Silent Swordsman LV3 counts, Instant Level Up comes into play and levels it up to its second form… Silent Swordsman LV3 (2300/1000)!"

Silent Swordsman started to rise in stature, gaining nearly more than twice his original height, with his clothes expanding with him. The buster sword he held glowed, growing nearly to the size of the warrior himself, though being much thicker. It also had a double handle at the bottom, being able to be held in two different positions. Circular, wheel-like silver pieces divided the separate handles. Silent Swordsman pulled his buster sword in front of himself and held it up triumphantly. With a slash that left a trail of mystic blue energy in its wake, it sent all the goblins around it flying back to Joey's field.

"Now, you targeted Silent Swordsman LV3. Since my field has changed, your attack will be replayed. Do you want to continue on and destroy _both_ our monsters, or would you prefer to just back off and live and let live?"

"I'll set a card and end my turn," grunted Joey. Since Goblin Attack Force had not technically attacked, it didn't switch to defense mode.

Serena drew. "I summon Lord Poison (1500/1000) in attack mode." A horrible, demonic, plant-like creature appeared on Serena's field. It was a far cry from the majesty of Fairy King Truesdale, or even the subtle darkness of the Dark Venus. It's entire body seemed to be made of thick, brown bark. Its head had three holes, one large and two small. Large spikes stuck out of not only its chest but also its arms. Its body ended outward in the form of a spine-tipped tail.

"Since I summoned a plant monster, Dark Venus loses one thousand attack points. Now, I'll use Lord Poison to attack Goblin Attack Force."

Kyle, Rikuo and Joey all looked surprised as the creature on Serena's field raced towards the goblins in a suicidal charge. Drake and Sarah, however, allowed faint smiles to grace their faces. The goblins shrugged and fell upon the attacker. For a second, the nine fiends had disappeared in a whirlwind of flying arms, clubs, spears, and spines. Occasionally, a hand broke free, but it was pulled back in sooner or later.

Finally, it died down. All eight goblins were left alive, albeit scratched. Lord Poison was gone.

(Sarah: 6800, Rikuo: 4200, Drake: 7500, Joey: 8000, Serena: 6900, Kyle: 2900)

"When Lord Poison is destroyed in battle, I can special summon another plant monster from my graveyard. My card of choice is Fairy King Truesdale (2200/1500)."

The tall man dressed in flowing green robes appeared. He had neat, brown hair that came down to his shoulders. Across his chest was a plate of green armor, and large, feathery wings extended from his back. He held a small, thin staff in one hand.

"Now, he'll boost the attack points of himself and Dark Venus by five hundred each." (2700/1500) (1500/1000)

Joey grimly realized what her plan was. "Since it's still my battle phase, I'll use Fairy King Truesdale to wipe out Goblin Attack Force once and for all!" The elven mage pointed his staff at the group of goblins. A sphere of forest-green energy appeared on its tip. It began to charge up, and then shot outward towards them. They watched in bewilderment as the natural energy swept over them. They barely even felt pain as their bodies began to disintegrate, soon leaving Joey's field bare but for the powerful Gearfried the Swordmaster.

(Sarah: 6800, Rikuo: 4200, Drake: 7500, Joey: 7600, Serena: 6900, Kyle: 2900)

"I switch Dark Venus to defense mode, and set another card facedown. Turn end."

Kyle drew carelessly. They had a massive power advantage, and he knew it. The only thing left to destroy was Fairy King Truesdale, and then victory was undoubtedly theirs. "I summon Time Templar (1900/1500) in attack mode."

Materializing next to the Dark Magician of Chaos was a tall man dressed in regal red armor. He had a purple cape coming down to his knees, as well as a sleek helmet that fitted over his head perfectly. His eyes were bright green, and he was clean shaven. He held a strange weapon that was a combination of a staff and sword in his right hand. The staff part was similar to that of other magicians, but it had a long spike extending out from one end.

"When he's summoned Time Templar gains one magic counter. I can't use it right now, so I'll instead attack Destruction Helm!" At his command, the magician raised his staff, and a nexus of white energy formed on the spike. With a cry, he rushed forward and slammed the weapon down on Drake's head. The Armor duelist grunted, and grasping the staff, he pushed him away.

"I can sacrifice Destruction Helm at any time to destroy one monster on my opponent's field that has under two thousand attack points!" With that, the armor piece on his head began to glow. Kyle watched in horror as it exploded, consuming Time Templar in an influx of energy. When it cleared, both were gone. (Destruction Fist: 1800/1200)

Kyle drew. "I removed Time Templar's counter, allowing me to draw one card when he's destroyed."

None of the Eagle agents seemed bothered. "Now, I'll avenge the loss of my Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl. Dark Magician of Chaos, attack Psychic Armor Head with Chaos Scepter Blast!"

Pointing his staff at the helmet on Drake's head, the Dark Magician of Chaos let lose a sphere of black energy, which shot through the air towards its target, growing larger every second. As it came to impact point, Drake gave a small groan, before he was consumed by the huge explosion. It completely shattered the helmet. Shards of metal were left scattered all over the ground, before they disappeared.

(Sarah: 6800, Rikuo: 4200, Drake: 5700, Joey: 7600, Serena: 6900, Kyle: 2900)

"I set a card and end my turn," said Kyle smugly.

Sarah drew nervously. As she saw her new card, she suddenly brightened up. "Excellent! I'll summon Mystic Swordsman LV2 (900/0) in attack mode!"

A warrior with a large, silver, pointed samurai-like head garment and flowing, blonde hair rose to the field, being dressed in light-violet clothing and a white cape on his back and down between his legs. He had white cuff-like clothing attachments near his feet, and light-green orbs attached to a gold and white circle on his knees. His arms had golden rings around them, and his forearms had the same cuffs his legs did. He wielded a curved, white, energy-like blade.

"Now I play Level Up, allowing me to upgrade Mystic Swordsman LV2 to Mystic Swordsman LV4 (1900/1600)!"

Mystic Swordsman grew taller, and his sword morphed into a double-edged one, being straight and pointed now instead of curved, although the portion on the left was in a higher stance than the right. The white capes on him grew longer, reaching down to his legs, his light-violet uniform becoming a mix of violet and dark-blue. A blue mask was over his eyes.

"As strong as Silent Swordsman and Mystic Swordsman are, they cannot defeat Ancient Gear Golem, Dark Magician of Chaos or Gearfried the Swordmaster," sighed Rikuo. "You're putting up a good fight, girl, but just face it. With Armor boy over there doing next to nothing but dressing himself up, and your other friend lacking firepower, you're outclassed. To be frank, I would have enjoyed taking you on in a one on one duel. But you have to admit, victory here is not feasible."

Sarah was silent. "_He's right… I hate to admit it, but what he's saying does make sense. If he really is Rikuo Amero, this was a stupid move by us. He has just loss on his official dueling record, it's just that he hasn't dueled much. On the other hand, Joey Wheeler himself is officially ranked number three, just behind Yugi Moto and Seto Kaiba. Taking on two championship level duelists, plus a kid who has Chaos monsters in his deck? This was a dumb move by us._ _I hate to admit it, but we can't win._"

She suddenly brightened up as an idea struck her. She would have rubbished it under normal circumstances, but for some reason it just seemed to appeal to her.

"You want to duel me alone? Fine. Let Drake and Serena as well as your two partners drop out. We'll finish this one on one. The terms of the duel remain the same." Her heart was thumping. If they went through with this, then she would be facing one ridiculously powerful monster instead of three. At the same time, she would be rid of Drake's biased moves. Serena was a good duelist, but once these three broke free, they would run over her. It was the only option. However, at the same time, he would now concentrate only on her, as compared to spreading his attention over three.

Rikuo raised an eyebrow. "My, my, you are a brave one." Even Kaiba seemed surprised from the sidelines. The three strongest duelists he had ever faced were Yami, Anubis and Dartz. One could say Joey slid in at fourth place, although he would never admit it. But to duel Rikuo Amero alone? He had never done it himself, and the thought of it, he found himself forced to admit, was daunting. The only people he knew who had done so and come out of it without losing were Yami and Daniel Pilkington.

Yami Bakura snickered. "_She's a feisty specimen. The demon is strong, incredibly so. She probably has a damn good plan if she hopes to come out of it alive, or she's just plain stupid._"

"Never!" snapped Drake. "I want to kill this demon myself! I refuse to back out no-…"

"You _will _back out," shot back Sarah. It was an order, not a request. "I am the ranking Eagle agent on site, and the organization's rules are explicit: disobedience of a superior officer's orders result border on betrayal. And I don't think you want to be charged with betrayal, no _do _you?"

Drake was about to fire something back, but instead gave her a glare. Serena sighed. "I'd like to continue, but it's up to you, Sarah. I just hope you know what you're doing."

"_So do I_," she thought silently.

"I don't mind," grunted Joey. He looked over at Kyle. "Think you can hold it in until another time, kid?" Kyle shrugged. "Continuing would be fun. But the result of the duel is inevitable, and with one duelist to defeat instead of three, we can get this over with faster. Serenity will need medical attention, so the sooner, the better."

They all looked at Rikuo, who shrugged. "Meh. Fine, I accept. This should be brief."

With that, the other four duelists clicked off their Duel Disks. One by one, their life-point counters fell to zero. Dark Magician of Chaos, Gearfried the Swordmaster, Drake's set of Armor monsters, Fairy King Truesdale and the Dark Venus all vanished. The four retreated, leaving only the confident, and powerful Wolf Demon Lord, Rikuo Amero and his gigantic Ancient Gear Golem, against the beautiful and subtle Eagle Agent Sarah Taylor, and her Silent Swordsman LV5 and Mystic Swordsman LV4.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"**Something is not right**." Apocalypse's senses were usually right when they told him something of the sort. He stopped straight, his crimson eyes staring so deeply into the mist that surrounded them that the sheer intensity of his gaze could be deemed enough to penetrate it.

"I agree, Master," spoke Blight. "The feel in the air… Only Death's power can do this. It is killing the magic I used to bind Phoenix." He frowned. "Under normal circumstances, I could have held him down for an infinite period of time. However, my power is no match for Death's metal abilities in his own realm."

Aster Phoenix lay on the ground two feet from them. His body was beginning to twitch. "He will break out of his coma sooner or later. I cannot stop it, Master. You could try, but your sheer power might shatter his mind, and leave him unable to accept the Ritual of the Fallen Angel willingly. If he breaks free, we will have to subdue him or kill him. If the Ritual is to be successful, the latter is not an option, Master. We need to keep him conscious, so that he is in a frame of mind that enables him to accept the Ritual."

"**We cannot wait for him to awaken**," replied Apocalypse. "**Every second we spend idling allows Death to locate us. We cannot afford to battle his entire army at once, not at this point. However, we also cannot afford for Phoenix to break free of his coma at a crucial point. I admit I did not expect Death's magic to be this strong…**"

He looked at Haou. The Supreme King returned his look unwaveringly.

"**Blight, relinquish your grasp on him. He will awaken. Haou will challenge him to a Shadow Game. The terms will be absolute submission to my will in the event of his loss. Even Death's magic cannot overpower that of the Shadow Games. If he loses, the intricate magic of the resulting Penalty Game will force his mind to **_**willingly**_** accept anything he is told. This further cements the success of the Ritual**. **We will continue towards Death, where the ritual may be conducted.**"

He looked at Blight. The embodiment of the Light of Destruction found himself shivering under his Master's gaze. "Yes, Master." He croaked something in an arcane language. For a second, nothing happened. Then, Aster's body shook violently. Spasms rushed through it, his limbs flailing wildly. He was moving with flexibility of such an abnormal degree, one would wonder that his spine had not already broken.

Suddenly, it all stopped. His eyes snapped open and he sat bolt upright. Apocalypse nodded to Blight and they strode off into the mist, leaving the gasping Aster alone with the blank Haou.

"YOU!" snarled Aster, getting to his feet. Haou refused to answer, and chose to instead stare silently at his quarry.

He looked wildly around himself. "Where the hell are we?" He received no answer. In anger, he reached forward and grasped the Supreme King's shoulders, shaking him wildly.

"TELL ME WHERE WE ARE!"

"We are knocking on Death's door." Although Aster did not understand it, those who did would find the irony of Haou's statement quite amusing.

Aster lashed out with a fist. Haou caught it in a gloved hand. "If you desire freedom, you will duel."

"Duel you?" laughed Aster derisively. "The original Jaden Yuki couldn't beat me. What chance do you, a cheap copy, have?"

Haou was not perturbed. "Attempt escape if you wish. You will never find a way out. You will remain in this place for eternity, unless you engage in a Shadow Game. The Penalty Game I will choose to inflict in case of victory is your absolute submission to the will of Apocalypse. You may choose your own Penalty Game."

Aster jerked away from Haou. The anger and strength that he had upon immediatley waking up was long gone. As he began to observe his surroundings, the feeling of shock began to seep in. He faintly remembered a foreign presence clamping down on his mind, restricting his thought flow, and then forcing him to black out.

The mist was also incredibly unnerving. Neither could see more then ten feet in either direction. There was no place on Earth that had such a thick mist, at least, not any place Aster knew off. He took a tentative step backwards, and tripped over something hard and large. To his horror, he saw that it was a gravestone. He looked wildly around him, noticing for the first time that they were indeed surrounded by gravestones, which popped up from the gray soil like crops in a field.

"You…." he glowered, his fist clenching.

"I repeat, duel if you desire freedom. You are foolish if you believe I am lying. Once a Shadow Game is initiated, the Penalty Game will always be the wishes of the winner, regardless of the intentions of he who initiates it."

Aster paused. "If I win, then not only will I be able to leave this place, whatever it is, and return to my home, but you will relinquish control of Jaden's body and disappear forever!"

Haou inclined his head slightly to show that he agreed. "Fine then!" snapped Aster. His Duel Disk was still on his arm, just as it had been since his loss to Blight. It clicked into place, and the holo projectors launched off into the dark fog. Something else he found quite unnerving was that he couldn't even _see_ the projectors.

A Duel Disk flashed into existence on Haou's arm out of thin air. It was jet black, but otherwise looked like one of Kaiba Corp.'s regular DD3's.

(Aster: 8000, Haou: 8000)

"I'll show you why being so careless when dueling _me_ was a mistake!" said Aster with a glare. "I play D-Spirit! When I have no monsters in play, I can pay a thousand life-points to special summon one Destiny Hero from my hand. My card of choice is none other then Destiny Hero – Diamond Dude (1400/1600)!"

A slight glow formed on the field, and from it was a man with a green tattered cap, long grey hair, black leather pants and a black shirt, a diamond looking mask over his eyes, and many diamonds covering his body, some sticking out at least two feet.

(Aster: 7000, Haou: 8000)

Haou said nothing as Aster continued. "Now, Destiny Hero – Diamond Dude allows me to flip the top card of my deck and send it to the graveyard. If it's a normal magic card, then I can activate it's effect during my next main phase, regardless of any specific cost it may require."

He drew and smirked. Turning the card over, he allowed Haou a glance at Pot of Avarice. "Looks like I'll be drawing two cards next turn… Anyway, here goes my Destiny Draw! I can discard a Destiny Hero from my hand to draw two cards. So I'll let Destiny Hero Malicious (800/800) bow out for now, in order to replenish my resources."

He quickly snapped the top two cards off his deck. "I then remove Malicious from play to activate his effect. I can now special summon another copy of Destiny Hero Malicious from my deck to the field (800/800)!"

A bulky, dark-skinned type of devious demon appeared onto the field; it had a black "D" symbol across its chest. It lowered itself into a defensive stance, glancing at Diamond Dude only for a brief moment.

"Finally, I'll call upon Destiny Hero – Defender (100/2700), in defense mode, in order to make use of my normal summon." A massively built, rock-formation being now rose to the field, dragging along blinding lights with itself. It had a caged helmet on its head in order to conceal its face, but its gazing, yellow eyes pierced through to the other side.

"I set a card and call it a turn."

Haou drew blankly. "Elemental Wildheart (1500/1600), normal summon."

A tanned warrior with a tied back black pony tail, a goatee, a strange red set of tattoos on his chest and shoulders, a bare chest and arms, a large sword on his back in a sheath, and a white loin cloth.

Aster glared. "Why you… First you invade Jaden's body, and then you steal his cards as well? You're going to deserve every bit of the beating that I give you before the Shadow Game is up."

Haou ignored him. "Elemental Wildheart's attack on Destiny Hero – Diamond Dude." Letting out a battle cry, the warrior unsheathed his sword and rushed forward. With a leap, the warrior brought the sword down hard on his target. The diamond covered man attempted to block. Slowly but surely, however, the attacking hero was succeeding.

"Not happening!" shouted Aster. "I activate Shift, transferring the attack to Destiny Hero Malicious instead!" As he spoke, the small, demonic creature leapt in the way of the attack, and tried to push the wild man away. He succeeded, but at the cost of incurring the Elemental Hero's wrath. It gave Malicious a disdainful sneer, and decapitated it with a single swipe of its large blade.

"He was in defense mode, so sorry, I'm safe for this turn," breathed Aster.

"Card set," continued Haou in his monotone. "Turn end."

Aster drew with a smirk. "I remove Malicious from play in order to special summon the last one from my deck!" He chuckled as the last, small gray fiend materialized onto his field, joining Defender and Diamond Dude.

"Now, I can use the effect of the Pot of Avarice I sent to the graveyard last turn… And draw two more cards!" He quickly snapped the top two cards off the top of his deck and glanced at them. His smile broadened.

"Now, Haou, you will face my ultimate monster! I sacrifice Defender, Diamond Dude, and Malicious, in order to summon the ultimate Destiny Hero, Destiny Hero – Bloo-D (1900/600)!" The large, winged beast was now gracing the field with its presence, lowering itself to the level of Aster. Its wings were of a blood-red color, and started shooting open, drawing in winds and the free blood toward itself. It had dark-blue skin and armor up and down its body.

Haou was quite silent as he observed the new creature, staring at it with such intensity, that it was as if he wished to blow it to pieces merely with his eyes.

"You probably didn't expect to see this monster out so early, did you?" taunted Aster. "Now, he'll free Jaden from your hellish grasp and send you wandering through the darkness forever! Bloo-D, activate your effect and absorb his Elemental Hero Wildheart!"

A wire of blood shot out from the right black wing of the dripping monster and wrapped itself around the wild warrior. Shocked, he warrior struggled, but was yanked back towards the horrifying creature. After a moment more of struggling, the creature yanked Wildheart into its wing, where he vanished. Moments later, the warrior's face was seen struggling up against the muscle of the blood creature, but finally vanished once more.

"Now, he gains attack points equal to half that of _your_ monster! So that's an additional seven hundred and fifty right of the bat!"

The ultimate D-card (2650/600) glowered at Aster, its crimson eyes glowing like two liquid rubies.

"Just so you know, Bloo-D is completely immune to monster effects, so you won't be able to stop him easily! Attack him directly with Bloody Fears!"

Spreading its wings, the winged beast took to the air. Its pulsating, scarlet form was visible even through the thickness of the mist. Without warning, bolts of blood-colored energy bolts rained down upon Haou's field like a barrage of crimson meteors.

However, the Supreme King's reaction time was next to nothing. "Trap card, activate. Negate Attack…" A spinning vortex of chaotic energy appeared on his field. As Bloo-D's attack continued on, it was simply absorbed by the vortex. Bolt after bolt came, but it didn't matter. Finally, the attack ceased, and the vortex disappeared.

The frustration was evident in Aster's voice. "Fine. I set a card and let you make your move."

Haou drew calmly. "Evil Hero Hell Brat (300/600), special summon." A medium-sized, dark, black, and brown beast rose onto the field, laughing with a smirking face. It had long, thick horns on the top of its head that shot out to its sides; it had a dark, metallic armor on its arms and legs, as well as gloves on its hands. "When the opponent controls a monster, and I don't, Hell Brat can be specially summoned."

"Evil Hero?" said Aster, surprised. "Elemental and Destiny, yeah, but Evil Heroes? What kind of deck are you using?"

Haou ignored him. "Then, I sacrifice it. Evil Hero Malicious Edge (2600/1800), come."

Hell Brat disappeared from the field, making room for a very tall, but thin, blade-winged fiend with a demonic mask over his face, and nearly skin-tight, dark-blue armor all over his body. Spikes were littered as designs, attached by accessory rings to the arms and kneecaps of his armor; it reached all the way to his hands, which contained deployed, knife-like claws at the ends. A dark-blue belt was around his waist, with a golden buckle on the front.

"When the opponent controls a monster, Malicious Edge can be summoned with one tribute."

"Well, he's still fifty points weaker then Bloo-D, so this entire thing was basically a waste of resources!" fired back Aster. "Besides, any effect would simply be negated by Bloo-D, so there's no way you could destroy him without a monster with at least twenty-seven hundred attack points."

"Dark Fusion, activate. Fuse Malicious Edge and The Dark-Hex Sealed Fusion (1000/1600)."

A swirling darkness crept down from the sky, engulfing one card from his hand, as well as his current monster. Malicious Edge soon reappeared, but now had much longer and sharper claws than before; black hair had also now formed at the back of its head, shooting out down and behind it. It also had large black wings extending out from its back, and an eerie type of red aura emitting from the same spot.

"Dark Fusion… Evil Heroes… Your entire deck is a cheap rip-off of Jaden's real Elemental Heroes! Of all the-…" Aster swore angrily. Haou was unperturbed.

"Dark Fusion: fuses two or more monsters for a dark attribute fusion monster. Evil Hero Malicious Devil (3500/2100) may only be summoned by the effect of Dark Fusion. Evil Hero Malicious Devil, Hell Needle!"

The devil soared into the air, raining down a large number of dark-induced needles from its hands. They rained down towards Aster's most powerful Destiny Hero, which spread its own wings and let lose a barrage of red bolts to meet it. They clashed in mid-air, but it was evident which Hero was stronger as the Malicious Devil's attack began to press forward.

"I activate my trap card, Zero Gravity! This forces all of our monsters to change their battle positions."

As he spoke, Bloo-D suddenly closed its wings and fell to one knee. The Dark Fusion ceased its assault, and settled down on Haou's field. But the effects of the short battle were quite clear if one noticed the numerous burn marks that peppered the field around them.

"Card set. Turn end," said Haou. A touch of bland disgust was evident in his tone.

Aster drew triumphantly. "I switch Bloo-D to attack mode, and then I'll also summon Destiny Hero – Fear Monger (1000/1000)!"

An olive colored warrior with what looked like a set of jet wings on his back, a jet like engine weapon on his right arm, sharp clawed fingers on the other hand, and solid armor covering his body appeared onto the field with a small battle cry.

At the same time, the large, winged, demonic monster spread out its wings and gave a primal cry.

"Destiny Hero – Bloo-D, annihilate his Malicious Devil!" The wings flew open once again, this time firing a wave of blood-red spikes toward the Evil Hero.

"Trap card, Command Silencer, activate. The opponent's attack is negated. I draw one card." A large totem pole materialized on the field in front of Malicious Devil. It suddenly vibrated, giving off a spasm of an ultrasonic sound wave which brought Bloo-D to its knees. Aster bit his lip in anger. Now, Haou would be free to destroy Fear Monger next turn.

"I set a card and end my turn."

Haou ripped the top card off his deck. "Malicious Devil's attack." The towering demon took off into the air once more, and from its body exploded a barrage of poisonous needles, which shot towards Aster's weaker monster, about to deal him potential damage worth nearly a third of life-points.

The olive Destiny Hero never stood a chance. The attack ripped it apart and continued on before slamming into Aster. He fell to his knees in agony, and to his horror saw that the one of the needles stayed buried in his shoulder. Biting his lip, he reached over and gave it a tentative shake. Immediatley, a wave of nerve-wracking pain shot through his body.

He couldn't leave it in though. He knew that. Steeling himself, he pulled the spine out, but was still unable to stem the cry of anguish that escaped his lips. It was more so at the sight of the crimson blood leaking out then the pain. He gasped and ripped off a piece of fabric from the cuff off his shirt. Trying to ignore the agony of it, he stuffed the cloth into the wound, trying to stem the blood. If he lost too much blood now, he was well and truly finished.

(Aster: 4500, Haou: 8000)

"Card set. Turn end."

Aster drew slowly. He had to get rid of Malicious Devil, and fast, or there was no way he would be able to free Jaden.

He had drawn nothing of help. His situation was frustrating, least to say. All he had left was his facedown card… He could have used it on Fear Monger, but he wanted to make sure he had a backup for Bloo-D. Then again, this _was_ unorthodox play for him. It was not very often that he had to play things safe while he had Destiny Hero Bloo-D of all monsters in play.

"I end my turn."

Haou drew silently. "Malicious Devil's attack." The dark demon once again rose into the air, and let lose the wave of needles. They looked ready to rip through the unfortunate Destiny Hero with ease, but he suddenly stood up and opened his own wings. A similar barrage of bloody spikes shot out. The two attacks collided, resulting in a large explosion in mid air.

"I activated my facedown trap card D-Shield! This acts as an equip card, and will switch one Destiny Hero on the field to defense mode. Plus, that monster can't be destroyed in battle, so not only am I safe from your monster's effects, whatever they are, but also from its attack!"

Haou did not reply. He simply set a card and inclined his head a little, to show that his turn was over.

Aster drew, and his grin widened. "All right! I equip Bloo-D with the magic card Axe of Despair! Now, he'll gain a grand total of one thousand attack points, putting his attack points one hundred and fifty points over and above Evil Hero Malicious Devil!"

Appearing in the hands of the tall, blood-covered Destiny Hero was a large axe. Its handle was made out of twisted, knarled, and rotten wood. The blade was extremely thick, but one could tell that it was still razor sharp, and could just as easily cut a specific vein as crush the hardest armor (3650/600).

"Bloo-D, destroy Evil Hero Malicious Edge!"

"Useless. Trap card, Chains of Time, activate. The monster loses one thousand points, and its effect is negated. However, if and when Chains of Time is removed from the field, all effects of the selected monster are triggered again."

As he spoke, the weakened Destiny Hero continued to charge on despite its master's cries of frustration. It swiped forward with its new axe, but the attack was easily batted away by the stronger Evil Hero, who spread open his wings and allowed the wave of spines to rip through the unfortunate Destiny Hero's body. Thanks to D-Shield, it was not destroyed, but the battle damage was done, and Aster could feel the agonizing horror of it once again as another spine buried itself in his body, this time in his calf.

He keeled over. The poison in the spine had entered his body, and was now coursing through his veins. Even if he won, the poison would kill him, he was sure of it…

He shook his head roughly, snapping out of it. Biting his lip, he once again ripped out the needle. The shudder that passed through his body almost knocked him unconscious then and there. He himself was quite surprised that his legs didn't give way that instant, so horrible was the pain.

Once again, he ripped off a piece of fabric from his shirt, shoving it hard against the wound, praying with all his soul that his makeshift bandages would stem the flow of blood long enough for him to try and defeat this man and free Jaden…

(Aster: 3650, Haou: 8000)

Aster could do nothing. "Fine… I set two cards and end my turn." He couldn't even switch Bloo-D to defense mode, as it had already attacked.

Haou drew. "Evil Hero Dark Maniac (1800/0), summon." A muscular warrior dressed in dark-blue body armor and dark-silver leggings and gauntlets blew itself onto the field by a windstorm-like effect, with two plane-like wings sticking out of its sides, complete with propelled fans. It had a dark-blue visor over its face, a gray helmet with devil-like ears worn on its head. He looked a bit like a futuristic and evil mad scientist.

"Evil Hero Malicious Devil's attack."

The large fusion took off into the air, and with a howl spread his wings. The metallic, dark needles once again slammed into the plasma creature and bounced off, with one of them heading towards Aster. He was ready this time, however, and flung himself out of the way, barely avoiding the attack despite it's lightning speed.

(Aster: 3300, Haou: 8000)

"Evil Hero Dark Maniac's effect: By halving its attack points, it may attack directly." (900/0)

Aster braced himself as the Evil Hero's fans began spinning even faster, sending waves of sharp air currents towards him. "I activate Dark Wall of Air! Now, all direct attacks for the turn are negated!"

As he spoke, the mist around him momentarily turned black, and sprung up even more thickly, forming a barrier between himself and Haou. The barrage continued on, but this time they just bounced off the shield of darkness that guarded the Destiny Hero duelist.

"Turn end."

Aster drew weakly.

"Evil Hero Malicious Devil's effect." At his command, the winged man cackled, and sharpened his claws in anticipation of the battle that was to happen. The bloody, plasma creature helplessly raised its axe and charged towards Haou's powerful fusion, knowing full well that it would simply be forced back.

"I activate D-Chain!" said Aster triumphantly. "This acts as an equip card upon activation, and will increase the attack points of Bloo-D by five hundred, making it stronger then your Malicious Devil!"

Bloo-D rose into the air, as a formation of chains with a type of scythe on the end wrapped itself around its hands (3650/600). "He may not have his effect anymore, but he's a heck of a lot stronger then your monsters now! Bloody Fears!"

With a strange cry, the Destiny Hero lashed out with his chain. As he did, crimson electricity crackled up its length, slamming into the winged Evil Hero's torso. By all rights, it should be been destroyed, then and there, but it then grabbed the chain and flung it back at Aster's field. It's pride was more injured then its body.

"Quick-play magic card, Winds of Injustice, activate. At the sacrifice of one dark monster, three cards are sent from the deck to the graveyard. I sacrifice Evil Hero Dark Maniac." He pulled out his deck, and with impressive speed and dexterity extracted three cards, before sliding them into his graveyard.

"Then, trap card, Delta Barrier is activated. When this card is activated, two more copies of it are activated from the graveyard." A kind of dark prism enveloped Evil Hero Malicious Devil. Bloo-D had fired off another set of scarlet spikes, but they simply bounced off the protective shield on Haou's dark monster, with no effect.

"When three Delta Barriers are active, damage to one monster on my field is reduced to zero."

"But you still lose life-points!" shot back Aster, glad that he was at least able to do Haou a little bit of damage.

(Aster: 3300, Haou: 7850)

He set another card. "I'll call it a turn."

Haou drew, and held up the single card he had drawn for Aster to get a good look at. It was Uria, Lord of Searing Flames (0/0).

"A Legendary Demon? Where the hell were you able to get that? After Jaden defeated Kagemaru, they were long since sealed under Duel Academy! Either those are cheap fakes of some sort, or you were actually stupid enough to steal and attempt to play a Legendary Demon!"

Haou ignored him. "Send three Delta Barriers to the graveyard. Come, Uria, Lord of Searing Flames (0/0)."

Explosions of raging infernos soared into the air behind them, from the base of a rotten tree, towering into the dark-blue night sky, and erupting in all directions. Through the flames, the vastly long, red-topped and scaley, silver-bottomed, snake-like body started raging forth toward the field. The mighty beast had not one set of teeth, but two, with each set being just as sharp as the other. Its tail started wrapping around itself, in constant movement, as the blood-red, gargoyle-like wings of the beast fluttered about gracefully. The orange-tinted eyes burned with fiery triumphant, as it glared down at Aster, its sharp and enormous claws hovering ominously to its sides.

"The effect of Uria activates. It gains one thousand attack points for every continuous trap card in my graveyard. Along with the three Delta Barriers, Wall of Revealing Light is also present." The towering creature glowed and gave a massive roar as its power skyrocketed (4000/0).

"The second effect of Uria activates. One facedown spell or trap card on the field may be destroyed." He pointed at the lone facedown card that Aster had behind Destiny Hero Bloo-D.

"Unfortunately for you, I can chain Wabuko to Uria's effect before it's destroyed!"

Taking aim, the mighty red dragon roared loudly, sending out shock waves at the facedown card. The card was instantly flipped up, revealing Aster's trap, which was quickly shattered. However, three blue robes mages appeared instantly, and began to chant in unison. Malicious Devil and Uria both growled in irritation, but the rules of the game disallowed them from attacking.

Haou frowned. "Turn end."

Aster drew. He had to destroy Malicious Devil this turn. He had no choice. First, he had to attack the demon due to its effect in any case, and even if he didn't, he would have Bloo-D destroyed by Uria, and then sustain the fatal direct attack from Malicious Devil.

Then he noticed one of the cards in his hand. He chuckled. "I play Drain Time! It can only be activated when Destiny Hero Bloo-D is in play, and I can select one phase of each of our turns. Now, both of us must skip these phases for each of our following turns. That means Bloo-D doesn't have to attack Malicious Devil, but that doesn't matter since it's stronger as well. But the important part is that you can't target my monsters!"

He then tapped the edge of his Duel Disk. The field magic card zone slipped open. "I then activate the field magic card, Clock Tower Prison!"

At his command, the mist around them suddenly began to clear. In fact, the deep black sky was now visible to them in all its overwhelming glory. But both duelist's attention was focused on the tall, imposing structure that was rising out of the ground. It resembled Big Ben to some extent, but if one examined it more closely, it had an oddly sinister look to it. It looked quite black itself in the night sky, and the face of clock shone a bright yellow. The three large hands moved like snakes, crawling all over it.

"As for its effects, you'll get to know them sooner or later. Until then, I set a card and end my turn."

Haou drew slowly. Suddenly, before he could speak, the clock tower glowed a little more intensely then before, giving off a pulse of energy that washed over Haou's field. It was so powerful, that although Uria was unaffected, the Malicious Devil made an annoyed gesture and glared at Aster. The hand on the clock moved around to the first quarter.

"During your standby phase, Clock Tower Prison gains a Clock Counter. By all means, do continue."

Haou glanced at his single card, and back at Aster. "You are delaying the inevitable. Turn end."

"I don't think so," growled Aster. "I don't care if I have to attack Malicious Devil: In fact, I welcome it! Before that, I think I'll activate my facedown trap card Eternal Dread. This gives Clock Tower Prison an _additional_ to Clock Counters, this time moving it up to three."

The large tower glowed again, and let off another wave of yellow energy. The minute's hand swung a complete one hundred and eighty degrees, so that it was all the way up to the third quarter of the hour. The hour's hand was also creeping forward ominously.

"Bloo-D, destroy Malicious Devil with Bloody Fears!"

This time, complete success was with Aster's monster. It spread open its wings, and once again crimson blades of energy scythed through the mist towards the Evil Hero. He attempted to fight back by letting lose his own barrage of black needles, but the first attack was stronger, and completely ripped through the Malicious Devil.

They continued on and struck Haou. He did not even flinch.

(Aster: 3300, Haou: 7200)

"I end my turn," said Aster confidently. "_Once Clock Tower Prison reaches its complete power, I'll be able to place the last piece of the puzzle and finish off this guy with one thunderous blow! Then, Jaden will be free and we can get out of here_."

Haou drew. At that, the minute's hand on the Clock Tower Prison swung around to the large 'XII' at the top, signaling the end of the final quarter. A large ring sounded through the endless stretch of wasteland.

He pointed at Bloo-D calmly. "Uria's attack."

The red dragon roared loudly as the scorching flames appeared in its jaws. Opening its mouth wide, the dragon released the stream of hellish fire that scored a direct hit on the Destiny Hero. For a second, it seemed like the sheer feat was going to reduce Bloo-D to nothingness, but then Aster laughed.

"Clock Tower Prison's effect activates. When it has four or more Clock Counters, I take no battle damage." At this word, the tower once again glowed and released a large pulse of energy issued forth, crashing into the gigantic, serpentine beast. It shuddered slightly, and ceased its assault with an angry roar.

Haou frowned in annoyance. "Turn end."

Aster drew. "Now, it is time for your Legendary Demon to fall, once and for all. Go, Mystical Space Typhoon!"

A massive set of twisters formed on the field, each seemingly seeking a target. They crashed into the clock tower. It stood firm, but soon began to shake back and forth. The tornado kept it up, however, and soon, it crashed down to the ground, shattering into an infinite number of pixels before they disappeared.

"Foolish," breathed Haou.

"You may think so, but the truth is that this was the instrument of your destruction. You see, when Clock Tower Prison is destroyed with four or more Clock Counters on it, I can special summon from my deck one of the most powerful Destiny Heroes of all… Destiny Hero Dreadmaster (?/?)!"

A gigantic man materialized onto Aster's field. He stood about eight feet tall, and was extremely muscular. He wore torn purple trousers that were extremely badly fitting, coming down only until his knees. Wild, brown, unkempt hair came down to his shoulders, and his face was covered by an iron mask. He had old, rusted chains attached to both his wrists as well as his ankles. His dark body was covered with scars and whip lash marks.

"Now, when Dreadmaster is special summoned by the effect of Clock Tower, I can special summon two more Destiny Heroes from my graveyard. I choose Destiny Hero – Diamond Dude (1400/600) and Destiny Hero Fear Monger (1000/1000)."

The diamond covered warrior, along with the winged, olive-skinned man, appeared between Bloo-D and Dreadmaster.

"And now, Dreadmaster's effect activates. His attack and defense points are both equal to the combined attack points of _all_ Destiny Hero monsters on my field. Bloo-D has nineteen hundred, Fear Monger has a thousand, and Diamond Dude has fourteen hundred, for a grand total of forty-three hundred attack and defense points!"

The gigantic barbarian stamped down and roared (4300/4300).

"Dreadmaster, destroy Uria with Dread Punch!" The eternal prisoner of the Clock Tower Prison tensed his powerful legs and leapt into the air. He jumped so high that he was momentarily in line with Uria's head. With a devastating punch, he knocked it to one side. Although it attempted to launch a fireball, Dreadmaster had jumped onto the back of its skull, grappling with its numerous horns, and dealing it blow after blow.

The incessant pressure was too much. With a final roar, Uria's head exploded, sending a shockwave throughout its body. It was like watching multiple volcanoes erupt out of thin air one by one, as Dreadmaster returned to Aster's field, a dark grin on his face.

(Aster: 3300, Haou: 6900)

"Diamond Dude, Fear Monger, Bloo-D… Attack now!"

The trio of Destiny Heroes acted as one. Together they charged towards the Supreme King. First Fear Monger dealt him a mighty upper cut, inciting a small grunt of pain. Before he had the necessary time to recover, Diamond Dude howled and a hail of diamond-like shards exploded from his body. They slammed into various parts of the Supreme King's armor, leaving cuts all over them. Finally, the inevitable barrage of blood-red projectiles were launched by Bloo-D. The final attack almost knocked Haou off his feet, which was an appropriate way of showing what a toll the attack had taken on his life-points.

(Aster: 3300, Haou: 850)

"Still want to continue? Or will you let Jaden go now?" growled Aster.

Haou maintained his decorum with superb ease. "Your hope cannot change reality. There is no logical way for you to achieve victory, Aster Phoenix. By simply your desiring it, victory will not come to you. You prefer to maintain a weak illusion of the true world rather then confronting it yourself, in your belief that you will win this duel and recover Jaden Yuki. This shows you are truly weak, and one of your mediocre level of strength could never defeat me."

It was the first time Haou had actually spoken for a decent period of time. Aster scoffed. "Think what you want. I'll use Diamond Dude's effect in my main phase two." He picked up the top card and sighed. It was Ultimate Offering.

"I end my turn."

Haou drew slowly. "Pot of Avarice, activate." He pulled out Evil Hero Hell Brat (300/600), Evil Hero Malicious Edge (2600/1800), Uria, Lord of Searing Flames (0/0), The Dark-Hex Sealed Fusion (1000/1600) and Evil Hero Dark Maniac (1800/0) from his graveyard. He slid four back into his deck and one into his fusion deck. He then shuffled the first and drew two cards.

"Dark Fusion, activate."

"Again?!" swore Aster. "Fuse Elemental Hero Avian (1000/1000) and Elemental Hero Burstinatrix (1200/800). Come, Evil Hero Inferno Wing (2100/1200)."

Strong flames shot up in front of him as a feisty and impulsive, winged beast started to emerge from the inferno. She had long, threatening claws for fingers, the rest of her hands and arms covered in stretched, green gloves. A blue, glasses-like visor was over the front of her face, as her wild, dark-green hair waved behind her alongside her massive, black wings. She was protected by red armor, which was displayed over her upper-body, waist, and legs.

"Card set. Inferno Wing's attack."

Aster grunted as Inferno Wing suddenly took to the air, and began raining down spheres of fiery energy down on Fear Monger. The unfortunate Destiny Hero was unable to take the pain, and slowly began to melt away. Within minutes, nothing was left in its place. One last fireball slammed into Aster's chest, burning away a part of his outer jacket, causing him to cry out in pain.

He weakly put a hand to the wound on his chest. But to his surprise, the pain was disappearing much faster then before. He looked up to see Dreadmaster (3300/3300), Bloo-D and Diamond Dude all glowing intensely. It was then that he understood that they were empowering him with their own energy, in an attempt to halt some of the pain.

"Inferno Wing's effect: The owner of the destroyed monster takes damage equal to the highest statistic of your monster."

(Aster: 1200, Haou: 850)

"Turn end."

Aster drew. "All right now… Fear Monger's effect activates! When he was destroyed by battle, I can special summon another Destiny Hero from my graveyard during my following standby phase. I choose Destiny Hero Defender (100/2700), but I'll summon him in defense mode."

The large grey brick like monster appeared onto the field in a kneeling position with his arms up as shields. On the creature's head, there was a small golden grate that revealed only a pair of red eyes. Dreadmaster, meanwhile, glowed a little more brightly, to show that he did indeed benefit a little from the presence of the new monster (3400/3400).

"But it doesn't matter, because this is your final turn! Bloo-D, finish off his Inferno Wing and end the duel with Bloody Fears!"

As the tall creature began to levitate into the air, drops of blood floated up from the ground as well. It glowed slightly, and the drops began to coalesce together to form spike-like shapes. As Bloo-D raised its axe in Inferno Wing's direction, the army-like wave of projectiles cut through the air towards the Dark Fusion monster.

"Call of the Dark Hero, activate."

At his word, the card flipped up. It depicted a picture of Elemental Hero Shining Flare Wingman standing tall and proud as a blast of energy hurtled towards him, while Evil Hero Inferno Wing stood behind him, cackling wildly. Above them was Evil Hero Malicious Devil, who had just fired off a Hell Needle attack at the shining wonder.

"One Elemental Hero is removed from play in the graveyard. The opponent's battle phase is ended. One Evil Hero is special summoned from my deck. Evil Hero Whirlwind Shocker (1500/600), come." Quickly appearing next to Inferno Wing was a tall man dressed in a gray bodysuit. There was a large lightning bolt emblazoned on his chest as a logo, and he also wore a helmet that continued down into yellow goggles. A large purple cape fluttered out behind him, and in his hands he held a spear with spikes on either end, that crackled with electricity.

Immediatley, the translucent form of Elemental Hero Avian appeared next to him. Whirlwind Shocker lifted up the feathered man and flung him in the direction of the oncoming attack. He was ripped to pieces by the shrapnels, leaving Haou's field untouched.

Aster groaned in anger. "Fine. I set a card and end my turn."

Haou drew. "Card of Demise, activate." He calmly pulled the top five cards off the top of his deck and looked at them.

Aster was amazed. "_What a ridiculous top decking ability! Only Jaden can do that_…." The thought left him despairing.

"The effect of Destiny Hero Defender allows your opponent one draw. Summon, Evil Hero Infernal Gainer (1600/0)." Haou's newest monster looked a bit like the Summoned Skull. He was covered in violet, bone armor, which was complete with no cracks over his limbs, but took on the pattern of ribs on his chest. Pink flesh was visible between them. A metallic tail was present behind him, with white spikes on his shoulders and purple helmet. It covered most of his face except a little, which was oddly human.

"Send three fiend monsters to the graveyard. Come, Raviel, Lord of Phantasms (4000/4000)."

Aster gasped as the three demons vanished.

The ground began to crack as the blue-headed beast started to ascend from it, with mighty and large gargoyle-like wings that spread out behind it. The wings were blue at the tops, striping down, with large streaks of dark-gray shades on the rest of them. A similar tone was run down the upper-body, upper-legs, and arms of the monster, attached to which towering, giant, sharp-clawed hands. The lower legs of the beast were armored with blue plates, like the rest of the spots the dark skin had not covered. The body was ripped with muscle, its abs made well-known to the crowd around it, as it towered up. Under its triangular-shaped head mask, its eyes glowed a blood-thirsty red. Starting from the front-bottom of its body, a thick, scaled, blue tail ran behind it.

"Another Legendary Demon… This is getting out of hand!" snarled Aster.

"Raviel's attack… Phantasm Fist!"

The mammoth's right fist became covered in surging, blue energy as it thrust toward the diamond covered warrior. Diamond Dude never stood a chance as the house-sized fist slammed into him. He began to evaporate into steam, crying out in pain. Aster looked to his feet in disgust, unable to witness to destruction of his own monster.

Instead, he pressed a button on his Duel Disk. "I activate Emergency Provisions! I sacrifice my facedown Repayment of Losses, D-Chain, and Axe of Despair in order to boost my life-points by three thousand!"

Just as he finished, the tremors hit him, and he was forced to stop himself from crying out in pain as the spasms took over his body. His life-points rose, and then took a drastic tumble.

(Aster: 1600, Haou: 850) (Destiny Hero Bloo-D: 2150/600) (Destiny Hero Dreadmaster: 3000/3000)

"Turn end."

Aster drew weakly. "Damn it…" He had nothing that could stand up to the monstrous Legendary Demon on Haou's field. "I switch Bloo-D and Dreadmaster to defense mode, and then set a card. Make your move now."

Haou now held four cards. "Graceful Charity, activate." He silently drew three cards, and then chose two, sliding them into his graveyard.

He then lifted another card. "Dark Calling, activate. By removing from play fusion materials for a dark attribute fusion monster from my graveyard or hand, I can special summon that monster from my fusion deck. Remove Elemental Hero Clayman (800/2000) and Elemental Hero Sparkman (1600/1400)."

Dark thunder strokes began to spread down in a tripod-like fashion, as a dark, round, bulky figure began to rise from the insidious darkness below. It threw its arms out in a V-shape, as black lightning flowed throughout its dark-gray-painted, metallic body. Part of its upper-body was exposed, its armor only reaching down to above the abdomen area, which was covered with dark-violet cloth. Red bulbs were implanted on the tops of the gray-topped, violet-bottomed gloves on its hands. Four yellow, wing-like streaks shot out from its shoulders, two on each side. The visor of the monster's helmet was light-blue, and had two yellow-painted lightning bolts coming out the top.

"Come, Evil Hero Lightning Golem (2400/1500)." Thunder and lightning energies immediately started to drain from the rest of the body, forming as a black-yellow sphere in the right palm of the monster.

"An attack already?" gasped Aster as Lightning Golem flung the dark sphere at Bloo-D.

"Lightning Golem's effect activates. Once per turn, a monster is destroyed.

Aster quickly tapped a button on his Duel Disk. "I was considering saving this for another time… But looks like I'll have to use it. Dust Tornado, to destroy your Chains of Time trap card that's latched onto Bloo-D! Plus, it let's me set a card."

Suddenly a tornado exploded across his field. The dust spun around at incomprehensible speed, obscuring from vision all three of his Destiny Heroes, and making sure that the sphere sent form by the Lightning Golem didn't make it through. Finally, it cleared, to reveal that Bloo-D was now free and as strong as ever (2650/600).

"Now, his effect reactivates, negating the effects of all _your_ monsters! Unfortunately, he can't absorb another monster because he can't have more then one equipped to him at any time. But it doesn't matter, not when your Lightning Golem's effect is negated." Holding out one of his horrific, clawed hands, the Destiny Hero fired out a sphere of red energy. It splashed across the golem's chest, causing it to roar in pain and cease its attack.

Haou glared. "Raviel's attack." He was pointing at Aster's strongest monster, Destiny Hero Dreadmaster. With a roar, it slammed its fist into the unfortunate prisoner, who roared as the razor sharp claws pierced its body. Even on the throes of death, it struggled wildly, punching and kicking Raviel's hand, before it finally disappeared.

"Lighting Golem's attack." Aster bit his lip as the large, rock-like beast set its eyes on Bloo-D. It rushed forward, raising its fist and dealing the demonic creature a powerful blow. It continued the assault, and Aster closed his eyes, unable to witness the horror of his most prized monster meeting its untimely end.

He looked up again, and noticed his hands were shaking as Lightning Golem let lose one final sphere of energy that sent the remains of Bloo-D flying in all directions. Soon, he had nothing in play except for Destiny Hero Defender. He could see the visible strain on the large monster's face, and for the first time, the pangs of pain didn't touch him.

"_Don't worry boss… I'll help you beat this guy_."

He allowed himself a small smile, and looked back at Haou, who had just drawn by Defender's effect, set a card and ended his turn.

Aster drew. At that point, the voice of Defender echoed in his head again.

"_Listen, boss… I know I was never one of them big shots like Bloo-D, Dogma, or even Dasher. But I wanna help you in anyway possible so we can get out of this place. I know that you've just drawn a card to help turn this duel around, and don't want to use it because it would involve sending me away. But do it, boss. Seriously, just do it. If you make it out of here, it'll work out_."

Aster was amazed. None of the Destiny Heroes had ever spoken to him before.

"_It's like this, ain't it boss? We're all like a family. If one of us helps you in place of the other, who gives a damn? Do it, boss. This guy hurt my pals, and I want to see him and his overgrown freaks pay."_

He nodded numbly. True, he had just drawn a good card, but it would be extremely risky. He already had Defender, who with twenty-seven hundred defense points was a consistent monster on defense. If he continued playing like this, he would last another turn or two at the most. If he pulled this stunt, he could either take control of the duel, or lose immediatley.

He exhaled. "All right. I summon Destiny Hero – Disk Commander (300/300) in attack mode." A being wearing skin-tight, light turquoise armor leapt onto the field. It had compact discs sticking out of its shoulders, and held one in its right, white-gloved hand. It had a thin head, armored with a similar turquoise helmet.

"Raviel's effect activates," warned Haou. "When the opponent normal summons a monster, one Phantasm Token (1000/1000) is special summoned in defense mode."

A smaller version of Raviel had now appeared on the Supreme King's field. It was roughly the size of an average man.

"Then I play Dreadful Revival. By sacrificing two Destiny Heroes on my field, I can special summon Destiny Hero Dreadmaster (?/?) from my graveyard, as long as he's been on the field before. All his effects activate just as if he were summoned by the effect of Clock Tower Prison." Disk Commander and Defender both vanished, and the muscular, tall and scarred prisoner reappeared on the Pro League duelist's field.

"Now I'll special summon Destiny Hero – Diamond Dude (1400/600) and Destiny Hero Disk Commander (300/300) once again from my graveyard!"

The dark clothed individual with ice crystals protruding from his body appeared next to the other monster who had just been sent away. The barbaric prisoner (1700/1700) gave a deep roar as his attack points went from being non-existent to an average level.

"When Disk Commander is special summoned from the graveyard I draw two cards!" He quickly snapped the top two cards off his deck so that he was now holding two cards.

"Now I activate the Compulsory Evacuation Device I set last turn, in order to send Destiny Hero Disk Commander back to my hand." He plucked the card off his Duel Disk and slid it back into his hand, while the disc covered man vanished.

"Now I play Destiny Draw, discarding Disk Commander to draw two cards!" He quickly slid the monster into his graveyard, pulling the top two cards on the top of his deck into his hand.

Haou could sense that Aster was searching for something.

"I now play Monster Reborn, to once again special summon Disk Commander from my graveyard and draw two cards." Aster's seemingly endless of stream of combos seemed to go on and on as the small man appeared again, and Aster drew. A faint smile crossed his face, indicating that he had indeed got what he wanted.

"Now… The card to defeat Raviel! I sacrifice Disk Commander, Diamond Dude, and Dreadmaster, in order to special summon Destiny Hero Dogma (3400/2400)!"

Each of the three monsters on the field vanished in a flash of light, leaving the field empty. A flash of light then enveloped the field, which died down to reveal a large black creature with massive black wings. A pair of chains was wrapped around his neck, with white horns sticking out of its head. The creature had olive skin with red eyes. On the monster's right arm was a large sharp looking object protruding from his wrist that looked like a sword.

"De-Fusion, activate. Lighting Golem is returned to the fusion deck. As Clayman and Sparkman are removed from play, they are not returned." The gigantic, rock-like monster vanished from his field, leaving on Raviel in play.

Aster shrugged. "I wasn't targeting your Golem in any case. I equip Dogma with D-Blade, which boosts the attack and defense points of one Destiny Hero by six hundred and allows it to mimic the ability of another, level three or lower Destiny Hero in my graveyard once per turn, and negate all costs. So I'll choose to use the effect of Disk Commander!"

The dark warrior (4000/3000) on Aster's field glowed ominously as his master drew twice more. He nodded in satisfaction.

"Now, I'll use Dogma to attack Raviel."

"Both monsters will be destroyed," intoned Haou as Dogma let out a small grunt of acknowledgment, and leapt into the air, going sailing straight for the king of demons on Haou's field. He hefted his axe up and dealt Raviel a mighty blow. It bounced off his powerful hide, and he responded with a punch to Dogma's chest. It drove the hero back, but he returned within seconds, attacking once again with his axe.

"Not if I activate this quick-play magic card… Card Guard! Now, Dogma cannot be destroyed this turn in any way, meaning that Raviel is destroyed, while Dogma is completely safe!" As soon as he slid the magic card into his Duel Disk, the blade of the axe finally cut through Raviel's armor-like skin. It continued on, slicing its gigantic body completely in half and landing in a crouch on the other side as the two pieces fell like nine-pins on opposite sides.

Haou glared at Aster. "You are growing into an exasperation. True pain is inevitable."

"You can talk as much as you want, but my _victory _is inevitable, because I have Dogma in play and you have nothing to counter it!" retorted Aster angrily. "I set a card and end my turn now."

"Not so," replied Haou in his monotone, as he drew. "Triangle Force, activate. When this continuous magic card is activated, two more copies are also activated from my deck." Soon, three of his five magic and trap card zones were now filled.

"And they do what?" said Aster, raising his eyebrows.

"They have no other effect. They will serve this purpose of mine, however. I send all three copies of Triangle Force to the graveyard. Come, Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder (4000/4000)."

Aster gasped in shock. "_The final Legendary Demon? How does he have the strength to keep churning them out like garden variety cards?_"

Another blazing thunderstorm formed overhead, raining down violently upon the area, with the blade-like gold claws of the monster lowering alongside the sharp, white clawed feet, golden tail and golden legs. Draping its wide, dark-brown, bat-like wings over the sides of its body, colored similarly as the legs, it moved its claws from the skeleton-like center body and revealed the open ribs that connected to the plated and thin arms. It had a type of open helmet on its head, worn in a V-shape, with two blue orbs embedded at the top sides. The body's back was protected with long, sharp spikes, with two extra extensions above the shoulders, leading to two pointed, white nails. The monster commanded for its thunder, as it flowed into its body.

"Incredible…" murmured Aster. "The dark version of the Winged Dragon of Ra…"

He then glanced up at Haou again. "Phantasm Token, sacrifice. Evil Hero Malicious Edge (2600/1800), come."

The very tall, but thin, blade-winged fiend with a demonic mask over his face, and nearly skin-tight, dark-blue armor all over his body replaced the miniature version of Raviel soon enough. There were spikes all over his body, and he had a dark blue belt on his waist, complete with a bright golden buckle.

"Hamon's attack."

"But our monster's have the same attack points!" gasped Aster. "That means…"

"But, Hamon's effect; when it destroys a monster by battle, the opponent suffers 1000 points of damage." Lifting its head and roaring loudly, the dull yellow creature opened it's jaws, releasing a powerful stream of yellow lightning straight for Dogma, who gave Aster one last nod before leaping right into the oncoming burst of electricity. He swung his axe forward full force, deflecting the stream right back at the golden dragon.

The energy seemed to accumulate near its maw, which was still spewing forth more lightning. The effects of so much power so close to it was too much, and there was a gigantic explosion. The light that ensued forth consumed the entire field, banishing the mist and sending out scythe-shaped waves of power. Three of these slammed into Dogma, slicing him into pieces as Hamon too began to disintegrate into pieces, as if it were made of brittle rock.

Within minutes, both monsters had vanished, and the explosion had died down, leaving the field bare, but for Evil Hero Malicious Edge (2600/1800).

(Aster: 600, Haou: 850)

"This is your end. Malicious Edge's attack."

The monster leapt towards Aster, the blades on its wrist glinting in the otherwise dark sky.

"I discard Destiny Hero – Dreadful Kuriboh (300/200) from my hand to reduce all battle damage done to my life-points from your attack to zero!" The familiar furball appeared on Aster's field, except that this one was wearing a tuxedo. It looked pretty strange, for it was stretched around the furballs relatively larger middle, and floated around above nothingness at the bottom.

It cooed softly as Malicious Edge's blades made short work of it.

Haou frowned. "Card set. Turn end."

Aster drew breathlessly. He had actually succeeded in defeating all three Legendary Demons, but in doing so had lost his three most powerful monsters. But the second he noticed what he had drawn, he smiled. He had a way to get one of them back…

"When Destiny Hero – Dreadful Kuriboh is discarded, I can special summon him during my next standby phase." The small furball reappeared.

"Then I activate my facedown Return from the Different Dimension! I pay half my life-points to special summon as many removed from play monsters as possible. I only have two, which are both Destiny Hero Malicious (800/800)!"

The bulky, dark-skinned, devious demons appeared onto the field; they had a black "D" symbol across their chests.

(Aster: 300, Haou: 850)

He held up one of his cards for Haou to see. It was Monster Reincarnation. With a smile, he slid it into his graveyard, along with his other card, and slowly, Haou realized what he was going to do.

"I choose to discard Repayment of Losses to return back to my hand my strongest monster… Whom I will now once again summon my sacrificing both copies of Destiny Hero Malicious and Dreadful Kuriboh!"

The large, winged beast was now gracing the field with its presence, lowering itself to the level of Aster. Its wings were of a blood-red color, and started shooting open, drawing in winds and the free blood toward itself. It had dark-blue skin and armor up and down its body. "Destiny Hero - Bloo-D (1900/600)! Gravity Blood!" As Bloo-D shot out relentless stares with its red eyes, Malicious Edge, though attempting to resist with all his will, started to become drawn toward the ultimate hero.

Haou gritted his teeth as he watched the fiend giving out one last cry before disappearing into the wings of Aster's prized monster (3200/600).

"This is your final turn, Haou! Jaden will return now. Bloody Fears!" Levitating into the air, Bloo-D spread its wings one final time. The blood colored, razor sharp projectiles shot through the air towards the Supreme King.

For a moment, everything seemed to freeze. The two men were so silent that even the sound of the breeze wafting through the mist could be heard. As Bloo-D's spikes slowly began to inch through the air, Haou's face grew sterner. Aster met his gaze, and the intensity of the moment was electrifying.

Suddenly, a flash of blinding light erupted from the sky above them. A beam shone down upon them, causing Haou to raise his hand against it and cover his face with a grunt. Time began again suddenly, and Bloo-D's attack shot through the air, and Haou's expression suddenly morphed into an actually worried one, his eyes widening.

At last, the demonic assault slammed into his chest, knocking him off his feet. He couldn't stand up as projectile after projectile hit him, bringing him down to the strong, barren ground.

Aster fell not soon after the Supreme King. However, a thin smile was on his face.

"_I… I did it Jaden. You're free, man. He's gone_." However, to his horror, he noticed that Bloo-D had, in fact, _not_ disappeared.

As he staggered upwards, he felt his heart pounding even harder. Haou had risen, and a dark form was on his field. Slowly, it became clearer, in order to reveal its horrible familiarity. "Call of the Haunted, activate."

It was none other then Evil Hero Malicious Devil (3500/2100).

Aster's hands fell to his side. He closed his eyes, and gave a sigh. "_What more can I do_?"

He looked sadly up at Bloo-D again as Haou didn't even bother to draw. He simply pointed at Bloo-D and intoned the words, "Malicious Devil's attack… Hell Needle!" The metallic black spikes slammed into the ultimate D-card, ripping it apart and slamming straight into Aster. His original wounds didn't burst. In fact, they sealed up. But Aster couldn't feel any of that.

(Aster: 0, Haou: 850)

The Supreme King slowly straightened his robes as Malicious Devil disappeared. "Truly, he did prefer the decadence of mirages to the despair of reality…"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"This will be Haou's first, true opportunity to test his strength, Master," said Blight respectfully. "I must admit, though, I am curious as to how he was able to acquire the Legendary Demons? To the best of my knowledge, they remained with the senile fool Kagemaru after he was defeated by Seto Kaiba and the Thief King."

"**They were taken by the God of Death, Anubis, when he possessed Haou's body. I specifically told him to retain them, for as powerful as Haou is, his normal deck would pale in comparison to the likes of Death. One must consider, however, that Aster Phoenix was not a sufficient test for him…**"

"Perhaps, Apocalypse, _I _will be a sufficient test for _you_," growled a voice behind them. Blight turned around, eyes blazing, to see a slim man standing behind them in the mist. He had short, blonde hair, and pale skin. He wasn't very muscular, but wasn't of a small build either. His eyes were a deep, cerulean blue, and his entire body seemed to ripple in time with the mist.

Apocalypse's eyes flashed, and he raised his gauntleted hand. "Disappear." At his word, his own hand began pulsing. A nexus of black energy appeared on it. At first being only the size of a tennis ball, and began to pulsate even more, until it was as large as a basketball, within just ten seconds. Apocalypse released it from his care, and it shot forward like a missile.

The man never had a chance, seemingly. Suddenly, however, he gave a ghostly laugh and vanished. Not into thin air; rather, into thick air, namely, the mist. He simply evaporated into mist himself, and entered the thick fog that was hanging over them. It left the blast to continue on until it crashed into a boulder behind them. It was reduced to ashes.

Slowly, tendrils of mist began to knit together, taking on the shape of a human. Soon, the man had returned.

"**I know of you**," glared Apocalypse.

"As a matter of fact, I make it a point to avoid familiarity with traitors to the Council… But yes, I am Oceanus. That same Oceanus, who led the Council's final assault against your naval forces two hundred and seventy centuries ago… Others may fear you, Apocalypse, but I do not! Your return is only momentary, and you will soon be rotting away in your pathetic prison for an eternity, with twice as much as protection as last time!"

"**Do not presume to understand the ways of the Council**," said Apocalypse's ice cold voice. "**I have existed since the dawn of time, before you were but a thought. The most powerful of the Elder Gods and Council members have tried and failed to defeat me in combat, a being such as yourself would have no chance. Not even Death himself could stop me, and infinite destruction will rain across all of existence until my purpose is fulfilled**."

"Death couldn't stop you, but I'd like to see you try and stop Death!" countered Oceanus. "You're blinded by pride, Apocalypse! In your sick, twisted mind, you take the fact that the Council imprisoned you as a compliment, thinking that they did so because they were unable to destroy you! You're wrong! You were never any stronger then any other Council member, and none of them more so then you! But as a group, they could have crushed you! But they knew that doing so would have resulted in to much pain and suffering! They're not afraid of you, Apocalypse! I encouraged them to finish you off! It would have meant an eternal existence! We don't need destruction. Now, I challenge you in order to rid our existence of you for an eternity!"

"**Do not dare presume to understand my purpose**!" roared Apocalypse. It was the first time had actually displayed an emotion of any sort.

"**I am beyond any being! No Council member can understand another, and the same applies for me! Despite what you fools may think, I was, am, and **_**will**_** be a member of the Infinity Council until I bring Armageddon to all dimensions! All fear me, for that is why **_**I**_** exist! I am meant to ensure that no others **_**will**_** exist! All who speak against me will be crushed, and I would smite you this very second, but I have more important tasks to attend to. Blight will be contented to punish you for your foolishness**."

He looked at the First Horseman, who nodded. The white Duel Disk representing a dragon's wing appeared on his hand.

Oceanus glared. "I'll leave you to the Council. They have far more right to your blood then I do. But you… I'm going to make you pay for being a traitor to _existence_ and siding with this heathen, Horseman! You seem to presume a lot by thinking I would simply duel you instead of enjoying the feel of destroying you with my essence… But I would prefer picking you apart over a prolonged period of time, showing you your own foolishness, and then crushing you!" A Duel Disk materialized onto his arm.

By then, Apocalypse had already vanished.

"The Council doesn't hire very like-minded people, do they?" hissed Blight as his holo projectors fired off.

"Or perhaps they do. You're just like them, obsessed with control and domination of all those whom you consider weaker then you. Ever since my master was locked away, Order, Life and Creation have dominated existence, with the powers of light outnumbering that of darkness! That shows that the entire Council is corrupt, for they do not truly believe in perfect balance! For that simple reason, they must be destroyed, as they have mislead all of existence into believing that light is superior to darkness! If they do not believe in balance, then they cannot be allowed to control the universe! I myself am the embodiment of the Light of Destruction, and use the power of light _and_ darkness to further the aim of my Master! The universe is flawed, and such an existence cannot be allowed to continue! That is why it must be destroyed! I do not expect fools like you to understand this, but I do expect you to understand that whoever stands in our path…."

(Oceanus: 8000, Blight: 8000)

"_Will die_."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Phew! Almost twenty thousand words. Longest of the fic. I hope you liked it. **

**I don't know how many of you have heard of this: In Mumbai, in India, there were some horrible terrorist attacks over the course of the past three days. Nearly two hundred people were killed, and many more injured. Many brave cops were killed in the line of duty, and only one of the culprits was taken alive. This chapter is dedicated to the memory of all who are killed in these outrageous attacks on humanity, and in the hope that the perpetrators will be brought to swift justice.**

**Do wish me luck, exams are coming up AGAIN!**


	15. Blazing Judgment

CHAPTER FOURTEEN: Blazing Judgment

**Metal Overlord 2.0: I think this Blight vs. Oceanus duel should capture the true essence of Blight as closely as possible. His deck is really not what it seems, in fact, nothing about him is what it seems. Don't try to guess what his deck is about, because it's going to take a devious twist next chapter. I hope you enjoy the holiday season, and get down to writing Tournament of Dreams, dammit! Hope to see you online soon.**

**DuelistBlake1852: Haou vs. Aster was fun to write, yeah. The explanation for the presence of the Demons in his deck was just what it was. D-Spirit doesn't require any LP payment? Oops, lol. Yami's Puzzle didn't affect Ryu Kokki because it isn'****t a Duel Monster. All of the monsters in Necropolis are not 'Duel Spirits', as the GX dub so quaintly put it. They're the embodiments of the darkness that floats to Necropolis, which have been forced into forms by the King. He based those forms on cards. I think I might have mentioned it somewhere…. I'm not sure.**

**Dark Onyx: I do appreciate the compliments. Advent was like school, if I can put it like that, and this is like university. In that, it was all about a flat, good vs. evil plotline with just two sides, and duels involving ridiculously high attack points. I've smoothed out everything here, involving more talking and story, along with some better (I hope), more smooth and sharp duels. **

**Starlight AT: I think I did have good luck after all. It may be early to say, but I got 99/100 in History, and should know the rest of my results in the new year. Thanks for the compliments.**

**Candyman123: Spellcaster's Rage sounds interesting… If a bit broken. I might consider using it later on, I'm not sure. Maybe if the effect was toned down a little, it would be perfect. But thanks for the effort anyway, I appreciate your help and compliments.**

"I will begin the duel," growled Oceanus, drawing his first six cards. "No manners, I see," said Blight dryly.

"I summon Hydrogeddon (1600/1000) in attack mode." A wily, reptilian beast materialized onto the field, barely visible in the mist. It seemed to be made of white, wind energy, with waves of explosive air erupting all over its body. It was more or less like a crocodile with unusually long legs; tiny yellow eyes could be spied under the waves of gas.

"Then I play the field magic card, A Legendary Ocean!" Suddenly, a wall of water cascaded over the field. Along with the mist, the overall oceanic feel to the situation increased as the water rose as high as their knees.

Oceanus grinned. "Not deep enough, I'd say." Suddenly, Blight felt the ground beneath him shake. He looked up at the servant of the Infinity Council in shock, and without warning, a column of dry, barren earth sprouted out from under them, taking them higher, and higher. Beneath them, the water level itself continued to rise. It stretched as far as the eye could see. Now, the only land in sight was the two patches that the duelists them stood were on.

"I like this more," commented Oceanus. "Now, it's effect activates, and all water attribute monsters gain two hundred attack and defense points." Hydrogeddon, which was somehow standing on the water itself, growled softly as its stats increased slightly (1800/1200).

"Then I set a card and end my turn."

Blight drew. He gave a light chuckle. "I could sense your power the moment I met you, Oceanus. That suggested something to me I have not thought about for a very, _very_ long time. My true power has been locked away for years, no, centuries, for fear of attracting the Infinity Council's attention. The closest I came to using it was when I possessed that fool Sartorius."

"The Arcana Force cards?" growled Oceanus.

"Yes, amusing to experiment with, those cards were. But rather weak at the end of it. It had one incredibly powerful monster in the form of Arcana Force EX – The Light Ruler (4000/4000), but using it was a bore, if I may say so. The rest of the cards were based on tarot cards, and represented a closer connection to Sartorius himself as compared to me. The Light Ruler, yes, I admit it would have never been so devastating had I not imparted some of my own strength into them. He was just the tip of the iceberg, though. The kind of strength I truly possess is enough to break you down, shatter you and leave the Infinity Council in a mess… Yes, this time, I believe I really must show existence that the power of the Light of Destruction is not something to be forgotten. I can't make this a habit though… But this is a temptation I truly cannot resist. I summon Nova Titan – Alpha Droid (1000/1000)!"

Appearing on his field was a robotic, humanoid monster. It stood about six foot two, and was covered in pure titanium armor. In one hand, it held a futuristic laser gun, which glowed green at one end. In the other, it clutched a shotgun. Its head was shaped like a long, thin triangle, with only two small slits for eyes.

"Nova Titan?" said Oceanus incredulously. "What kind of monsters are those?"

"When summoned, I can reduce his attack points by five hundred in order to send one card from my hand to my graveyard." The robotic warrior gave a small moan and his power fell dramatically (500/1000). Blight held up Repayment of Losses, and slid it into his graveyard before drawing another card.

"Then I activate the quick-play Cybernetic Reflection! When one monster on my field has its attack points modified, its attack points are permanently set at two thousand." Suddenly, the robotic knight glowed and pointed his weapon threateningly at the Hydrogeddon (2000/1000).

"Attack with Ruinous Strike!" The Nova Titan raised his weapon, which began to glow with emerald energy. With a buzz, a beam erupted from it, going straight for the unfortunate monster. It slammed into Hydrogeddon, when suddenly, Oceanus tapped a card on his Duel Disk.

"I activate Shrink! Now, the attack points of one monster on the field are reduced by fifty percent, which means that your Alpha Droid is now going to become a snack for Hydrogeddon!" At his words, the robotic soldier groaned (1000/1000) as its stats went down to its original level. The elemental, dinosaur-like beast roared and smacked away the beam of energy with its powerful paw. Then, it leapt onto the soldier and its jaws clamped down on its head. With a growl, it ripped it off, exposing wires. There was an explosion as the machine disintegrated into nothingness.

"And when Hydrogeddon destroys a monster in battle, I may special summon another one from my deck!" Another one of the reptilian incarnates of water appeared on his field next to its brethren. It gave a low growl (1800/1200).

(Oceanus: 8000, Blight: 7200)

Blight shrugged. "Ah well, if you insist on such uncivilized dining habits, who am I to stop you? I set a card and end my turn."

Oceanus drew. "Now I summon my Ocean's Keeper (1500 + 200 1700/1200 + 200 1400) in attack mode." A strange, fish-like beast erupted from the endless sea beneath them. It was a light, orangish-red in color, with large, fluttery blue fins. It had ball-like eyes, and in weedy extensions from its neck, it grasped a trident. Somehow, it seemed to balance on its tail-fin.

"Now the combined attacks of my three monsters will leave you with just nineteen hundred life-points remaining! I expected a challenge from the First Horseman of Apocalypse, but it seems you are just as weak and pathetic as your master. Hydrogen Explosion and Guardian Strike!"

The two reptiles and the fish both looked at each other, nodded, and then looked back at Blight. The two Hydrogeddon's growled and opened their mouths. A stream of red hot air washed over the field. It seemed that just heat wasn't enough, for suddenly, it exploded into a wave of flames that would have fried a normal man to a crisp. Simultaneously, Ocean's Keeper raised his trident, and a tendril of icy water raced towards the Horseman, who was going to be fried and frozen at once.

"Not happening, you fool," growled Blight. "I knew you'd try something like this, so I set Nova Titan Eruption! It only activates when I am going to take more then three thousand points of damage during one battle phase. That damage is reduced to zero, and I can special summon from my deck one level four or lower Nova Titan from my deck. Come, Nova Titan - Beta Droid (1400/600)!"

Blight's newer warrior was dressed in a strange, silver armor-like outfit. His head was covered by a cylindrical helmet, which had two holes for eyes and one for a mouth. In his gauntleted hands, he held a small tube, which, when he pressed a button, erupted into a crimson energy blade, that seemed to shimmer with power. His legs seemed to be made of metal.

At that instant, the oncoming attacks froze, and then faded away.

"Damn you," growled Oceanus. "No need for such abrasive language," replied Blight haughtily. "You can insult me all you like, but actions speak louder then words, and my Master, along with the Infinity Council, are living proof!"

Oceanus glared. "Fine. Your newer monster is just as pathetic as the last. It will soon be destroyed. Turn end."

Blight drew. "I equip Beta Droid with Cyclonic Upgrade! He now gains five hundred attack points, and will deal you an additional four hundred points of damage every time he destroys a monster. Then, his own effect boosts his attack points by an additional three hundred every time he destroys a monster."

The Beta Droid immediatley discarded his energy blade, instead opting for the large gun that had appeared in his hand. It had a long, thick barrel with a large bore. It was made of a glowing metal, and appeared every bit as futuristic as the rest of Blight's cards (1900/600).

"Beta Droid, destroy his Ocean's Keeper with Cyclonic Destruction!" Pointing the gun at the red fish, the Nova Titan let lose a wave of black energy that washed over the creature, causing it to disintegrate into nothingness within mere seconds.

(Oceanus: 7600, Blight: 7200)

"Not bad, I must admit," muttered Oceanus before another spike of energy hit his chest from the Beta Droid's new gun. He grunted slightly, but refused to show any other sign of pain due to the powerful attack he had been forced to endure at the hands of Blight's monster (2200/600).

(Oceanus: 7200, Blight: 7200)

"But do remember, Ocean's Keeper lets me add one Cranium Fish to my hand after he's destroyed. I intend to make full use of that effect." He quickly found the necessary card in his deck and slid it into his hand, with a smirk at Blight.

"I will end my turn," accepted Blight.

The Infinity Council's servant drew. "I now sacrifice one Hydrogeddon for Cranium Fish (2400 + 200 2600/1000 + 200 1200)!" The reptile disappeared, and was replaced by an orangish-red fish with a freakishly large brain, that had leapt out of the water and suddenly dove back in. In fact, it was so large that it had burst through the fishes' head, so it had an extra extension hanging in front of its skull. It looked a little like the Ocean's Keeper, but had many more fins that were waving about maliciously.

"I can't use his effect now, but I don't need to. Cranium Fish, destroy his Beta Droid!" Opening its gargantuan mouth, revealing a group of extremely large teeth, it spat out a cloud of black, acidic vapor that rushed across the field, ready to vaporize the robot. Blight snorted derisively. "I activate Nova Reinforcements! When a level four or lower Nova Titan on my field is the target of a successful attack, this card special summons two Delta Droid Tokens (100/400) to my field."

(Oceanus: 7200, Blight: 6800)

As the Beta Droid was vaporized by the oncoming attack, two more little robots materialized onto Blight's field. They were short, and light-blue colored. They had clodhoppers for feet, and each one held a small blaster in each hand.

Oceanus snorted derisively. "Very well. Hydrogeddon, destroy one of those Delta Droids!" The gaseous beast opened its maw and released a stream of blazing white energy. It washed over the robot, and the explosive gas immediatley came into contact with the heat of its body and erupted, reducing it to a few pieces of burning metal within seconds, which immediatley fell into the sea and disappeared forever.

"Now, I can special summon another Hydrogeddon!" He gave a thin, cold chuckle as another of the reptilian monsters appeared on his field (1800/1200).

"Upon being destroyed, a Delta Droid Token allows me to add one Nova Titan, that is level four or lower, from my graveyard to my hand. I choose Nova Titan – Alpha Droid (1000/1000) again. It also ends your battle phase instantly." As he barely had five or six cards in his graveyard, it was easy for him to locate the necessary card and slide it back into his hand.

Oceanus glared at him. "You will fall to the elemental might of the ocean. You, your master, all of you will pay for your sins against the Council! Every single soul that has perished at your filthy hands will rise up, burning with revenge, and rend your pathetic head from your shoulders! You can play this game for as long as you can, but you cannot survive by simply evading us forever."

"Us? You and who else?" remarked Blight smoothly as he drew. "You can't really believe that the Council shares your views, Oceanus. If they did, they would have attacked my Master eons ago, and though he would have crushed them, the true reason for them not acting so was because the entire system that you fools operate is corrupt! If you ever took off your pathetic lenses through which you watch the world, you would realize how rotten the Council has reduced this entire universe to!"

He then slammed a new card onto his deck. "I sacrifice my Delta Token to summon Nova Titan – Gamma Droid (2000/1600)!" The newest robot looked far more deadly then the first two. Its body was extremely powerful and well-built, covered with heavy black armor. Wires could be seen between two plates, sliding through its body and sending millions of electric pulses around. It had a ruby like sphere on its chest, and unlike its predecessors, its head was like that of a normal human, with two, small-slit like eyes, a prominent nose and a mouth within which metallic teeth were visible. It had two blasters attached to its wrist.

"Two thousand attack points for a level five monster?" snorted Oceanus. "It sends chills down my spine."

"It would, once you realize its effect," replied Blight coolly. "Now, I can special summon from my hand, once per turn, a level four or lower Nova Titan monster." At his word, the thin form of the Nova Titan – Alpha Droid reappeared next to its evolved form in defense mode (1000/1000).

"Now, I'll slice his attack points in half to discard from my hand my second Repayment of Losses!" He smirked and held up the card for Oceanus to see, before sliding it into his graveyard and drawing once more (500/1000).

"Intriguing… Now, I will target Hydrogeddon with Nova Titan – Gamma Droid!" The robotic beast drew raised its hand. A laser blaster erupted from its wrist, its tip glowing orange. With a mechanical buzz, it unleashed the blast of energy, which ripped through the thin mist and slammed into Hydrogeddon. It screamed in agony as the hydrogen in its own body reacted with the intense heat, vaporizing it.

(Oceanus: 7000, Blight: 6800)

"Now, when Nova Titan – Gamma Droid destroys a monster in battle, I can add to my hand one level seven or lower Nova Titan monster. But at this point, I plan on choosing just a level two one…" He pulled his large deck out of the deck slot, and found the specific card that he required.

"Now, I set one card and end my turn."

Oceanus drew. "I sacrifice my remaining Hydrogeddon to call upon Mobius the Frost Monarch (2400 + 200 2600/1000 + 200 1200)!" Immediately, the elemental reptile vanished from the field and was replaced by a towering new warrior in full body armor that was light blue, with a flowing blue cape and cold wisps of smoke coming off his body.

"Now, when he's summoned, I can destroy up to two magic or trap cards on the field. Say goodbye to your facedown card!" laughed Oceanus as Mobius roared loudly. He slammed his fists down into the water, which immediatley froze on his touch. Massive spikes of ice erupted from the surface of the ocean, going all the way to Blight's field, destroying his facedown card.

"Now I have two monsters with twenty-six hundred attack points each! I'm not done yet, however, for I play Renewal of Triplets, allowing me to special summon from my graveyard three monsters with the same name. I will bring back all three Hydrogeddon's (1600 + 200 1800/1000 + 200 1200) (x3) in all their lustrous glory!"

With identical roars, the three creatures erupted from the sea beneath them, emerging next to Mobius and the Cranium Fish. Now, Oceanus had five monsters in play, with combined attack points of over ten thousand, more then enough to wipe out Blight's monsters and his life-points.

"Now, Mobius, target his Nova Titan – Gamma Droid!" Once again, the heavy form of the ice emperor slammed its fists into the water. The row of icy spikes erupted outwards, getting closer and closer to the Gamma Droid, who began firing desperately firing laser blasts at the oncoming spikes at random.

"I activate the ability of the Nova Titan I just added to my hand!" shouted Blight, raising it for Oceanus to see. "I remove from play Nova Titan – Alpha Dragon (850/800) from my hand, in order to foil your attack. When removed from play, I can boost the attack points of one monster on my field by his own attack points until the end of the turn."

A small, mechanical dragon appeared on his field. It was made of sleek steel, that glowed within the mist. Its head was extremely long, and shaped like an American football, with the two pieces breaking apart to reveal jaws, with pointed teeth. Its eyes shone sky-blue. It flexed its long, metallic claws, and then vanished into the body of the Gamma Droid (2850/1600).

With a beep, the droid raised his arm. The laser gun appeared again, and let lose three bolts of green energy. They cut through the ice and hit the monarch. He gave a loud roar of pain, and his hands left the water, immediatley causing all the ice to melt back into water. He fell to the water, sinking through and disappearing.

(Oceanus: 6750, Blight: 6800)

"Anything else you would like to send over?" sneered Blight.

Oceanus frowned. This move gave Blight the temporary advantage. But obviously, the Gamma Droid's attack points would drop back to two thousand when the turn ended, leaving Cranium Fish far stronger than Blight's monster.

"I end my turn." (Gamma Droid: 2000/1600)

Blight drew. "Hmm! I summon Nova Titan – Beta Dragon (1850/1500)!"

A very long and thick, black, metal snake-like dragon began ascending to the field, with dark, square eyes. Near the center portion of its body were two skinny but wide, spiked triangles sticking up. It had such spikes erupting out of the metal of its back at regular intervals, but not as much on normal dragons. It was looking a little less machine like then the Alpha Dragon.

"Eighteen hundred and fifty?" scoffed Oceanus. "How is that going to help you against Cranium Fish?!"

"Because of the fact that when he's summoned, I can special summon one level four or lower Nova Titan from my removed from play pile to my field in defense mode," snapped Blight. As he spoke, the familiar form of Nova Titan – Alpha Dragon, which had just been sent to the removed from play pile, reappeared on his field (850/800).

"However, this monster will be sent to the graveyard when the turn ends. It matters not, however, for when Nova Titan – Alpha Dragon is special summoned, I may return one equip magic card from my graveyard to my hand, simply by shuffling him back into my deck!"

Oceanus frowned as Blight slid the weak dragon back into his deck, and held up Cyclonic Upgrade. "Now, I equip Cyclonic Upgrade to my Gamma Droid!" The robot started glowing, and its attack points took a turn upward (2500/1600). It raised its arm again, and instead of a regular blaster, a miniature missile launcher appeared.

"It's still one hundred attack points too weak!" argued Oceanus.

"But surely not if I activate that facedown card that you were so kind to destroy, from my graveyard? It's called Nova Reinforcements, and when it's sent to the graveyard, I can add one level four or lower Nova Titan to my hand from my deck. I choose Nova Titan – Alpha Dragon (850/800) once more, and will remove it from play immediatley to boost the attack points of my Gamma Droid!"

As the robotic figure gave another mechanical beep (3350/1600), Oceanus was forcing himself not to panic. "_This is insane! I did not count on him being this powerful. His Nova Titan monsters are among the most versatile I have ever seen! They allow him to do pretty much anything he wants… Draw power, searching power, sheer beatdown…_"

"Gamma Droid, destroy his pathetic Cranium Fish and rid it off any problems that it may cause me in the future!" The robot raised its hand, which shimmered. It was actually just a bit of smoke which had erupted out of thin air when the robot had fired off a missile in the direction of the large, aquatic creature. It slugged the beast right in its oversized brain, resulting in a large explosion, which sent pieces of the corpse flying into the air before they dropped down into the water.

"And now, you're dealt four hundred points of damage!" crowed Blight as the Droid let lose a small bolt of laser energy. It caught Oceanus' chest, and he shimmered briefly into mist before solidifying again.

(Oceanus: 5600, Blight: 6800)

"Now, I'll use Beta Dragon to destroy one of your Hydrogeddon's! Two-Point Nova Flare!" As he spoke, the new dragon roared, and let lose two spheres of ruby energy from its mouth. They melted together, and raced across the field, consuming one of the Hydrogeddon's, and temporarily causing a small tidal wave to kick up.

(Oceanus: 5550, Blight: 6800)

"My Nova Titans are out of your league!" scoffed the First Horseman. "The might of pure destruction melded with some of the most advanced and powerful technology in history is something you cannot face, were never able to face, and _will_ not be able to face! Give it up, and stand out of the way as my Master leads his followers to the extraction of justice from the Infinity Council!"

With that, he broke off into loud laughter, leaving Oceanus simply to stare at him angrily.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sarah looked at her Mystic Swordsman LV4 and Silent Swordsman LV5. The main obstacle standing in her path was Ancient Gear Golem, without a doubt. If she could destroy it, then there was some possibility of wrestling back control of this see-saw duel.

"I'm afraid I can only set one card and end my turn."

"Really?" muttered Rikuo. "Shame. I was hoping for more. First comes Pot of Greed." He raised an amused eyebrow at what me had drawn.

"I now play Y-Dragon Head (1500/1600) in attack mode!" A machine red dragon with four smaller legs, metallic claws, and wings spread appeared in a offensive stance.

"Then comes my facedown Call of the Haunted, which I will use to bring back my X-Head Cannon (1800/1500)!" Beside of the scarlet dragon, a blue and yellow machine creature formed. It had a pair of cannon barrels sticking out of its chest, an orb on the bottom of its body instead of feet, and a pair of strong machine arms.

"Now, I union X-Head Cannon with Y-Dragon Head to call upon XY-Dragon Cannon (2200/2000)!"

At his command, the blue cannon leapt into the air. The large ball on which its body was balanced began to spin around, and slid slowly into a hatch that opened in the dragon's back. For some reason, both monsters looked a lot more intimidating as one rather than when they fought separately.

"And since Call of the Haunted is now gone, I'm free to play Monster Reborn, to re-summon my personal favorite…. Which means your traps are useless! So return now, Jinzo (2400/1500)!" The tall-standing cyborg, with its brains visible through a transparent type of helmet materialized onto Rikuo's field. It had dark-green goggles on its face, and pink skin. It wore a black and yellow-patterned full-body suit.

"That's it for your little swordsmen, girl! Jinzo, destroy Silent Swordsman LV5 with Cyber Energy Shock!"

The android raised its hands, and blue energy began glowing on it. With a buzz, it fired it off in the swordsman's direction. As powerful as he was meant to be, the swordsman would be unable to withstand the attack, and he helplessly raised his blade in hope of somehow deflecting the mechanical attack.

"I activate the facedown quick play magic card Statis Shield! I must flip a coin now. If I call it right, I can special summon one level seven or higher monster from my hand to the field. Then, your attacks are all negated. If I call it wrong, then your monster's attack points are cut in half for the duration of the turn, but are allowed to attack me directly."

"You're taking a foolish risk," pointed out Rikuo as Silent Swordsman's sword temporarily blocked the oncoming attack.

"Well, I don't have much of a choice, do I? Your attack will deal me thirty four hundred points worth of damage and leave me with no monsters and being unable to activate trap cards." The holographic coin appeared on the field.

On the sidelines, the Silent Swordsman began to struggle, trying as hard as possible to knock away Jinzo's attack.

"I call heads!" she said in a commanding voice as it flipped upwards. As the last few turns were completed, Sarah's heart was nearly in her mouth. She couldn't help breathing a sigh of relief to see that it _was_ indeed heads. With a triumphant cry, Silent Swordsman swung his sword around in a wide arc, deflecting Jinzo's new attack away, and burning a hole in the nearby sand.

"Yes! Now I'll introduce you to Gilford the Legend (2600/2000)!" As Sarah gently placed the card on the Monster Zone, bolts of electricity crackled across the ground, shooting out a blinding ray in all directions. As the light died down, a tattered and brown cape was whipped to the behind of a tall, very muscular warrior whose thickset face was surrounded by a metallic mask. His metallic armor looked like nothing could penetrate it. On two sheaths on his back, he had a couple of long swords, and held another, huge one in his hands.

"When he's summoned to the field, I can equip him with as many equip spell cards from my graveyard as possible! Fusion Sword – Murasame Blade!" The long, purple sword appeared in his hands, and the titanic monster gave a roar (3400/2000).

Rikuo frowned. "Very well. I set a card and end my turn."

Sarah drew fast. "Good! Now I'll use Gilford the Legend to cut down your Ancient Gear Golem once and for all!"

Rikuo grunted in disappointment as the barbaric titan of a warrior raised his long sword, and leapt across the field at lightning speed. With a thunderous blow, he struck the creaky, antique of a machine, slicing its head cleanly off. For a second, the headless machine simply stood there, its mechanical innards going into overdrive. Then, it exploded, leaving a large burn mark where it had originally been.

(Sarah: 6800, Rikuo: 3800)

"Silent Swordsman LV5, destroy XY-Dragon Cannon!" she commanded. The barrage continued as the light-armored warrior flicked his buster sword around, and lightly ran across the field, avoiding the small spheres fired at him by the union monster. He ducked one last time as he came within three feet, and swung around with all his might, slicing the dragon section cleanly off. The two pieces hovered in mid-air for a moment before vanishing.

(Sarah: 6800, Rikuo: 3700)

"I'd like to take out Jinzo as well, but unfortunately Mystic Swordsman LV4 is not strong enough. So I'll simply set a card and end my turn."

Bakura whistled on the sidelines. "_This girl is doing far better then I thought… She has Amero on the ropes. Granted, it involved a ridiculous amount of luck, but truly, this is impressive dueling on her part. If she can level up Silent Swordsman LV5, that'll mean Amero can't activate magic cards __**or**__ traps thanks to his own Jinzo._"

Rikuo drew, and scoffed. "I activate my facedown Power Bond! Now, I can fuse monsters for a machine-type fusion from my hand or field, and the bonus is that the fusion monster has his attack points doubled! So I fuse Jinzo with my own physical avatar, Wolf Demon Lord (2400/1000)!"

Materializing onto Rikuo's field was a samurai clad in heavy armor. The armor was by no means futuristic, and even looked heavy enough to encumber the warrior's movement, and perhaps weak enough to allow one of the swordsmen on Sarah's field to cut through it. But the really shocking part was that his facial features were identical to that of Rikuo. He drew a long, samurai's blade and slammed the flat side onto his palm in an offensive stance. He began to swirl into a vortex, along with Jinzo.

"Now, I call upon Steel Wolf General (3400/2000)!" The newest monster on Rikuo's field was similar to the Wolf Demon Lord, except his tail was very visible now. Instead of the outdated armor worn by the original wolf demon, this one was dressed in the futuristic type that Jinzo himself normally wore. In one hand, he held a huge sword, along which wisps of air seemed to be travelling. (3400 * 2 6800/2000)

"Sixty-eight hundred?" gasped Sarah.

"Attack now with Cyber Howling Sword!" The fusion raised his blade and slammed it down onto the ground. It released a gigantic wave of translucent energy which literally ripped through the ground, racing towards Gilford, who was barely half as strong as Rikuo's behemoth. Sarah dropped her head and sighed as the attack ripped through her prized warrior, reducing him to shreds in a matter of moments. It continued on, vaporizing the sand as it slammed into the border of the ocean and sending up a massive wave of water.

(Sarah: 3400, Rikuo: 3800)

Serena's mind was racing. "_Sixty-eight hundred? Does Sarah have any chance now? Her warriors are powerful, but Gilford the Legend is the only monster in her deck with the capability of touching that kind of power._"

Drake clenched his fist in fury, and drew the top card of his deck. It was Psychic Armor Head (0/500).

"_Damn it all! If I had been dueling him instead, I could have decimated this demon by now! He knows nothing about my deck, while Sarah's LV monsters can be countered easily!_"

Sarah was slowly staggering upward. "Still want to duel?" taunted Rikuo.

"Just shut up and finish your move!" she snapped. Rikuo shrugged. "As you wish. I hold no other cards. Therefore I must end my turn."

"Power Bond's effect!" warned Sarah. Rikuo was well aware of it, but showed no more sign of discomfort then a short grimace as the effect of the risky but deadly card drained him of the attack points of his Steel Wolf General.

(Sarah: 3400, Rikuo: 400)

Sarah drew slowly. "I switch Mystic Swordsman LV4 and Silent Swordsman LV5 to defense mode. Then I set one card." The two LV warriors both dropped to their knees, the latter holding his sword in front of him with his left palm pressed against the flat of the blade in a defensive posture.

"I'll end."

Rikuo drew. "Steel Wolf General… Annihilate Mystic Swordsman LV4!"

Again Sarah bit her lip and watched in anger as the metallic samurai released a wave of energy from his large sword. The blue-masked warrior glanced over at her with a sad smile before he was consumed by the wave of energy, and immediatley atomized into nothingness. Again, the sheer momentum of the attack carried it forward towards the sea, inciting another wave.

"I set my one card and end my turn."

The Eagle agent drew desperately. Something, anything to help her regain the advantage…

A small, coy smile curled across her face, and slowly the confidence began to return. "This is it! I play Book of Moon!"

Rikuo was dumbfounded. One card…. _One card_ had reduced his entire strategy to ruins. He simply watched, still keeping his cool as the fusion disappeared with a roar, and was replaced by the brown-backed card.

"Silent Swordsman LV5… Sword of Silence Level Five!" The warrior charged across the field, and brought his blade down on the card with thunderous force. It cut through the holographic image like a hot knife through butter, barely revealing the powerful, demonic samurai for a moment before its target vanished.

Bakura smirked. "_Overconfidence… That's what did this to the demon._"

"_Ahem… I think the number of defeats you've had just when you thought no one could touch you is in double digits now, isn't it_?" replied Ryou with a laugh. His yami frowned inwardly, and simply swore under his breath.

"_Anyway, he's not out of the duel yet._"

"_You may be right. But still, such an opponent; one must admit…_" He trailed off into his own thoughts as he gazed on at Rikuo and Sarah, their eyes locked, the intensity of the moment threatening to boil over.

"Very good play," admitted Rikuo. "I must say I'm enjoying this duel more then any in quite a long time. Real challenges are very rare. Hadn't it been for your psychotic little friend there…" He gave Drake a dirty look on the sidelines. "This would have been one for the ages."

Sarah didn't respond. She was now having serious doubts about whether it was indeed right of them to treat the group as being hostile. When one really thought about it, Paradias' lower minions, or even those of Apocalypse, for that matter, were never so skilled in dueling. They were basically grunts. Only the Horseman and top tier agents like Sigma really provided a challenge and played like professionals.

"I end my move," she said in a barely audible voice.

Rikuo drew. He glanced over at Drake, and spoke venomously. "You can hate us all you want. But the fact remains that demons have their home on this planet as well. We may not have the same blood flowing through our veins as you, we may not have the same link that you can share with other humans, but we are sentient beings who will not bow down to you! The more you fight us, the more we will fight back. And I am going to prove it to you this turn, right here and right now, that we are your EQUALS!" He said the last word with such thunderous force, that it silenced the retort Drake had been about to fire back.

"I play the Card of Demise, allowing me to draw until I hold five cards." He quickly pulled the top five cards off his deck, and glanced over his new hand.

"This is it! Your warriors have been worthy opponents, Sarah, but they'll never hold out forever! I activate my facedown Call of the Haunted, to revive XY-Dragon Cannon (2200/2000)!" The familiar fusion with the blue and yellow mecha, mounted on the crimson, roaring dragon, appeared on his field.

"It's weaker then Silent Swordsman LV5!" countered Sarah.

"At this point yes, but I summon Z-Metal Tank (1500/1300)!" The blue and yellow artillery destroyer appeared next to its counterparts. "First, I'll break up XY-Dragon Cannon to summon his components. Then, of course, I'll union them to summon XYZ-Dragon Cannon (2800/2600)!"

Launching into the air by use of their thrusters, the three machine creatures began to form into one creature. The tank became the bottom and took up position while waiting for the other two to link up. Slowly, the red dragon's wings broke off of its body and it retracted its head. The large blue robot creature lowered itself into a port within the dragon's back and linked up, before finally the two came crashing down onto the blue and yellow tank, which hooked up as well. A bit of electricity flashed through the air when the three finally fully powered up.

Sarah gasped in shock. He was right! Now, he could blow away Silent Swordsman LV5 and reduce her to just one thousand life-points.

"But that's not all! I said I would end the duel this turn, and I intend to do so. I play the magic card called Overload Fusion! This allows me to remove fusion material monsters in my graveyard or field from play in order to special summon a dark attribute machine fusion monster. So I remove Jinzo and XYZ-Dragon Cannon!"

The android once again materialized onto his field. Sarah could do nothing but watch in dismay as the trap master and the veritable engine of destruction were sucked into a portal. Rikuo's field seemed to be bubbling over with energy as a gigantic new form erupted out of thin air. One could not see it clearly at first, but slowly, ever so slowly, a true behemoth descended down onto it.

A large, dark-toned machine touched down on Rikuo's field with a thud. It was in the same shape as Jinzo, but had large sapphires in each of its kneecaps and elbows. It was covered by blue, orange, and purple armor. In the dead center of its torso was the heads of Y-Dragon Head and Z-Metal Tank, stuck out as attachments. Among the crest of its shoulder armor was that of Jinzo himself. On either side of his shoulders there were the cannons of the XYZ-Dragon Cannon, with the wings of the Y-Dragon Head on the back. Its legs were pillar-like. Its entire body crackled with electricity.

"Meet Ultimate Psycho Shocker-XYZ (4000/2800)!"

Sarah took a step back helplessly, and even Kaiba couldn't help but shudder. "_This kind of thing is why he always comes out on top… Whatever happens_."

"By his effect, once per turn, I can destroy one monster on your field and deal you one thousand points of damage flat. Plus, you can't activate magic or trap cards in response to his attacks." As he spoke, the cannons on either side of the gigantic monster's head began to glow. With unexpected suddenness, then exploded, releasing waves of black energy straight in the direction of the Silent Swordsman. He didn't scream, but was simply silent as he disintegrated into nothingness within seconds.

(Sarah: 2400, Rikuo: 400)

She looked up at the huge machine in awe, while Rikuo smirked. "As I said, excellent duel. I wouldn't mind a rematch sometime, to tell you the truth. That's why I'm offering you the option of surrender. The attack would injure you badly, and there's no point in going through with it when you already know there's no chance of escaping."

Sarah looked at the Wolf Demon Lord, and then down at her own Duel Disk.

"_I've never surrendered a duel…_" she thought to herself. "_Jason wouldn't do it_."

"_But still, he's giving me the option. He's right, if his Ultimate Psycho Shocker hits me full force with its attack, I'd be risking death. The last time I saw someone get hit by something of that strength was in the Underworld League. Of course, in a regular duel it doesn't matter, but when we're playing at this level, with such high stakes involved, odds are I'll be like hell after being hit by it. No, I can help Eagle much better in good health rather than in the hospital just to fulfill some concept of pride. My main aim is to think logically, and if it's going to help our purposes… Looks like I'll go through with it_."

She sighed. "I enjoyed this duel to, and I wish it could have been under different circumstances. But you outfoxed us completely. I am surrendering this duel to you, and as we lost, you are allowed to go free by the terms of our deal."

She silently placed her hand on her Duel Disk as Serena and Drake watched in shock. Rikuo smirked as Sarah's remaining twenty-four hundred life-points tumbled down to zero. "Intelligent of you. Not a common trait seen among humans, but still, one must admit…"

The gargantuan form of the Ultimate Psycho Shocker-XYZ began to vanish. Rikuo was just about done putting all his cards back into his deck, when he heard the cold, metallic click of a gun being cocked. He looked up and sighed.

He was staring down the long, metal barrel of Drake Manning's gun. "You really are incorrigible…"

"I won't let you escape…. demon," snarled the Armor duelist. Sarah glared at him. "Put down that gun now. You have to be a complete and total idiot if you don't understand that these people are indeed not Paradias agents _or_ working for Apocalypse. I order you, as the ranking agent on site…."

"SHUT UP!" bellowed Drake. "YOU ARE ALL BLOODY TRAITORS! HIS KIND ARE LIKE PARASITES, LEECHING OFF OUR PLANET, KILLING _**US**_ INDISCRIMINATELY! AND YOU HAVE THE AUDACITY TO DEFEND THEM! _**YOU SICKEN ME**_!"

He then looked back at Rikuo. "Consider this payback for everything your kind as ever done, demon. I pray you go straight to hell…"

"_That's it for the idiot_…" thought Kaiba to himself, looking at Drake with distaste, even as Joey attempted to get there in time to subdue the Eagle agent. It was not to be so, however…

As he spoke these words, Rikuo had sighed and a sphere of black fire had appeared in his hand. He would have probably thrown it at Drake and vaporized him before he could even squeeze his trigger, when a black, shadow like form flitted over between Rikuo and Drake. It happened so fast, not even Rikuo or Bakura, with their enhanced vision were able to catch a glimpse of exactly what it was.

There was a deeply audible crunch like sound, and a groan from Drake. A flap of bat-like wings, roughly the size of that of a wandering Albatross, the gleam of obsidian-colored black armor, and the sight of Drake falling to his knees were all the sensations that their eyes carried to their brains in the next three seconds.

The source of his agony now stood in front of Rikuo. The sight was so majestic that even the wolf demon lord himself was amazed. He was a demon, one could be sure of that from the aura of strength that he was giving off. But he was far different from the human-based demons like Rikuo and Ryu. As different as night from day….

"_A demon of his strength… Surely I should have known. How could he be hidden from us for so many years…"_ Rikuo didn't know what to think.

The demon was six feet tall and covered in jet black samurai armor he seemed to have stepped out of Japanese folklore and into the middle of this conflict. His hands ended in enormous silver gauntlets thickly padded with fingers ending in the serrated talons of a bird of prey, which explained how he had been able to shatter Drake's nose so effectively. He was well-built, not as much as the likes of CJ or Brian, but his muscularity could be described more as toned and lithe, rather then the gorilla like intimidation provided by others. His armor and power gave him more then enough help in the intimidation department, in any case.

He wore no helmet, but with the face he had he didn't need one to inspire both awe and respect. His face was relatively human, but was slate gray skinned, like the rest of his body likely, with pointed ears like an elf or feline, short messy jet black hair hanging down near his eyes, and those in themselves were one of his most striking features. They were large and a luminous yellow, with black pupils that were slit-shaped, like a feline, only with his build they were more the eyes of a jungle cat then a domestic feline. Finally a pair of large leathery bat wings swept out grandly behind him like banners displaying his nature and his identity for all to see.

"Zeruge Mitsunashi," he said in a clear, deep, silky voice. It was a voice that would calm others down, but inform them very clearly that he had more then enough power to back up the authority with which he handled the situation.

He glanced at Rikuo. "Mr. Amero… The Wolf Demon Lord. Interesting to meet you. I wish it could have been under other circumstances, to tell you the truth… But this…" He looked back at Drake, who was staggering to his feet.

"I would have expected much more from one who serves Eizan Nakamura. I would pray the Wolf Demon Lord has as much as pity on you as I, for your despicable behavior. While you squabble over childhood grudges and misguided hatred, Apocalypse grows stronger by the moment. I must admit, I am deeply disappointed. If would have vied for stronger action under different circumstances, but at the moment the Council will be content with Eizan's judgment."

"Who… Who the hell are you to speak for the Council?!" spat Drake in fury. He had forgotten his gun, which was lying at his feet.

The demon looked at him impassively. "I repeat myself: I am Zeruge Mitsunashi, and I serve the Infinity Council. I am the temporary liaison to your organization, as the Archangel Zerato is busy at the moment. I was sent by Lady Life to ensure that such foolish outbreaks of violence do not occur again, as we cannot afford such stagnation."

He looked at Sarah. "Your actions, I understand, were carried out with the best of intentions. But it does not reduce the severity of the consequences, had you succeeded. It may have resulted in the death or grievous injury of some of the dimension's finest duelists. If one considers the stakes, it is not affordable. You can consider yourself safe, however, as your acceptance of the truth proves it. But Mr. Manning's conduct is despicable, and I _will _ensure that justice will take the correct path within Eagle."

Sarah blushed lightly at this, and Zeruge gave a deep chuckle. "As it is, I can admit to having committed many a blunder throughout this long life, and as long as one is intelligent enough _not_ to commit the same mistakes repeatedly, they are easily excusable."

"Can someone tell me what the hell is going on here?" said Kyle loudly.

The large demon looked at him in amusement. "Ah yes. Mr. Gardner. You have my congratulations at your successful defeat of the Prince of Atlantis. It is a feat many would balk at. You do seem confused, however, and I will repeat myself for the final time: I am Zeruge Mitsunashi, and am acting as a link between this task force against Apocalypse and the Infinity Council. Upon witnessing the disgraceful conduct occurring on this beach, Lady Life contacted me and asked me to come down here in order to settle this foolish conflict and speak with Eizan in order to make sure that only _competent_ individuals be involved in the force to accomplish our purposes. I also have some important information I can share with none but him, concerning the recent attempt on _your_ life, Ms. Taylor."

Sarah narrowed her eyes, remembering Nicholas and how he had been killed. She didn't think it wise to say much at this point, and simply nodded silently.

"I am also afraid that for reasons that I cannot disclose, Eagle's base of operations near here has been compromised to such an extent, that you cannot return there. I advise you to proceed to Mr. Kaiba's offices about five miles offshore. Wait there and recuperate, as battle with that hooligan and his soldiers may have no doubt taken their toll on some of you." He gave the Joker's corpse a dirty look.

"But be on your guard though. Trust no one outside of your group, but trust each other. We cannot afford for divides to come in between us, otherwise Apocalypse's victory is inevitable. I, meanwhile, will take this Mr. Manning to have a little chat with Eizan." He reached over and caught Drake's collar in his hand. The Armor duelist was so shocked, he didn't even struggle.

Suddenly, Rikuo stepped forward. "Wait a minute. How would I have never known about you? I know of most demons of this level of power. And even by my standards, you seem strong. It seems unlikely that I would have even heard the name Zeruge."

Zeruge smiled ruefully. "Well, Mr. Amero, let's just say the Infinity Council are very good at hiding such things." With that, he tightened his grip on Drake, and with a flap of his large, black wings, he was but a speck in the open expanse of the sky in the instant.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The boat was edging forward through the murky waters extremely cautiously. Daniel and Brian were rowing, and the rain was so thick that they could barely see each other. All of them had tucked their decks into some inner fold of their clothing to prevent them from being ruined by the water, but they could do nothing to prevent the icy water from soaking them.

"HOW MUCH FURTHER?!" bellowed Yugi over a clap of thunder.

"CAN'T TELL!" roared back Jason, barely able to make himself heard. "I'D GUESS ABOUT FIFTY FEET!"

At that point, a large wave washed over the boat due to a gust of wind, drenching them further. Brian and Daniel rowed as hard as possible, desperate to get out of the storm as soon as possible. However horrible the Necroguard Prison was, it _couldn't_ be worse then is, in any way at all.

They continued on slowly. With a thud, the boat landed against the edge of the miniature island. One by one, they streamed out, darting towards the large, overhanging platform that jutted out from above the door. The building was large and black, covered with archaic forms of architecture. It looked more like someone had carved it out of a massive piece of rock, for some of it was extremely roughly and badly carved. For example, the arch leading to the main entrance had overhanging rocks like stalactites, hanging down as if greeting the newest visitors. And telling them that they weren't going to leave.

"NO SENTRIES?" shouted Brian. Ryu glanced around, his enhanced demonic vision enabling him to penetrate the thickness of the Necropolian rain. He frowned at the sight of a tall, armored form standing at the gate, some fifteen to twenty feet away from them. Apparently, he didn't have the sight of a demon, and didn't even know they were there.

"I'll deal with him," murmured Brian. While the others maintained cover underneath the rain, he suddenly rushed forward. The sentry never saw the gigantic punch coming. It slammed right into his face, driving it so far back that one could actually hear a crack in his neck. That one punch was all they required: as the sentry fell to the floor, his cloak fell off, revealing that he was human.

Brian glared in disgust. He knew that if he had known he was attacking one of his own kind, he would have felt more guilt at taking a life. But still, one could consider it a favor, being able to get out of this hell, however one did it…

He glanced over at the heavy, iron door as his companions filtered in next to him. "What'd you think?" he growled, giving it a shove. To his surprise, it just swung open. He stood there for a second, completely stunned.

Were the Necropolians actually anticipating them to break in?

Jason, too, seemed shocked. "This is a trap," he whispered. "I can tell. We have to leave _now_."

Yugi looked into the darkness behind the door, and glared back at Jason. "You leave if you want. I am _not_ leaving without Tea. I don't care if Apocalypse himself is waiting inside that building, I will not leave this building without Tea by my side."

Jason glared back. "This was what I was talking about! You allow your judgment to be influenced by your emotions. I thought you had gotten over it after our duel, but it seems I was wrong. We cannot allow the life of one individual to come in the way of the success of the mission as a whole."

Angel was about to interrupt, but he was cut off.

"SHUT UP!" bellowed Yugi. "You can wait here like a coward if you want, but I am going in."

"It's not cowardice, it's something called intelligence," hissed Jason. "It stands to reason that if the security around this place is so sparse, then obviously the governor of the prison, or maybe even the King of Necropolis may have a trap lying in wait. If we go in, then not only will we risk being killed, we won't even be able to rescue your friend. At least if we wait, then at least some of us survive!"

"And you think that Belial will be willing to work with someone so selfish and cowardly as you?" shot back Yugi. "The moment I tell them you're waiting down at the bottom, do you think they'll consider making a detour to pick you up worth their time? If you're going to persist with that selfish attitude, think of it this way: The only reason we have Belial's help is because he thinks that as a group, we can match up to the King. If he finds out we're afraid of the King's _traps_, then it's safe to say he won't give a damn whether we live or die. Now I'M going in there, so whoever wants to follow me, can."

With that, he glared one more time and stomped off into the entrance, leaving Jason to absorb what he had said.

Daniel and Ryu didn't even look at the pair of Eagle agents, and followed him. Brian gave a low sigh. "I know it's hard, man. When you're a trained agent, you tend to look at things more logically. But sometimes, just sometimes, my brother, don't listen to your mind. Listen to your heart."

With that, he shuffled off after the three. That left Angel and Jason. "Believe me, Mr. Becker, I know that intelligence is sometimes mistaken for selfishness," he said in a low voice. "I don't think anyone here thinks of you as a coward or a selfish man. Tactically, your ideas are always the best, because you have the necessary experience to back them up. I'm with you on this one, the risk is definitely great and definitely worth it. It's easier for Moto and the demons to be so _fearless_, with their powers backing them up. As normal humans, albeit trained humans, life is more precious to us. But I don't think we're going to achieve much hanging about here, do you? Our main aim is to get the Seal, and get out. We can't get the Seal if we don't have Belial's support. We don't have Belial's support if he thinks we're not strong enough to beat the King. So, Mr. Becker, let's just go home."

Jason relaxed slightly. "Fine," he muttered. With that, the pair followed the rest of the group into the arched doorway.

It was a thin, corridor, albeit slightly different from the rest of Necropolis. It was lit dimly by torches high up on the walls, which were made of rough, black stones. The ceiling was about twelve feet above their heads, and a few stalactites hung from them at certain points. They walked through it in absolute silence for the next few minutes, until they came to a fork.

"Belial didn't mention this," murmured Daniel.

Yugi looked from one, to the other. Both were equally dark, and they couldn't see any further in then a few feet. Before he could speak a word in reply, a thunderous roar erupted from within one of them, and a large, ape-like form bounded out.

A large gray looking orc creature with a brown cloth acting like a pair of pants and a large bone club in his right hand had erupted from within the confines of the corridor. It was very well-built, and along with its skin color and large size it looked a bit like a humanoid elephant. Yugi barely avoided the swing of its club as it smashed down onto the floor three inches from him. He rolled away as the entire group backed up. It was a Giant Orc (2200/0).

"I'll deal with this," said Jason quietly, drawing a card from his deck. He looked at it and gave a faint smile.

"Come, Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV6 (2300/1600)." The air in front of them suddenly hidden by black flames. From the flames, large silver wings came out, along with a long silver tail, a pair of powerful talon legs, and finally the main body of the silver metal dragon was seen. It looked like a large bird, but still a very powerful bird.

"_Giant Orc has twenty-two hundred attack points in the game_," reasoned Jason. "_Technically, this shouldn't even be a matchup_."

"Eliminate it," he commanded. At his words, the dragon began to build up a sphere of black energy in its mouth. Before it could fire, however, the orc leapt forward, and its fist slammed into the dragon's chest. The flames died, and the majestic creature's primal instinct took over. It bit down on the orc's shoulder in rage, inciting a cry of agony. The demon lashed out with his club, catching the dragon on its shoulder. The spikes left shallow slashes, enraging the dragon further as it spat out a large black sphere. It missed, hitting the wall instead.

"Move!" warned Jason. The corridor on the left was the only available route for them. As dragon and fiend thrashed around wildly, the group shot off across the corridor, making it through just in time, before another of Horus' blasts hit the ceiling. A rock fell off, hitting the ground not a few yards from where Yugi had been standing just a few seconds ago.

To their shock, the ceiling was beginning to crumble. Jason snarled, and raised his card. Horus disappeared into white energy, leaving the Giant Orc grasping just air as the shining motes disappeared into Jason's card and the ceiling came crashing down around him. The group were barely able to enter the corridor fully before it happened.

Jason collapsed against a wall, panting from the exertion of having to summon Horus. Daniel looked at the rest of them grimly.

"You realize what this means, don't you? Belial said that there were going to be many guards. That means we're going to have to subdue each and every one of them by summoning a monster _every_ time. That'll leave us pretty much drained by the time we get to the King's castle. _And_, that's assuming we don't have to duel the governor."

"Just…. Forget it now. We have to make it further," rasped Daniel. To their eternal relief, they saw the stairs that Belial had mentioned not too far away from them. However, on either side of them, the walls were peppered with cells. This wasn't any old musty dungeon where the cells had bars. Each cell was covered by a thick, iron door, which didn't even have an opening from which the prisoners could look out. Luckily, it seemed like the Orc had been the only guard on the floor.

"Should we free them?" whispered Yugi.

Angel shook his head. "Don't even think about it. You have no idea what kind of prisoners are brought the Necroguard Prison. Some of them are real lowlifes even by the King's standard. Evil isn't always allied with evil. His political opponents, prisoners of war, assassins… All of them are imprisoned here. Most of them would kill you in thanks for freeing them."

They continued on in silence, but despite Angel's words, Yugi could not help but feel a twinge of pity for the unfortunate souls that had spent God only knew how long in there, not knowing that their fate was up to the King, and most probably was death.

It truly was surprising that they didn't encounter as many guards as Belial had warned them about. He had made it sound like this was the most secure prison ever. It was a terrible set-up, to be honest, with absolutely no one on patrol since the Giant Orc. They ascended the stairs unchallenged. However, the real shocker was when they made it to the next floor.

All the cell doors were open. And they were all empty.

"What the-…" gasped Yugi, shaking his head. There was not even a guard on the floor. A small light could be seen from a door somewhere further in. Yugi raced up to it. It was a small room, sparsely furnished, with just a desk and a pair of chairs. Lying dead on the desk was a pale man dressed in a purplish-black robe. A small trickle of blood was coming down the side of his mouth.

He backed out hurriedly. "This is…." The remaining members of the group were also shocked. The prison was _empty_.

That was when Jason's words hit them.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Flashback_

"_This is a trap," he whispered. "I can tell. We have to leave now."_

_End Flashback_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I was right!" he hissed. "The only reason this place is empty is because they were expecting us to come here to rescue her! They want to kill us all at once. With that, Belial's resistance will be in vain."

Yugi had nothing to say.

"We were fools to come here! She's probably somewhere in the King's castle, tucked up nice and safe in a cell while Belial's army marches forth. They'll kill some soldiers, granted, but then the King will walk out himself, and that'll be it. We have to get out now-…!"

He was cut off by the sound of an explosion from the floor beneath them. He swore and looked at the rest of the group. As one, they turned back towards the stairs, knowing escape was their only option.

Daniel was barely halfway down before he grunted at the sting of smoke in his eyes. A raging fire had been started, and was steadily burning its way across the corridor. It would be on them within moments. Whirling around, he staggered back in the only direction available to them: up.

They raced across the corridor, searching desperately for the entrance that Belial had told them would lead to the terrace. They could see tendrils of smoke curling up from the stairs. They had minutes before the fire burned its way onto this floor. If they could make it onto the terrace, maybe they had a chance of escaping.

"It's here!" bellowed Angel, pointing to a trap door at the far end of the corridor. He rushed forward, and tried to throw it open, only to discover that it was locked. He lashed out in frustration, and only succeeded in bruising his knuckles. As he attempted to fumble with it, Ryu's commanding voice echoed out, "Move aside."

He barely did so in time before an emerald sphere slammed into it, reducing it to ashes. One by one, they clambered out in a hurry. Even demonic strength or the power of the Millennium Puzzle would protect one from the flames lighting up the floor beneath them. If they were lucky, it wouldn't spread to the roof. If not, they would be forced to take the option of diving into the cold, chilling water underneath. In fact, the rain would have been perfect at this point.

As it happened, the fire didn't reach high enough. But still, it was an eerie sensation, for they could actually hear the crackling of the fire beneath them, _feel_ the heat underneath them, sense that that the flames were lashing out as high as possible, eager to destroy as much as possible.

"I take it you enjoyed my reception?" said a cold drawl from within the shadows of one of the battlements.

"Who's there?" snarled Ryu, whirling around to see a shadowy, robed form within the darkness. Its face was hidden by the shadows in such a way that one could only see its grinning, fang-like teeth. It wore a dark blue robe, covered with heavy, purple armor. All over its clothes were inscribed arcane symbols of a forgotten tongue, which mortals did not dare to even speak of.

"It's more of a question of who _was_ here, rather then who _is_ here… Because technically, I'm not here, meaning only you fools, along with your friend, have to endure the hell of the Necroguard Prison."

Yugi didn't understand what the shady individual had said, and neither did he care. "Tea!" he snapped, taking a threatening step forward. "Where is she?"

"Now, just telling you where she is wouldn't be much fun, would it? Why not decide whether or not I should tell you by a game of luck, a game of chance, a game of skill were both parties can reap equal rewards…."

"I'M NOT DUELING YOU!" bellowed Yugi, striding up to the robed form, the Millennium Puzzle pulsing with golden energy like never before. He reached up and grabbed the man's collar, hoisting him up so that his pale, blue face was visible to all in the moonlight.

It was none other then the Dark Ruler Ha Des (2450/1600). "You?!" gasped Yugi, so shocked by the sight of the ruler of the Greek Underworld, that he dropped him to the ground.

"No, not really," suggested the demon. He lifted up a piece of his chest armor. There was a terrible wound there, oozing black blood. It looked like someone had simply slid a sword calmly and coolly into his chest, left it there for a few minutes, and then pulled it out.

"No, definitely not Ha Des. I think if I was Ha Des, I would be dead right now, wouldn't I?"

In anger, Yugi lashed out with his fist, catching his target on the face. His fist was glowing golden. Empowered by the power of the Millennium Puzzle, it knocked Ha Des backwards onto the battlement. A metal spike was jutting out. It speared itself on the demon's shoulder, coming right out on the other side.

But there was no scream of pain. No shriek. Only a low, sardonic laugh.

"You enjoy causing the dead pain? You're a sadistic man, even by my standards, Yugi Moto."

Daniel stepped up and placed a warning hand on Yugi's shoulder, but he shrugged it off. "I swear to God, if you don't tell me where Tea is now, I will find you, wherever you are, and personally…-"

"Well, we wouldn't want that to happen, would we? In that case, I will reveal to you exactly where your friend is." The zombie-like form of the Dark Ruler Ha Des slowly pulled himself off the large spike. It left a few drops of black blood dripping, but he smoothly covered up the wound with his armor. He raised a knarled, bony hand, and pointed out across the battlements.

To everyone's shock, a lithe, tiny form was suspended on a rope attached to a complex structure on the battlements. It consisted of a lever-like system, with a stick that projected outwards. A rope was tied around it, which continued down to wrap around the body of none other than Tea Gardner, who was at this point hovering some hundreds of feet above the ground.

"LET HER GO!" bellowed Yugi. He took another step forward, but Ha Des raised a threatening finger.

"One more step will result in your friend being scalded. The fire has decimated the entire ground floor, and spread to the edges of the island as well. I don't know how grateful she'll be to you for attacking me after she's spent a few seconds in that fire. Then you can rip this body to bits, for all I care. In fact, I'd encourage it."

Yugi didn't know what he meant, and cared even less. "So what are your terms?" he growled.

"First of all, I would like to introduce myself. I am the King of Necropolis, and I want to assure you that this is nothing personal. It is simply that you have gotten in my way. I cannot afford such obstructions, they are annoying, and a nuisance. I gave Mr. Pilkington a chance to leave before, but he foolishly ignored it. I am afraid that I will have to crush you to avoid any trouble.

"Second, one of you will duel this body. No, Mr. Moto, the duelist will be of my choice. I choose Mr. Pilkington, for he is the one who has caused me the most trouble up until now. Consider this duel a lesson for your foolishness in finishing off Ieyasu. His weakness was revealed to me, and he had to die for it. Inconvenient, since he was a useful servant. Had you not interfered, I would have not been forced to kill him, and he could have continued living that foolish façade he calls life."

Daniel stared at him. Where was the logic in this creature's brain?

"Now, the duel will be special. We are roughly one hundred and sixty feet above the flames. For every fifty life-points you lose, she will fall one foot. So you see, this a perfectly fair game, in which you can ensure that she falls not an inch if you take proper precautions. If you lose, she perishes. If you win, the lever will turn completely back, you may haul her up, and I will deactivate the enchantments around the terrace, enabling Belial's forces to rescue you. If not, the flames will eventually reach here, and you all will die as well."

"And if I refuse?" growled Daniel.

"You have no choice. Only Mr. Zaytel can fly, and he too would be hard pressed to break out of the ward surrounding the area. Demons are rather powerful physically and in terms of energy, but when it comes to complex spells they are quite hopeless."

Ryu stared. How much did this man know about them?

"So what's it going to be, Mr. Pilkington? Will you wait here and allow the flames to kill not only you, but also your innocent friend? Or will you accept my challenge and submit yourself to an identical outcome?"

"This won't take long, you sick freak," he growled, sliding on his Duel Disk, his eyes flashing amber for a moment. He didn't look like Daniel now, he looked like Rikuo, when he was very, very angry and ready to do something incredibly…. _stupid._

A scorched, old, DD2 appeared on Ha Des' arm. "Believe me, Ieyasu was the bottom of the food chain. Even if you defeat this deck, I will enjoy crushing you in person."

The remaining five formed a semi-circle behind Daniel, grim looks of hatred and fury on their face, while Yugi kept glancing at Tea, his fist tightening.

(Ha Des: 8000, Daniel: 8000)

The body of the Dark Ruler gave a deep chuckle. His movements were very robotic and clumsy, almost as if his body was a puppet, with all movements being controlled by invisible strings. "I summon Doomcaliber Knight (1900/1800)!"

A looming form materialized onto his field. It was that of a muscular, black-skinned horse, with a scrawny knight sitting on it. In place of a mane, it had a helmet-like piece of armor, with a number of spikes sticking out from it. In one hand, the knight held a long, fanged sword while a large shield in the form of a skull was on its other arm.

"Then, I will set one card and end my turn."

It was a fairly quiet opening move, but Daniel didn't care. If the King wanted to play around, he wasn't going to. No, he was going to show him exactly what he was dealing with. "I play Polymerization!" he declared.

He slid two cards into his graveyard. "I play Pot of Greed." He was lucky to draw the useful card on his first turn, and judging by the grin on his face, it had really helped him.

"I fuse Elemental Hero Prisma (1700/1100) and Elemental Hero Stratos (1800/300) to summon Elemental Hero Prismatic Whirlwind (2400/2000)!" Two, ghost-like forms materialized onto his field. The first was that of a winged man made completely out of crystal-like, shining glass and diamond. He had no features, and all his joints were sharp and spiked. Even though his wings were thin, they came down to his knees. The other was an armored, futuristic man, dressed in a blue suit and helmet. A sky-blue visor came down over his face, while metallic wings stuck out on either sides, fans whirring on them at full speed. He had silverish knee pads.

The two began to swirl together in a vortex, which began to spin. Erupting from within it was another form made completely of diamond. It was far more muscular and well-built then either of his components, and resembled Elemental Hero Neos to some extent. Its face was etched with deep grooves to form eyes, nostrils, and a mouth. Its wings were much more pronounced then those of Prisma, for its wingspan was about ten feet and its edges came down to his knees. His eyes shown yellow, and with one flap of his wings, a furious wind picked up around him. He wore white, futuristic armor on some parts of his body.

"I know your Doomcaliber Knight's effect, so I'll instead play Advanced Michizure, which allows me to destroy your weakest monster and deal you damage equal to two hundred points for each of its level stars!" From within the depths of the ground underneath it, a large hand reached out and dragged the screaming knight down into the flames. He was forever lost… Meanwhile, another hand erupted from underneath Ha Des, and grasped his neck. It tightened, constricting the demon's breath.

When it finally let go, the King's voice began echoing shrieky, joyous laughter. "Excellent! Excellent! Pain, more pain, I want him to suffer!"

Daniel looked at him strangely, as did the other spectators. He shook his head, and continued.

"Now I summon Elemental Hero Neos Alius (1900/1300) in attack mode!" The monster appearing on Daniel's field closely resembled Elemental Hero Neos, except it was a younger version of him. It had white armor from its knees downward, and from its elbows to its wrists, along with blue shoes and gloves. There was a large sapphire in its chest, with a fin-like, blue structure projecting from his forehead. He had yellow eyes.

"He's a Gemini monster, but I can't use his effect right now anyway. Instead, I'll use that of Prismatic Whirlwind, allowing me to discard one Elemental Hero from my hand to add one Elemental Hero and one Polymerization to my hand. So I'll send Bubbleman to the graveyard to get back Stratos and Polymerization."

He slid one of the original Heroes into his graveyard and added the two cards from his graveyard to his hand. "Then comes Quick Summon, allowing me to perform an extra normal summon during the turn. I'll summon back Elemental Hero Stratos (1800/300)!" The armored, winged hero once again appeared on his field.

"When he's summoned, I can activate one of two effects. I choose to add an Elemental Hero from my deck to my hand. I choose Elemental Hero Burstinatrix (1200/800)." He fanned through his deck, and quickly located the appropriate card. With a grin, he held up Polymerization.

"Then I fuse Burstinatrix and Stratos to summon Elemental Hero Firestorm (2300/1200)!" Rising up onto the field in blaze of flames, a female warrior in red spandex with pale white skin and long black fanned out hair with white ends appeared. Along with Stratos, she began to swirl into a vortex, which after spinning for a moment spat out yet another fusion.

This one resembled a tornado, except that the black air currents were a fiery yellowish-orange. It spun around for a moment, threatening to burn away the entire castle, when it suddenly shattered to reveal a tall, muscular man. He glowed golden yellow, and ash could be seen in traces on his body. His face was covered by a red helmet with spikes on either side, and in each hand, a blaze of fire seemed to erupt out of nowhere. He was dressed in an orange spandex. His skin was a dark brownish-red. As he thudded down, there was a haze of fire near his ankles.

"Hey…." muttered Yugi. "He could actually end the duel within two turns. And that's without us knowing Firestorm's effect!"

Ha Des didn't seem too impressed at all, choosing to simply stare blankly into space.

"Firestorm's means I can also special summon from my deck one Elemental Hero or Neo-Spacian monster, but it cannot attack _or_ be used as a tribute. It's destroyed at the end of the turn. I choose Neo-Spacian Air Hummingbird (800/600)!"

Materializing onto the field was a human sized red humming bird that stood tall, with white feathery wings on its back, talons for hands and feet, and a long like bill. "By this little guy's effect, I gain five hundred life-points for every card in your hand. That's four, meaning I have an advantage of two thousand life-points regardless!"

(Ha Des: 7200, Daniel: 10000)

"You bore me," echoed the voice of the King.

"Well, this should get you perked up. I can Second Summon Neos Alius. His name is now treated as Elemental Hero Neos (2500/2000), which means I can activate Contact Fusion to fuse Neos and Air Hummingbird, summoning Elemental Hero Air Neos (2500/2000)!"

Both the white warrior and the red bird warrior leapt into the air together. Slowly, the pair moved closer together till the two blended, forming a bright light. From the light came a new red warrior with white wings. His hands had brown like gloves that ran up to nearly his elbows, and on his feet were brown like boots.

Jason's mind ran through the math. "That totals seventy-two hundred attack points. He'll reduce his opponent to exactly zero. Impressive, one must admit."

"Consider this payback for every one you've ever hurt!" roared Daniel. "Attack!"

At his word, the red, feathered figure rushed forward, air currents crackling all around it in the dark sky. Next to him, the fiery hero raised his hands and let lose a stream of crackling flames, next to which were a hail of razor sharp diamonds that had been fired off by Prismatic Whirlwind. The glinting stones, blazing fire and the incredibly fast form of Air Neos, raced towards Ha Des, who was laughing eerily…..

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**I'm afraid to say that this chapter was shameless filler, other than the introduction of Zeruge, who is the sole property of my friend Metal Overlord 2.0. Sorry he couldn't duel this time, man, I'm looking forward to using some of the cards you gave me. I guess the dasmel in distress thing has been used before, but it's a common plot bunny without which YGO can't operate, lol.**

**I was considering having Yugi or Jason duel, but both of them have dueled recently, and Daniel hasn't in over eleven chapters. I'm sorry to say that a number of characters, like Zane, Alexis, Siegfried and Ryu themselves have not dueled. I'm hoping to rectify that now that exams are officially OVER! I'm out of town though, until the New Year, and since I'll have been moved up in school, it'll mean a killer amount of homework and tests. Fear not, however, for this fic will go on and on and on even if I finish it by the time I'm ready to open my own literary agency (so yeah, long time, lol). **

**I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas, and of course a fun-packed and happy New Year. 2008 was a good year for me, but I'm afraid that from terrorist victims to those affected by the global financial meltdown, the same cannot be said. People say 2009 has worse in store, but I'm hoping they're wrong. I toast to a better and fun-packed year in 2009, and dedicate this chapter to that. Farewell, dear readers, until chapter sixteen, which, just so you know, is going to be a doozy. **


	16. Atonement

CHAPTER FIFTEEN: Atonement

**This one has spent a long time in the works, especially because the last scene was very hard to write. I had exams, which went well, and began work as soon as they were done. I know it's been about a month, and I do apologize. I hope it'll be sooner next time, but I must warn you that the new academic year is going to be a killer, so updates may be as frequent at times as they are rare at others.**

**DuelistBlake1852: Remember, this was concerning Tea. Yugi's best friend since childhood. I don't think he'd take well to someone suggesting what Jason did, even though that was what I would have personally said on the matter, since it makes no sense for the entire group to die in an **_**attempt**_** to save one person.**

**Candyman123: It wasn't soon, but here it is anyway.**

**BEWK: I'm glad you're back, and I'm even gladder you liked them. What did you think of Kevin's new deck?**

**Starlight AT: Was it that funny? I just put it in on a random whim.**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: I was considering VWXYZ, but I thought that other than Steel Wolf General it was a shame that Jinzo had no major fusions. Looks like that concept is history, anyway. I hope you enjoy the scene I told you about, especially since it's one which I've been aching to write since I visualized it. But the end of the chapter is my favorite part easily.**

The three attacks raced towards Ha Des, moving so fast that it seemed like the undead king would be ripped apart, scorched, and blown away all at the same time. In the same instant, the hail of glass shards slammed into him, the blaze of fire enveloped him and he was struck by the blindingly fast form of Air Neos.

The explosion from the attack was quite large, least to say. A cloud of crimson smoke had enveloped Ha Des' side of the field. It remained like that for a few minutes, and Daniel relaxed momentarily, willing himself to believe he had executed the perfect One Turn Kill. But he knew he had not, Ha Des still had that facedown card…

"Nicely done, Daniel Pilkington," said the snide voice of the King through the smoke. "Not nice enough, however. It's a shame, I would have liked to see this piece of filth be decimated by your attack. But unfortunately enough, I must be forced to defeat you with it first, and then possibly destroy it myself. You see, I activated Damage Polarizer, which reduces all life-point damage to both players to zero, for this turn."

The smoke cleared, and Daniel gasped in revulsion. Despite there being no life-point damage, the attacks had devastated Ha Des' corpse. His skin was scorched black by the flames, and an unhealthy looking, rotten liquid leaked from several places where the glass shards were buried in it. His neck was twisted ninety degrees by the punch of Air Neos.

"You really know how to throw down a challenge, don't you? No one could have caused this much damage without even deducting from my score a single life-point! I would have thanked you for the pleasure of being able to watch you pick apart Ha Des, but I can't, because you are an intruder, and all intruders must be killed."

"I don't know what the hell you're talking about, and frankly, I don't care!" snapped Daniel. He had no cards in his hand. "Just make your move." Unfortunately for him, he did not have the Neo Space field magic card active. Therefore, Elemental Hero Air Neos would return to his fusion deck. He sighed dejectedly as the powerful, feathered monster disappeared.

"As you wish," replied Ha Des. He reached over with his clawed hands, and wrenched his head back around to face Daniel. The movement was accompanied by a sickening crack of bones. "Corpses are always a bother to use," commented the King. "Still, in this case, I appreciate what you're doing, and so I decided to simply go through with re-animating this body."

Continuing in the same flow of words, as if the two subjects were entirely connected, he said, "Now I summon Zombie Master (1800/0) in attack mode!" An insane looking, undead man materialized onto the field in front of Ha Des's corpse. It was dressed tattered brown robes, with a long mane of unkempt gray hair flowing down his shoulders. His skin was mouldy and rotten. His eyes had no pupils, and contained nothing but a certain sense of madness as the undead creature laughed horribly.

"Then I will set two cards facedown and end my turn."

Daniel looked at him strangely, and drew. He hadn't drawn a monster, but it didn't matter anyway. He still had the capacity to deal twenty-nine hundred points of damage. As for that facedown card, it was simply a risk he would have to take, if he wanted to win.

"Elemental Hero Firestorm, destroy Zombie Master with Hurricane Fist!" The large, muscular man shot off across the field, drawing back a fist as a number of fiery air currents began to circulate around it. Being hit by this punch could be likened to standing in the path of an express train at full speed, but fortunately for his own health the Zombie Master was spared this.

"I activate Undead Generations! By sending one zombie-type monster in my deck to my graveyard per monster on your field, each monster on your field cannot attack until the end of the turn." He ripped out an Il Blud (2100/800), Vampire Lady (1550/1550) and Zombie Werewolf (1200/1200) from his deck, and held them up haughtily.

A translucent black energy shield appeared around Zombie Master. Firestorm's flaming punch bounced right off it, sending him flying back to Daniel's field, winded but unharmed.

"_Damn this… A zombie strategy._"

"Anything else, Mr. Pilkington?" enquired the King pleasantly.

"No," growled Daniel through gritted teeth. The King wouldn't be able to avoid this forever. But he only held the advantage so long as the King kept up this defensive play. And zombie decks were rarely inclined to defensive play….

"I activate my facedown Call of the Haunted to revive Il Blud (2100/800)," intoned the King in his raspy voice. An odd-looking, white and gray-striped creature ascended onto the field. It had broken up, spiked, black hair, and a zipper running down the center of its fat, sphere-like body. The zipper undid itself, revealing a sinister eye beneath, gazing forward (2100/800).

"Il Blud is a Gemini monster, which means I can use my Normal Summon to Second Summon it. This lets me use its effect, so I can Special Summon a Zombie monster from my hand or graveyard. I pick hand and summon Despair from the Dark (2800/3000)!"

Blood-like clouds of mist were now hovering around the field, blocking view of the trio of heroes, as a phantom-like creature emerged from the mist. It had a dark-red body, and a non-existent face; however, it had a yellow mouth and eyes. It ominously held its dark-violet claws out, as though preparing to feast on Daniel's monsters.

"I am not finished as of yet! Zombie Master's effect allows me to discard a monster from my hand in order to special summon a zombie from my graveyard. I discard Ryu Kokki (2400/2000) to summon back my Vampire Lady (1550/1550)!"

A feminine form appeared on Ha Des' field, barely visible in all the mist caused by Despair from the Dark. She had green skin with even darker green hair, and was dressed in a tight-fitting purple robe, that did not cover her shoulders. Strange claws were present on the garb, and on her shoulders, two large, black wings cracked open. She smiled seductively.

"You have done well to amass your own army, but only one of your monsters is strong enough to destroy any one of mine," countered Daniel.

"That may be so, but not if I activate the Book of Life! Now, I can special summon one zombie monster from my graveyard, and remove one monster in your graveyard from play. I choose Elemental Hero Stratos. Arise, Ryu Kokki (2400/2000)!"

The group of undead creatures scattered, and standing in the middle of them was a most hideous zombie. A grey creature with some red and blue on its chest, made up of skulls, rotting flesh, and other disgusting pieces was roaring at the three Heroes, eager for blood.

"Something you were saying, Mr. Pilkington? Now, Despair from the Dark can lead the charge and annihilate Elemental Hero Prismatic Whirlwind!" The towering abomination roared in rage and bloodlust, disappearing into red mist which floated over to the unfortunate fusion. He began to convulse in pain, the gas ruining his respiratory system. Within moments, he fell to the ground, dead of asphyxiation. The evil form of Despair from the Dark appeared above him, evilly grinning as it vanished.

(Ha Des: 7200, Daniel: 7400)

Strangely enough, Daniel felt no pain.

"You are not the one who will feel pain here, Mr. Pilkington. No, it is solely Ha Des who will suffer as he deserves! But your friend will also pay the price for your negligent and reckless dueling as she gets twelve feet closer to doom!"

True to his word, the rope around Tea's struggling form went slack and she suddenly fell. It seemed like she was going on a premature trip to the afterlife when it suddenly went taut again. Yugi swore, clenching his fist tightly.

"Now, Ryu Kokki can decimate Elemental Hero Firestorm!" The subtlety of Despair from the Dark's attack was gone. With a roar, the beast-like zombie leapt into the air like a gigantic gorilla, crashing towards the Elemental Hero and crushing his head with a massive fist. This caused it's entire body to explode into ashes.

(Ha Des: 7200, Daniel: 7300)

The rope dropped again a little, but this time it was barely a foot.

"Il Blud, Zombie Master and Vampire Lady will each attack you directly now!" The trio of undead creatures hurled themselves towards Daniel, there total capacity for damage just exceeding a massive fifty-four hundred.

First was Il Blud, which simply slammed into him, knocking him off his feet and leaving him slightly winded, but largely unhurt due to his demonic strength. He ducked a swipe by the Vampire Lady, only to be hit by an orange energy beam from the Zombie Master and a glancing blow from the screeching zombie again.

"I choose monster," said the King softly. Daniel glared and pulled out Elemental Hero Neos (2500/2000) from his deck, and slid it into his graveyard.

(Ha Des: 7200, Daniel: 1850)

This time, Tea was realistically close to death. The lever loosened, and she simply kept falling. A muffled scream echoed through the night sky, and Yugi rushed over to the battlements, ready to dive over into the flames, if necessary to save her from this horrible fate.

After what seemed like an eternity, the enchantments governing the game came into play and stopped her fall. She hung their, gasping in shock and terror while Yugi turned to Ha Des' corpse, glaring at him.

"You can attack," said the King's voice mildly. "But it will have no effect. I would welcome it, feast on the sight of you maiming this lowly rat again and again. If you wish to engage in a more productive activity for yourself, I would suggest keeping your mouth shut and standing by and watching the duel. It's not much of a duel anyway, now. She hangs barely thirty-seven feet from the flames, and it's all thanks to Mr. Pilkington's reckless and foolish dueling. Blame him, Mr. Moto. Blame him for the death of your friend. Blame him for bringing this hell upon you when he accepted my challenge. Blame him for having to stand by and watch your friend be slowly roasted to death, while you can do absolutely nothing to help…"

"SHUT UP!" bellowed Daniel. "This duel is not over yet. If you dismiss me like that one more time, I will cause you pain that you can not even imagine!"

"PAIN!" boomed back the King. "Cause him pain! He is a traitor, a fool who betrayed me, a fool who has paid the price, and will continue to pay it over and over again. I wish to see you rend his filthy, rotten, commoner's skin from his molding bones! I wish to see your Elemental Heroes crush his skull, burn him away into nothingness, make him eternally regret the mere _consideration_ of double-crossing me!"

"Who the hell are you?!" bellowed Yugi. "What kind of sick freak are you to want to see a corpse being hurt?!"

"Think back, Yugi," said the King softly. "Think back to the final moves of that defining duel….."

Suddenly, Yugi's eyes snapped open. "_You_," he said flatly.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Flashback_

"_I play the magic card, Phantom Darkness. By sacrificing the Dark Ruler Ha Des, I will now show you the might of the true king of the Underworld."_

_Suddenly, a shadow rose up behind Ha Des. He turned around, and his demonic features actually reflected fear. Suddenly, he screamed in pain as cuts appeared all over his body. Yami and his monsters watched in disgust as jet black blood leaked out all over the field. The demon fell to his knees, begging for mercy. The shadow gave a cruel chuckle, and suddenly enveloped Ha Des._

"_What in the name of Ra…" began Yami._

"_Ha Des will suffice, thank you," replied Marik in a crazed voice, as the corpse of the blue skinned demon disappeared. A new figure appeared on Marik's field, completely enveloped in darkness. Yami could barely make out anything, until the darkness began to clear._

_Yami gasped. It was a site unlike anything he had ever seen. He could feel Yugi's shock and fear in his own mind, and for a second he wondered if Yugi was not the only one who felt like that._

_The beast was a wicked behemoth that appeared to be a forgotten breed of demon. It was about twelve feet tall, with thick, blood red scales and taloned claws. It was dressed in brass armor forged in the deepest bowels of Hell, and on its back was a set of pinions that looked like they would spear anyone, mortal or divine, who dared to attack this heathen from his blindside. His countenance was rather unpleasant to behold, for he had a thin maw filled with deadly fangs, and two horns that sprouted from a large, black helmet. His primal yellow eyes displayed a certain level of arrogance. A cape fell across his shoulders and hovered slightly above the ground._

_End Flashback_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"You are the Dark King of the Abyss," said Yugi, narrowing his eyes, thinking back to the horrible memory of that unfairly powerful monster that had destroyed Gilford the Lightning and Valkyrion the Magna Warrior, thereby almost reducing his chances of victory to zero.

"I prefer simply being called the King, but yes, that is the name I go by in higher circles," replied the voice coolly.

"Someone care to fill me in here?" said Brian loudly.

Yugi sighed, and rubbed his eyes. "When Yami was dueling Yami Marik on the roof of the Empire State Building, Marik summoned the Dark Ruler Ha Des. He went into a bit of a history, talking about the ultimate ruler of the Underworld and how he had been usurped by Ha Des. He was locked away in a separate dimension, and the contract was sealed in Ha Des' blood. Only by his death would his enemy be freed. His name was the Dark King of the Abyss."

"And yes, it _is_ good to be out of there," replied the King. "It was even better to take my sweet revenge on Ha Des, to hear him shriek and roar in pain, to see him writhe in agony, to watch his very soul be ripped to shreds…. But it was not enough. Not for me. My thirst for vengeance was not sated. He was dead, however, so the next best thing was to re-animate his corpse by draining the body of another of his soul, and using that energy to create this pathetic imitation of life within my oldest foe. It serves a double purpose. He now languishes as my slave, nothing more, nothing less, and I can witness him being caused unimaginable pain, all the while serving my purpose. Au-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!"

Daniel glared at him.

"You really are sick."

"Why thank you. I would take that as a compliment. In any case, I set a card and end my turn. Make your final move."

Daniel drew. "I play Card of Demise, to draw until I hold five cards!" He closed his eyes, knowing he would need a miracle.

He grinned upon seeing his new hand. "Yeah! I play Double Fusion. At the cost of paying five hundred life-points, I can perform not one, but _two_ fusion summons this turn. So I'll first fuse Elemental Hero Avian (1000/1000) and Versago the Destroyer (1100/900), who will substitute for Elemental Hero Burstinatrix (1200/800) to summon Elemental Hero Flame Wingman (2100/1200)!"

Appearing onto the field was a green feathered warrior and a woman in a red jump suit. The two swirled together, forming a creature that had a red dragon head for a right arm, a mostly green and black body, with a long red tail, and a white wing on it's left shoulder. The creature's head was mostly black with some red, and its eyes were red.

"As impressive as Flame Wingman is, there is another fusion even greater, so I fuse Elemental Hero Flame Wingman and Elemental Hero Sparkman (1600/1400) to form the one and only Elemental Hero Shinning Flare Wingman (2500/2100)!"

A blue and gold armored warrior with electricity flowing around his body appeared onto the field beside of the green combo warrior. Swirling together, a blinding beam of light formed on the field. From the light, a set of metal wings with razor sharp feathers appeared. As the light faded, more of the creature became apparent. Next was its powerful white legs, then it's torso, followed by it's powerful white armored arms, and at long lest the creatures helmeted head. The only skin seen was on the creature's neck, which was a shade of green.

Jason looked faintly impressed. "Intriguing. He has summoned one of the most powerful of all Elemental Heroes."

(Ha Des: 7200, Daniel: 1350)

Daniel closed his eyes and clenched his fists as Tea descended yet another ten feet. Very soon, the flames would be licking the soles of her feet. He hated to do this, but he knew it was necessary for victory.

"Grandiose though it may be, it is no match for Despair from the Dark," retorted the King.

"Just so you know, Shining Flare Wingman gains three hundred attack points for every Elemental Hero in my graveyard. I've got Prisma, Burstinatrix, Neos Alius, Firestorm, Prismatic Whirlwind, Avian, Sparkman, and Flame Wingman. That's a total of twenty-four hundred more attack points, for a gigantic total of forty-nine hundred!"

The white armored warrior bent his arms upward slightly while the light surrounding his body increased in brightness (4900/2100).

The King looked taken aback.

"Shining Flare Wingman, destroy Despair from the Dark with Shining Nova Sphere!"

Flying into the air, the warrior put his hands together. Pulling them slowly apart, a sphere of green energy formed. Once the sphere was the size of a basketball, the warrior pulled the sphere back with his right hand and threw it at the large, shadowy creature across the field, who took a swipe at it as it neared him. It did nothing, however, and the sphere simply ripped through him and came out the other side, leaving a strange, gaping hole in his body. With a roar, the creature dissolved away into nothingness.

"Let's see how it feels, you creep! When Shining Flare Wingman destroys a monster in battle, you lose life-points equal to the attack points of the monster he destroyed!" Ha Des simply stretched out his arms and laughed as the towering white hero charged forward and dealt him a powerful upper cut. There was a cracking noise, showing that the brittle bone in the zombie's chin had been shattered. He hung in mid-air momentarily, before collapsing down to his knees, laughing all the time.

"Pain! CAUSE THIS FOOL PAIN!"

(Ha Des: 2300, Daniel: 1350)

Trying to ignore the King's psychotic rant, Daniel concluded, "I set a card and end my turn."

"Daniel has the momentary advantage," observed Jason quietly. "I wonder how long he will be able to keep this up."

Yugi shook his head. "Daniel is one of the best duelists on the planet. Heck, when he dueled me and Yami, him and Rikuo were able to destroy Obelisk the Tormentor and Slifer the Sky Dragon before we drew the duel. But the added pressure of Tea will be weighing down on him. It's my fault, really. I should have dueled instead. He feels guilty every time he has to use up life-points because it lowers Tea even more."

Jason frowned. "That is what I am talking about. You cannot let your emotions influence your duty. As long as he has a single life-point left, she will still be a fraction of an inch from the flames. He cannot allow his mind to wonder and consider various possibilities, instead of concentrating on the task at hand. I told you this before, and I am telling you this now: it is not personal, but things like this slow down the mission. I cannot allow that, as a representative of Eagle."

Yugi did not answer, because this time, he knew that Jason's words were true. He had been furious when Jason had pointed out the possibility of a trap. The Eagle agent had been right. There was a good chance they might all die if Daniel didn't win. But nothing, not even the devil himself would have prevented him from at least entering this building once he knew Tea was in it.

"I draw," declared the King.

He looked at his newest card. "I switch all my monsters to defense mode. Turn end."

"Foolish move!" spat Daniel. "Now Shining Flare Wingman will take out Ryu Kokki and end the duel! Shining Flare Nova!"

Once again, the majestic warrior raised his hand, and a pulsating sphere of white light burst out of his palm, rocketing towards the undead beast. It looked like it was all over before Ha Des' facedown card flipped up. "I activate my quick-play magic card Necro Force! I can sacrifice one level six or lower zombie-type monster on my field not only to end your battle phase, but also special summon one level four or lower zombie-type Tuner monster from my deck!"

"Tuner type…" muttered Daniel.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Flashback_

"_Hold on," shouted Yami. "_Synchro_ monster? What on Earth is a Synchro monster? I've never heard of any such thing in seven years of knowing this game."_

"_Indeed, you probably haven't," agreed Jason, "Clevonce is a Tuner monster, the opening type of monster to a new, powerful breed of monsters. By sending him and the correctly leveled monster to the graveyard, I can Synchro Summon a much more powerful beast."_

_End Flashback_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"So he must have Synchro monsters lurking around in there as well…" murmured Daniel to himself. He remembered the Magical Android and Mental Sphere Daemon that Jason used in his duel against Yami. Both of them were quite powerful, and if that trend spread to the other Synchro monsters as well, this duel was to be a lot more difficult than he had anticipated.

"I choose Plaguespreader Zombie (400/200)!" A freakish, undead creature materialized onto Ha Des' field. It's skin was purple, and it was very fat indeed. Its limbs were bulging to such an extent that they ripped through the blue and brown rags that it wore as a semblance of clothes. Its eyes were tiny and snake-like, extending out from its head on green tubes.

Daniel frowned. It was a repulsive creature.

"I set a card and end my turn," he muttered.

The King drew with a flourish. "Ah… Perfect! I activate the field magic card, Zombie World!"

The darkness around them intensified. The full moon was immersed in black clouds, allowing only slivers of light to issue forth. The emptiness of the prison roof disappeared, and they seemed to be in a forest that had long rotted away. The trees were knarled and covered in thorns. They had no leaves. Surrounding them on all sides was crimson lava. Finally, all kinds of corpses and skeletons lay strewn across the floor, much to the spectator's disgust.

"As for it's effects, you will find out later, au-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! I tune Plaguespreader Zombie with Vampire Lady to Synchro Summon the first of a new breed of zombie monsters, Doomkaiser Dragon (2400/1500)!'

The Plaguespreader's body started breaking up, transforming into two black, spheres, rapidly spinning around the Vampire Lady, which herself transformed into a sphere of darkness.

Soon, the three spheres formed a triangle, which began to expand and fill the field with blue light. When the light died down, a metallic looking, draconic zombie was on Ha Des' field. It was covered in silver scales, which alternated with thick, black skin. It had no proper limbs to speak of, and instead had two large wings that were completely plated with metallic scales, and topped with spikes, along with a smaller pair of similar extensions lower down, attached to its chest. Its head was covered with a helmet like casing, exposing a pair of fiery eyes, while a large, orangish-red sphere was set in the middle of its chest.

"Now, I can activate Doomkaiser Dragon's special ability. I can special summon one zombie-type monster from your graveyard. Come and join me, Elemental Hero Flame Wingman (2100/1200), au-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!"

The creature that had a red dragon head for a right arm, a mostly green and black body, with a long red tail, and a white wing on its left shoulder materialized onto Ha Des' field. The creature's head was mostly black with some red, and its eyes were red. However, it gave a sudden roar, and its entire body gained a shade of grayish-black.

"Flame Wingman?" said Daniel incredulously. "But he's a warrior!"

"Perhaps, but the effect of Zombie World changes the type of all monsters on the field and in our graveyard to zombie! Also, none of us can tribute summon any monsters other than zombies. So you see, Mr. Pilkington, your chances of victory are minute!"

Ryu frowned. "Intriguing card. He's lucky he already has Neos in the graveyard, otherwise he would be completely unable to perform Contact Fusions. But it seems like this is not a normal zombie strategy, perhaps focused more on special summoning zombies from the opponent's graveyard."

"We will have to wait and watch," replied Jason grimly.

Daniel frowned, clenching his fists as Ha Des pointed to Shining Flare Wingman (4600/2100). "I activate my last card… Shrink! Now, your mighty warrior has his attack points halved, making him easy pray for Doomkaiser Dragon! First, I switch all my monsters to attack mode. Then I will have my dragon attack with Hell Inferno!" With a roar, the metallic dragon opened its mouth. Red lightning issued forth, slamming into the powerful, armored skin of the weakened Shining Flare Wingman (2300/2100). He didn't issue any signs of agony, but simply stood there in quiet as his body was ripped apart by the attack.

(Ha Des: 2300, Daniel: 1250)

Tea had dropped another foot, but this time no one noticed. "Now, my monsters, attack him directly and send him to the netherworld where he belongs! Au-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Eizan Nakamura stared deeply out of the window of his plush, Las Vegas office. It was three o'clock in the morning of the West coast, but he could not sleep a wink. In fact, he had not slept for over two days. Normal people would have persisted in an attempt to catch some shut-eye, but Eizan always had too much work to give up any time to use on it. But this night he was not working. He was supposed to meet with a representative of the Infinity Council, who apparently thought that meeting at this hour would be appropriate.

He picked up the glass of wine on his table. He did not enjoy alcohol much, but there came a time when a man just drank it to clear their heads a bit. He took a sip and made a face. It was horribly bitter. After setting the glass down on his table, he stood up and walked over to the window, staring down thirty floors into the inky blackness. Even in Vegas, most people are asleep right now.

The moonlight reflected off his hardened, scarred features. He was by no means a man who looked either approachable or commanding, but it was evident that he possessed both qualities if one considered the great respect and almost fanatical devotion some of the Eagle agents had for him. Most of them were men and women whose lives had been ruined by ghastly crimes that Paradias was directly or indirectly responsible for. They came here seeking revenge, a purpose in life. When Eagle was founded, Eizan himself once believed that it was all about those concepts. How very wrong he had been….

He scoffed at the thought. Technically, Eagle was founded by two men. Himself and another…. He had joined up, thinking to bring an end to the illegal financial clout that the corporation held over the global economic market, and was soon also fueled by the desire to avenge his wife, a victim of one of Paradias' elite assassins. But it was truly founded by just one man. A man who did not desire revenge, or anything of the sort. It was a man who did not want to go to hell. A man who was falling down on his feet, screaming to God to have mercy on him. It was a man who wished for atonement. Well, only God himself knew where the man was now.

A knock on the door interrupted Eizan's thoughts. He started, berating himself for thinking back to those fateful days. It was a waste of time to mull over something that had happened, one he had no power to rectify. There were times when he considered sharing this information with others, especially young Jason, but he knew that it was cause a collapse of the organization. That was something he could not afford.

"Come in," he grunted.

The door opened to reveal the tall, formidable form of Zeruge Mitsunashi. Eizan was surprised. He had been expected Zerato, but nevertheless motioned to a seat. Zeruge declined politely, and Eizan awkwardly settled himself in his chair.

"I apologize for having to meet you during this late hour, Mr. Nakamura. But I am afraid that some secrecy is necessary, but what I am about to tell you is absolutely essential for the stability of this organization."

Eizan laughed bitterly. "Who sleeps these days? These are days of peace. Nights of blood."

"Undoubtedly. Some rest may serve you better, but that is not the purpose of my visit. Firstly, I wish to know if you have made note of the intolerable behavior of one Drake Manning in the line of duty. I trust Ms. Taylor has informed you of the details?"

Eizan buried his hands in his head and groaned. "Yes, yes she has."

"I take that appropriate action will be taken to ensure this kind of insubordination will not take place again. The Council normally does not interfere in the inner working of its liaisons, but Mr. Manning made a direct attempt on the life of Rikuo Amero, one of the Council's most valuable duelists and one of the strongest on the planet. The loss of his life or even grievous harm would have been an unacceptable loss. Mr. Manning's fanaticism served as a divide between him and Ms. Taylor and Ms. Avalon. As you said, Mr. Nakamura, we live in dangerous times. We simply cannot afford to have such elements present within our ranks. They cause dissent and divide us, for unless we are united we cannot, simply _cannot _hope to overcome Apocalypse."

"You think I don't know this?" snapped Eizan. "I will take action. I'm planning to have him suspended from field operations for six months, and strip him of all but sparse privileges as an Eagle employee."

"I am sorry, Mr. Nakamura, but such measures will not be sufficient. I have done a brief research into his past. His father was caught having an extra-marital affair with a half-demon who chose to live life like a normal human. In rage, his mother killed his father and then herself. He was sent to an orphanage, from where he was thrown out after he brutally injured another boy in rage. He lived on the streets of a locality in Detroit which consists predominantly of demons living as humans. He suffered untold miseries living there, even though he was able to get a job eventually. When he finally had the resources, he found the demon who started all this and attempted to kill her. She left him extremely badly injured and unable to attempt it again. When he looked deeper into her past, he found out she was formerly employed as an assassin for Paradias. His hate for their race goes deeper then you would expect. One would not blame him, for the misery he suffered was uncomprehendable. But you must understand, that if he were allowed to remain free, it would begin all over again. He would go after Mr. Amero in rage, and if he were stopped he could come back again, and again, and again. No, something more permanent has to be done."

"Are you suggesting we kill him?!" shouted Eizan, standing up in anger.

"I am not a man who condones murder, Mr. Nakamura," replied Zeruge quietly. "No, killing him would make us just as bad as our enemies. The Council has proposed that he be captured and kept in a secure location until the war against Apocalypse has ended. After it is over, he can be set free and allowed to do as he sees fit. It is not the policy of the Council to interfere in the affairs of humans, unless it has a direct impact on either their working or that of their liaisons."

"But that could take years!"

"And are you willing to risk anything else, Mr. Nakamura? Do you think it is worth the risk that one of the key members of the resistance against Apocalypse be injured or killed in the crossfire in the clash between Amero and Manning? I am not saying he should be sent to a prison. I am simply saying his freedom should be restricted to a sufficient extent so that he will not be able to make another attempt on Mr. Amero's life. This is what the Council has said. We are not tyrants, Mr. Nakamura. You have as much right to go by what Lord Chaos says and make no move, as you have to obey Lord Order and take action. We leave it up to your conscience now."

Eizan frowned. Before he could reply, Zeruge spoke again.

"On another note, I wish to know if there are other key members of Eagle who would cause similar problems. It would be a stretch to refer to Manning as being mentally ill, but it can be said that the conditioning of his mind against demons was sufficient enough to overrule his better judgment in some cases. I am not referring to this kind of case specifically, but the Council needs to be aware of whether any members of Eagle whom we are working closely with in Eagle have ever exhibited such behavior."

Eizan looked blank for a moment. Finally, he gave a dry chuckle.

"Tell me, how much do you know about dual personality disorders?"

Zeruge narrowed his eyes. "Mr. Nakamura, if there is a member among your people who suffers from this condition, it is imperative that he be relieved of his duties _immediatley_. It is one thing to employ a man who has an intense hatred for demons, but quite another in the case of he who suffers from a know psychological disorder-…"

"Wait!" snapped Eizan. "I have barely begun. It's a bit of a story, but I'll be brief."

"Firstly, I'll brief you about the scientific details of the disorder. It can occur due to several reasons, including severe mental or physical trauma as a child, or extremely stressful situations. The mind creates the separate personality in order to cope with the situation. The second identity takes over during such situations, hence helping the person himself not to have to experience it. This leads to memory loss. Over time, the second personality starts appearing even during periods of time that are not associated with the stressful conditions that brought it about. When this occurs, the disorder truly becomes dangerous. While one is normally docile, the other is extremely violent and aggressive.

"Treatment of this condition includes attempts to merge the two personalities into a single one by psychiatric methods. It may include counseling by a psychologist or use of certain drugs. Most of the time, the two personalities are not aware of each other. There are times, however rare, when the two _are_ aware of each other, and fight for control of the body. In this case, it becomes easier for the docile personality during treatment."

"With all due respect, Mr. Nakamura, I did not come here for a medical lesson," said Zeruge impatiently.

"I'm getting there," replied Eizan. "I have known the person I am talking about since the day he was born. He grew up as a happy and normal young boy, until the age of two and a half. There was an incident, and his parents died. He was unable to cope with the situation. He was losing his mind. His father was a great friend of mine, and in his will he asked me to raise the boy. I did my best, but no one can replace an child's parents. During his early childhood, the second personality began to develop.

"It began with bouts of uncharacteristic anger, strange moods that I did not pay attention to at first. But it really began when he attacked a teacher at school when he was reprimanded. Exactly three minutes after the incident, he was smiling as if nothing had happened. When he was questioned about it, he did not know what they were talking about. I thought about the possibility of the illness, but prayed I was wrong. Perhaps he was feigning ignorance, as a childhood prank. But nevertheless, I had him diagnosed by the best doctor I could find.

"My fear was confirmed. He did indeed suffer from a dual personality disorder. This one a very bad case. The other personality was extremely violent, ruthless and cruel. The two were as different as light and darkness. There was no way he would be able to make it through life without serious treatment. I withdrew him from school and was forced to cut off all communications from him. He underwent a series of rigorous kinds of treatment. It was cruel for a young child, I know, but I was only protecting him from himself. The second personality was like the devil himself. It was as if his two identities represented all his good qualities only, and all his bad qualities only, respectively. Slowly, very slowly, the therapy began to have some semblance of an effect. While at first the second personality was dominant for over sixty percent of the time, it was down to about fifty. By the time he was twelve years old, it was down to barely five.

"I began to wonder if it was time to give him his life back. He spent all his life in the Eagle complex in Las Vegas. His physical activity was restricted to a basketball court I had constructed solely for him. He was constantly watched over by a pair of guards. A needle containing an anesthetic was attached to his wrist, with the mechanism being configured to a computer that was watched by people I had employed all the time, so that he could be knocked out if the second personality got violent. I hated myself for doing this to him. But I knew he could never live as an ordinary child again. I was too worried about him.

"Finally, I did the next best thing. I began having him trained as an agent for Eagle. He studied in an academy where people were trained. It was as if he was going to a school, but I could keep an eye on him all the time. I was fooling myself. Even though the second personality began to fade away, he became cold. Withdrawn. The jovial exterior was gone. When talking to him, I felt like he was a machine. Cold. Logical. It was as if everything he said was the result of millions of calculations. He barely had friends, if you could call them friends. The treatment worked, but at what cost? The two sides were merged to form a shell. He continued to train until he was eighteen, when I first put him into active operations. I though that perhaps actively participating in group activities would make him open up a little. To some extent, I was correct.

"He was befriended by two operatives, one male and one female. I wouldn't say he's close to them, but at the least, he smiles once in a while. He is still cold and calculating, and if he was to choose between the logical path for the greater good and the moral path to save one child, he would still choose the first. But there are still times when I can look upon him and think that even though I was never the replacement father I should have been, he now has some of his life back. And what's more, he has become an incredible agent. He is a top-class duelist and a deadly operative. Slowly, very slowly, he seems to be opening up. The second personality has not appeared in the last three years. To tell you the truth, its as if he never had it right now."

"And who is this person?" said Zeruge softly.

Eizan hesitated. "I am telling you all this to prove to the Infinity Council that they can trust me. I am an honest man. I do not deal in lies and deceit. I do not hide things. But you must understand, that this man is as close to a son as I could ever have. I would not change anything no matter what. He _has_ been cured."

"Who _is _it?"

Eizan took a deep breath. "Jason Becker."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Li Ching looked at Sigma and glared. "Please do not tell me you are serious. I will _not_ accompany you on this. I have provided you with all the information you want, not because I am afraid of you or because I want money. I have done so because I was appalled when I found out about some of this organization's deeds."

Sigma's soft, artificial voice sounded strangely loud in Li's small office. "It was not a request, Mr. Li. I wish for you to accompany me when I kill your chairman. Or rather, I do not. It is my employer who wishes for it to be so. He informed me of this the moment I returned from another mission of mine."

Li gave him a hard look. "I'm not afraid of Reflect, Sigma. Understand that. I will not be cowed down by your threats. At this moment, five of my personal security guards could enter this room right now and kill you. Then they would dump your body in the Pacific Ocean, so no one would find out how you became such a freak."

Sigma merely chuckled at this. "Certainly. Why not invite some company in? Spending too much time with a personality such as yours bores me. Perhaps your guards have some sense of humor, if even the ability to converse in a manner that does not put one to sleep. You are coming with me."

With that, he turned on tail. In anger, Li lunged forward and gripped his shoulder. In a swift motion, Sigma's hand fell on top of his. He spun around, and in this motion he twisted Li's arm behind his back. He gripped the older man's other shoulder with his other hand, pulling him closer to him.

"If you touch me one more time, Mr. Li, I will break your hand off. Then I will break your arm off."

Li snarled and extended his foot. With it, he pressed a button on his nearby desk. Instantly, five men burst into the room. All of them were dressed in body armor and armed with sniper rifles. Evidently, Li trusted Sigma about as much as he would trust Drake Manning to ask a demon girl out. He had been prepared.

Sigma scoffed and threw Li forward. He fell against his desk, coughing. "Kill him!" he snarled.

Before even one of them could open fire, Sigma had sprung into action. There was a huge chandelier hanging from the ceiling. He leapt up vertically and grabbed the chandelier. He swung himself forward, and used his momentum to swing forward towards the open door. By the time they even had the time to open fire, he had disappeared into the darkness of the corridor, and their bullets slammed into the expensive chandelier.

"Find him, and _kill _him!" snarled Li, clenching his fist. "Mobilize any security unit you can trust. I don't care if Eizan finds out about what has been done here, but that man cannot be allowed to leave this building alive!"

His face was burning as he collapsed into a chair. He began to feel pain wracking his chest as a bout of coughs broke out. "One of you… Wait here and contact the helipad. I want that helicopter ready immediatley," he wheezed. The lead man nodded and positioned himself outside the door. Li reached down and opened a drawer in the desk. He pulled out a revolver, and loaded it. If Sigma came back, or if, for that matter, he told an Eagle employee about Li's true loyalties, he wanted to be ready.

It was time to leave. He knew it. Thinking back, it had been sheer madness for him to even remain here in the first place after Nicholas had been defeated by Sarah Taylor. Of course, Sigma had been at his usual brilliance, killing him within seconds, but he could not be sure whether or not the assassin had revealed any details about Li's betrayal before he died.

It would be simple. First, he would wait for confirmation that Sigma had been eliminated. Then, surrounded by his own security guards, men who had been on his side from the beginning, he would escape to freedom, leaving behind Paradias, Eagle, the Infinity Council…. All of them could go to hell for all he cared.

Maybe it had been a mistake to go to Paradias after all. No, he berated himself. No sane man could continue to live such a lie after finding out what he had. Maybe not a mistake, but an error in judgment of character, definitely. Paradias was a group of monsters. He did not like murder, nor did he like theft. Paradias reveled in both. But nothing was worse than the knowledge he had been forced to carry in his aging mind for so long, like a burden that was released when he finally gave up and approached Paradias.

He swore to himself, and stood up. It was time. He couldn't bare to stand in this building any longer. Who cared if Sigma survived? It had gone on for too long. Even if Sigma survived the wrath of Eagle's elite, then Li himself would be long gone by the time he had an attempt to find him. He simply wanted out.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Becker?" said Zeruge, raising an eyebrow. "Intriguing. Zerato has always spoken very highly of him."

"I told you, he is cured!" said Eizan heatedly. "His past problems in no way hamper his effectiveness as an operative. I have informed you of this information because I want to show you that you can trust me. If you can trust me enough to reveal this kind of sensitive information, then do you not think that you can trust me enough to ensure that no problems are caused by this?"

Zeruge paused. "This is not for me to decide. In fact, it is not for the Council to decide itself. But remember, this is for the greater good. Any mistake will be on your conscience."

There was a momentary silence. "One more thing. I take it you are aware of the presence of a traitor within this organization."

Eizan looked up in shock. "Traitor?"

It was Zeruge's turn to look surprised. "Are you serious? Do you mean you have no knowledge of the attempt on Sarah Taylor's life on the 21st of November, at 3:30 AM Eastern Standard Time?"

"Is this some kind of joke?" spat Eizan, standing up.

"This is no joke!" bellowed Zeruge. For the first time, true anger was reaching his otherwise calm features. "I was informed of it by the Archangel Zerato himself! He was present when her party was ambushed by a group of thugs employed by Paradias! She herself told him that a report was filed in Eagle's New York base, and transferred to the headquarters here in Las Vegas!"

Eizan's head was spinning. He didn't know who to trust. All these years of espionage work, and he had no idea what was going on.

"Who would such information be passed through in order for it to reach you?" demanded Zeruge, pacing up and down the room, his lumbering form throwing a gigantic shadow across the wall.

Eizan's breath caught in his chest. There were such incidents involving Eagle agents on a regular basis. But normally, detailed information did not reach him, and debriefing and activities of the like were conducted at a much lower level. But he had personally authorized this mission, and each one of the agents he had chosen worked directly under him. If someone had attacked them, only a fool would think this information unworthy of reaching him. A fool….. Or a traitor.

"Who?!" shouted Zeruge again.

Eizan clenched his fist. He was a fool! A fool to not realize it! The one man who was in charge of the information department had always had many disagreements with Eizan himself. But he did not think him capable of betrayal. And that was a terrible mistake…. "Li," he whispered. He swore, and threw the nearly empty bottle of wine to the floor. It shattered, staining the expensive carpet with the drink.

"LI CHING!"

Zeruge had already strode over to the door and thrown it open. He spoke in a strong, commanding voice that startled the two guards waiting there. "Mobilize a force in two minutes. Follow me. We are going to lead an assault on the office of Mr. Li."

The two men nodded and ran off in preparation. Zeruge looked back to Eizan, who had been struck dumb by this realization. "How many supporters does Ching have within Eagle?"

"Not many," said Eizan in a cracked voice. "But those who support him are fanatical. He was always going on about taking a tougher stand against our enemies. He wanted torture, which I would never condone. Many who had lost family and comrades were especially loyal to him. Some guards would die for him. He has hired his own security men even though they are on his personal payroll. Capturing him will not be easy."

Zeruge nodded. "Wait here. I will deal with this." Suddenly, before he could say another word, every light in the room went out.

This was followed by a deathly silence. Eizan angrily pulled out his cell phone. "Wait here…. I'll contact the engineer at the mains." In the darkness, he quickly punched in a number and grew increasingly irritated as a reply failed to reach him.

"Damn this!" he swore. "It can't be Li's work… He has no idea that we're onto him. If he did, he wouldn't even be in the building right now. No, there is another party involved in this. Unless we have made another enemy we are not aware of, there are only two possibilities: Apocalypse and Paradias."

"The former would not consider Eagle a formidable threat," replied Zeruge. "This can only mean that Paradias has decided to launch its first serious assault against your organization since the first fall of Dartz."

At that moment, Eizan's cell phone rang. It was the engineer. He picked it up, and was about to shout, "Not now!" into the receiver, when he heard that ever so familiar, soft, artificial, smooth voice… "Mr. Nakamura. Always a pleasure."

"You…" Eizan could feel his blood beginning to boil.

"I'm terribly sorry for the inconvenience, but I found temporary darkness necessary in order to achieve my aims."

"Don't try your nonsense on me, Sigma! This entire building is full of people baying for your blood. You cannot stay hidden forever! You were foolish to come here. We are going to find you and kill you!"

Before Eizan could hear Sigma's reply, Zeruge had snatched the phone out of his hand and thrown it out of the window. "Why do you think he wanted to speak to you? He was going to triangulate your position! He has no idea where your office is. Don't you realize why Reflect would send his most valuable operative into the lion's den?"

Eizan's eyes narrowed. "Because he wishes to kill the king lion."

"Exactly. The hunter is now being hunted."

Eizan shook his head angrily. "We will find him first. Too many of my agents have fallen to him. Come with me. Li is secondary right now. We are going to find Sigma and kill him tonight."

Zeruge flexed his gauntleted fingers. "I will fight him. If it comes to a physical battle, you will need to stand aside, Mr. Nakamura. No one in this building other than myself has the physical prowess to keep up with a fighter of Sigma's caliber."

Eizan nodded and went to a safe in the opposite wall. He opened it and extracted a pistol. Loading it, he gripped it in his right hand and opened the door. A single security guard was waiting there. He was dressed in a black suit, but wore a bullet-proof vest underneath. He too was armed with a semi-automatic handgun and held a flashlight.

"We are investigating it, sir. There was a disturbance in the control room and we are ready to send some men-…."

"Forget it!" hissed Eizan, turning on a flashlight that he had taken from his office himself. "No time for that. Bring how many ever men we have immediatley available and come with us. If Li has been captured than take him to an interrogation room and make sure no one has access to him until I allow it. If not, then leave it alone. We have a far more important thing to do."

The guard nodded, and muttered into a walkie-talkie. Within moments, three men from another wing on the floor had joined him. "Are the elevators working?"

"No, sir, they are not."

"Fine. We will proceed to the generator by the staircase. Make sure that the immediate area around you is completely lit up. We cannot afford to have to deal with our target in the darkness. When I give the word, you will all back off and allow this gentleman here to deal with the intruder."

The men nodded. "Let's go."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The moment the lights were off, Li felt his mouth go dry. Sigma had escaped. He was the only one who could do this. The fact that he had actually decided to cause a distraction of this magnitude meant that he was planning something big. Was it possible that he was actually planning to kill both Li and Eizan in one night?

He motioned to his guards. "Listen to me. I have a private elevator on the far side of this corridor that I connected to a separate power supply in case of a situation like this. But the supply can only be turned on by means of a separate switch located two floors above us, right next to the secondary generator. Ten thousand dollars. That's how much I'm willing to pay one of you to make that journey to turn on the elevator."

There were three guards with him. All fell silent. Finally, the biggest one, called Wayne, grunted. "Twenty grand or nothing."

"Fine!" said Li impatiently. "Twenty thousand."

With that, the man pulled out another gun. "Let's see the freak try something now." Within moments, he had disappeared into the darkness.

One of them was about to turn on a flashlight, but Li stopped him. "We can't afford to be seen, you fool!" he seethed. "Come on. We will wait by the elevator." With that, they trooped off into the darkness.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was easy money for Wayne. He could hardly believe those men! Acting like a bunch of cowardly schoolgirls! Twenty thousand bucks to walk up two flights of stairs, flick a switch, and walk down again. He was already at the secondary generator, searching for the button that Li had specified. He found it quickly, labeled 'Li Ching : Elevator 2.' He flicked it with a smirk, and heard a buzz from somewhere inside the room.

He exited the room quickly, pacing through the deserted corridor back to the stairs. Suddenly, he froze. He had heard the swish of fabric behind him. He whirled around, holding up one of this guns. He could see nothing. He took a breath. "_Nothing Wayne. Nothing at all. Just nerves_."

He took another few steps, when he heard a similar sound. This time right in front of him. He screamed and this time fired a shot. He heard it slam into the wall some fifteen feet away. Still nothing. He fired again, and then one more time. But it seemed like the source of the sound had vanished.

He forced himself to relax, thinking instead of the money that would be waiting in his bank account. He had just reached the stairs, when the sound repeated itself. This time, it was followed by an eerie laugh. His ears pricked up. He knew the direction of the sound. With a roar, he lifted both guns and pointed them to his right. Before he could squeeze either trigger, he felt a sharp pain in the region of his chest. He froze, and the pain began to spread. He dropped his two guns, unable to comprehend what had happen. He felt a push from behind, and he was suddenly falling over the railing of the stairs. A seventy meter drop.

Sigma gave a soft chuckle behind him. A single jab to the solar plexus. Textbook kill. He would be dead before he hit the ground.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Li and his guards were waiting by the elevator. The moment he realized it was on, he pressed the button to call it down to their floor. At his employee's questioning look, he snapped, "Do you want to join him? You must be a fool to think that idiot Wayne would survive Sigma."

They piled into the elevator, and the guard noticed a bulge in Li's jacket. "C4," grunted the Chinese man. "To blow up the elevator when we reach."

The guard looked shocked. "You saw Sigma," replied Li. "He's not going to stop."

Before either guard could reply, the elevator shook wildly. "It's him," hissed Li. It seemed as if it had stopped moving. Sigma must have discovered the location of the switch in time and turned it off. "Use the axe. We're on the lower parking lot. The helipad is only two floors away."

He motioned to an axe kept in a glass box on the wall behind them in case of a fire. With great difficulty, the guards succeeded in hacking through the metal door and creating a small opening. Li slid out, furious with himself. The entire activity had taken three minutes. By then, Sigma could already be lying in wait on the roof.

He had only one option. He was not going to take the risk of walking directly into Sigma's hands on the roof. He would have nowhere to go. His only option was to make it to the parking lot. He could steal a random car from there and exit down the ramp. They were only fifteen floors up. Even if Sigma realized his plan, then he would already be on the ground before the fool could make it down the stairs.

He quickly told his guards the plan, and raised his gun. Silently, they moved into the parking lot. He looked at a van. It was the best option. As he moved towards it, he heard a screech of fear behind him, along with a strong air current.

He whirled around to see that the second of his guards, who was a few feet behind them, had disappeared. His heart clenched up in fear. Sigma was here.

He looked around wildly, trying to see some sign of the Paradias operative. All he got was another scream, and he saw that now both guards were gone. He was alone with Sigma. In fear, he took a few step backs, only to find himself bump into the smooth fabric of Sigma's black suit. He whirled around to see those creepy sunglasses, which looked even more scary in the darkness.

"I did not appreciate that parting gesture of yours, Mr. Li," muttered the Paradias agent. He did not make a move. Li backed up in fear and raised his gun. He fired. Sigma didn't even bother to move. Li's aim had been made so horrible by the shaking of his hand that it was over ten feet off.

"Damnit…" he whispered, firing again. This one was even further off. Sigma still didn't make a move. His third bullet found its mark. But Sigma had somehow been expecting it. He reached up and the bullet somehow found its way into his hand. His wrist muscles tensed, and then relaxed. A fine, black powder seeped through his fingers and fell to the ground.

Li dropped his pistol. His entire body was shaking in fear.

"It was nothing personal, Mr. Li. Just business." With that, he removed his sunglasses. Underneath them was the most chilling sight Li had ever seen. What eyes. Those _eyes_. His iris had three lobes to it. Instead of being black, brown, or even blue, they were a chilling green. It was not the regular green that was considered attractive by many. It was an artificial, slimy looking green. And in the middle of all this was a flat pupil, almost rectangular in shape. It looked like the eyes of an octopus.

"Few men have looked into these eyes and survived, Mr. Li. Safe to say, you will not be joining their ranks."

He raised his hand, as if he was about to choke Li. But his fingers simply wrapped around thin air, and then tightened. Li gasped in shock. He could feel his windpipe being constricted. Sigma lifted his arm, and Li found that his feet had left the ground. He was dangling three feet above the ground, and Sigma was cutting off his air supply without even touching him. How very Star Wars.

Just as he felt himself blacking out, he was snapped back to a consciousness by the sound of a gunshot. His eyes snapped open to see, to his shock, that Sigma was nursing a single gunshot wound on his shoulder. It was not serious. The bullet must have simply slashed the skin and missed him almost completely. But it had caused a minor cut that was issuing forth a strange, green liquid. It had also saved Li's life.

He looked up to see Eizan, of all people, accompanied by a hulking form Li did not recognize and three guards. All expect the giant were armed, and seemed to be targeting Sigma.

This was his chance. With luck, Sigma would be more important to them than him. He had long come to terms with the fact that it was obvious they would somehow find out he was the man who had made sure Eizan did not find out about the attempt on Sarah Taylor's life. If they could distract him, he would make a dash for it. Even if Sigma survived, by the time he was able to return to Reflect to make his next move, Li would be halfway across the Pacific, going back to Beijing.

Sigma seemed distracted. "Nakamura…" he murmured, putting his g Eizan fired again. This time, Sigma dodged by leaping to the side at a forty-five degree angle, his legs slamming into one of the many equidistant pillars that were lined through the parking lot. He seemed to run horizontally across the pillars, leaping from one to the other before gravity could come into play. None of the bullets had any effect, and within minutes, he was upon them.

Under normal circumstances, an aging man like Eizan, along with his guards, would have been no match for Sigma.

But the Paradias agent hadn't know one thing. Zeruge was waiting to fight him.

He did, however, find that out, when Zeruge's gauntleted fist slammed right into his face. A normal man would have never been able to, considering Sigma's reflexes, but Zeruge's enhanced demonic strength allowed him to penetrate Sigma's defenses and send the stunned, smaller man into a nearby car.

"Stand back!" he bellowed, dropping into a fighting stance, his fists raised. Eizan nodded to his men, who glanced after Li, who was fleeing in the opposite direction. They took off after him, leaving Sigma and Zeruge alone in the restricted amount of space.

Sigma emerged from the now ruined mass of metal, seething. "I do not appreciate violence like that," he hissed. "My business with Mr. Li did not concern you. It was foolish of you to interfere, as it will result in an extremely painful death."

"You underestimate me," replied Zeruge in a cold voice. "A mistake many of your kind have made over the years."

Sigma gave a snarl of anger, and sprang towards his opponent. His punch came rocketing towards the demon like a cannon ball. Zeruge, meanwhile, barely lifted his arm to block it before Sigma whirled around, bringing his leg towards his opponent's head. Zeruge lifted his palm and caught it. Sigma took advantage, applying such incredible pressure on his leg that it caused him to rocket up above Zeruge. He landed on his shoulders, the sharp soles of his shoes digging into Zeruge's armor. Despite the demon's helmet, it was almost certain that Sigma would be able to deal a deadly blow to his head. However, he made sure this didn't happen, by reaching up and grabbing Sigma's leg, throwing him towards a nearby wall.

In mid-air, the Paradias agent repositioned himself so that his feet were pointing towards the wall. The sheer force of the throw caused him to rebound back towards Zeruge at an incredible speed. His outstretched fist slammed into Zeruge's gut, causing the demon to grunt. He lashed out with his foot, driving it into Sigma's shoulder and swatting him away. Sigma landed on in a crouch nearby.

He was panting slightly. He could not remember the last time he had actually had to exert himself to such an extent. This opponent was an interesting one. The source of his power could not have been more different from that of Sigma himself. But he was a challenge, and that was what Sigma liked.

Zeruge, on the other hand, harbored not even the smallest bit of curiosity concerning his opponent. All he knew was that the man was pure evil, and stood in the way of the Council's purpose. He was not going to allow that, for that was his duty.

"You intrigue me," said Sigma. The two were pacing in a perfect circle, their eyes never leaving those of the other. The distance between them never changed. It always remained just a few feet.

"You are a demon. I can _smell_ it. Yet, you are not like the others of your kind, prone to senseless murder and unnecessary flamboyancy when subtlety would do much better. Yes, you are probably not one of the others. I would think of you as a human, perhaps, one who seeked power. What made you change, demon? What made you kill yourself and be reborn? Was it a want of power? Perhaps it was. Greed, lust, jealousy… All these foolish little human emotions must have come crashing down on your mind, and to escape them you sought to become something you are not."

"My past does not concern you," said Zeruge calmly.

"No. It does not. Your future, however, does. I know what it entails."

"And just what might that be?"

"Death." Without warning, Sigma sprang towards his opponents, fist outstretched. Zeruge caught it and arced his arm upwards, carrying Sigma with him. The force of the movement might have snapped a normal man's arm, but Sigma was largely unaffected. He leapt over Zeruge's shoulder, and ripped his fist out of the demon's grasp, instead choosing to curl his fingers around his wrist, and trying to swing him around to meet the wall.

Zeruge, however, was too strong, and pulled out of Sigma's grasp, dealing him a glancing blow. The Paradias agent had bent backwards to avoid it, and let the movement continue, his hands slamming into the ground while his foot ascended. His kick landed on Zeruge's chin, driving the demon backwards. Sigma went full circle, displaying his amazing athleticism as he pushed off the ground with his hands and finally landed on his feet.

Zeruge took a couple of paces back, fists raised.

"We could settle this in a more civilized manner," said Sigma conversationally. "If members of your brutish race even know how to a play a game of that sort."

"That is a challenge you will regret," replied Zeruge calmly. Appearing on his arm was a Duel Disk. It was a shimmering brown in color, and shaped like the frill of a lizard. He pulled a deck from his belt and inserted it onto it.

Sigma's Duel Disk was a normal one, and he let out a hollow chuckle before holding up his own deck.

"This will not be a battle to be forgotten soon…."

"Indeed."

(Zeruge: 8000, Sigma: 8000)

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I will not allow this to continue any longer!" snarled Oceanus as he drew angrily. With only two Hydrogeddon's in play, while Blight had Nova Titan – Gamma Droid (2500/1600) and Nova Titan – Beta Dragon (1850/1500), he would be hard pressed to do something against the mighty Horseman.

"Due to the fact that A Legendary Ocean is in play, the level of all water monsters in my hand is reduced by one. Therefore I can sacrifice one of my Hydrogeddon's to summon the otherwise level seven Winterfrost Reaper (2600 + 200 2800/2300)!"

Replacing the strange creature was a shady looking wraith dressed in a tattered robe. It looked a little like Death himself, but instead of his pale, spider-like hands it had the claws of a crab, one of which clutched a long, thin staff. Under its hood, one could barely see the strange head of a crab, complete with the beady eyes.

"Winterfrost Reaper, destroy his Nova Titan – Gamma Droid with Icicle Claw!" The crab reaper pointed his staff forward, and a hail of ice shards appeared out of thin air, slamming into the robot. It pierced the tough metal of his skin, ripping through the wires and causing the entire thing to malfunction and then explode.

(Oceanus: 5600, Blight: 6500)

"When Winterfrost Reaper destroys a monster, I can return one monster on your field to your hand. So away goes your Beta Dragon!" The cloaked crab once again raced his staff, and a wave washed over the dragon on Blight's field. It was completely submerged for a moment, and was gone when the wave disappeared. Blight grudgingly added it back to his hand.

"Now Hydrogeddon attacks you directly!" Blight scarcely noticed the gaseous flames as the reptilian beast blasted them over him as strongly as it could.

(Oceanus: 5600, Blight: 4700)

"Now, I play the quick-play spell card Flash Flood! By sacrificing one water monster on my field, I can special summon another from my deck, although its level must be less than that of the other, and it cannot attack. I will sacrifice Hydrogeddon in order to call upon Electroid Shark (500/500) in defense mode!"

The hydrogen creature vanished, and was replaced by a mechanical looking shark. It had two, small red eyes on either side of its scaled body that looked like it was plated with metal. However, it was otherwise a normal, living, breathing shark.

"It is a machine type monster, and not aqua. Therefore it gains no power boost. I will use its effect later. Make your move."

Blight drew. "Hah! I summon Nova Titan – Beta Dragon (1850/1500) once more in attack mode." The black, metallic dragon reappeared on his field, its strange, emotionless eyes looking oddly unsettling.

"When he's summoned I can special summon a monster from my removed from play pile. I choose Nova Titan – Alpha Dragon (850/800)!" Joining its more advanced and brutal-looking version was the smaller machine dragon. It erupted out of the water, flapping its wings at a frenetic pace before it settled next to the Beta Dragon.

"Then I play Nova Trader! By sending one Nova Titan from the field back to my hand I can draw three cards. If either of the cards I draw do not have the word 'Nova' in their name, I will take one thousand points of damage per card. So I will banish Alpha Dragon to replenish my resources!"

He plucked the small dragon of his Duel Disk and snapped the top three cards off the top of his deck. He sneered at Oceanus. "I was lucky. Now, I will remove from play Alpha Dragon from my hand to strengthen his older brother!"

Oceanus shrugged as the black dragon roared. The smaller Alpha Dragon reappeared, and a hatch opened in the chest of the Beta Dragon. Many wires shot out, latching onto the smaller dragon and pulling it back into the other monster's chest. The hatch closed, and its power shot up (2700/1500).

"It can't defeat my Winterfrost Reaper."

"It doesn't need to. I simply strengthened it in order to activate the effect of a card in my hand. By sacrificing one thousand attack points from a level four or lower Nova Titan monster, I can summon this monster from my hand to the field. Arise, Nova Titan – Sigma Droid (2900/2800)!"

The newest robot was even more imposing than the Gamma Droid. Its body was extremely well built, and it had a cobra like head that snaked over like a semi-circle, barely showing its two, violet bug-like eyes. It had armor similar to its predecessor, but attached to one of its arms was a long chain. It was originally rolled around its arm, but immediatley upon reaching the field it snapped the chain open. It stood fifteen feet tall, almost five feet above the Gamma Droid. It did not seem to have any use for a gun. It gave a mechanical buzz upon fully materializing, and its two, thick arms, split into four longer ones. Its head was just as thick and strong as the Gamma Droid.

"Sigma Droid, annihilate his Electroid Shark!" The large robot flicked its long chain back, and it crackled with electricity. With a roar, it snapped it forward. The chain lashed out at the shark, completely electrocuting it. The sheer heat caused parts of its metal body to melt, but for some reason it was not destroyed.

"Electroid Shark cannot be destroyed in battle!" sneered Oceanus.

"Well, incidentally, Sigma Droid has a special ability, which allows me to choose from one of four effects for each turn, but I must pay five hundred life-points every time I choose an effect. Each effect resembles a particular mode or phase of its power. I choose Spider Mode, which allows it to deal you Piercing Damage!"

The robot dropped down onto all fours. Its legs split up as well, so it now had eight limbs. It did actually look remarkably like a spider as it disappeared beneath the ocean. There was an uneasy silence before it erupted in front of Oceanus, extending one of its limbs that glowed with energy. It exploded directly in his face, inciting a roar of agony as it disappeared down into the ocean once more.

(Oceanus: 3200, Blight: 4700)

"I will switch Beta Dragon to defense mode, set a card, and end my turn."

Oceanus drew. "You were foolish to leave Electroid Shark on the field. I summon Sea Serpent, Warrior of Darkness (1800 + 200 2000/1500 + 200 1700)!" A tall humanoid dressed in purple, aged armor appeared. He carried a long, aqua-colored staff, and his fish-like features were hidden by a helm.

"Electroid Shark happens to be a level three Tuner monster, so I will tune him with Sea Serpent, Warrior of Darkness, to Synchro Summon my Tsunami Kaiser Dragon (2400/2800)!" The shark and the warrior both turned into spheres of light, which alighted upon each other. The body of light began to expand and gain shape. Soon, it had taken on the appearance of a gigantic dragon made completely of ice. Its body had a very fluid appearance to it, so much so that it billowed in a light breeze just like the water of the sea. Its eyes were deep sapphire voids, the only parts of its body that stood out in the thickening mist.

"Synchro monster?" muttered Blight to himself. "Interesting. I was not aware that the Infinity Council was brave enough to give their servants that kind of power."

"Just shut up!" roared Oceanus, and the force of his rage was punctuated by a similar roar from his newest dragon.

"For every Sea Serpent or Dinosaur type monster in my graveyard, Tsunami Kaiser Dragon allows me to draw one card from my deck. I have the Sea Serpent, Warrior of Darkness that I just sent, along with three Hydrogeddon's. That means I can draw four cards."

He smirked at Blight as he quickly snapped the top four cards off the top of his deck, expanding his hand size to five.

"Then, for every water attribute monster I drew, he gains three hundred attack points. I drew two, which means he now gains six hundred, more than enough to deal with your Sigma Droid!" The newly Synchro Summoned monster gave a loud roar as its attack points went through the roof (3000/2800).

"Tsunami Kaiser Dragon, bring down his machine with Tidal Destruction!"

The new leviathan flicked its tail, and a wave of water cascaded over the robot. Blight's field was completely obscured by the attack, and Oceanus gave a low chuckle. It seemed like his monster had been victorious in the clash, when the water disappeared. To his shock, he saw that the Sigma Droid had been replaced by a metallic sphere with a diameter of about ten feet, not unlike the Sphere Mode of the Winged Dragon of Ra. Beta Dragon was also still fully functional on Blight's field, untouched by the water.

(Oceanus: 3200, Blight: 4200)

To answer his questioning look, Blight smirked. "I paid five hundred life-points and changed to Shield Mode, in which he cannot be destroyed in battle."

Oceanus swore. "Fine. Winterfrost Reaper, finish off his Beta Dragon!" The cloaked crab pointed its scythe forward, and a hail of ice shards slammed into the mechanical dragon. It cut through the metal and sliced up the wires, causing a build up of flames within its body that ultimately resulted in a large explosion, throwing up waves of water in all directions.

"Make your move," growled Oceanus.

Blight drew and gave a sarcastic laugh. "For all your bravado, your resistance has amounted to nothing. I pay five hundred and change to Assault Mode." Hatches opened in the sphere and pieces of metal began to slide back and forth. Legs grew out, and within moments the robot was back in its full glory. It was, however, crackling with electricity.

"I equip it with Nova Upgrade, boosting it's attack points by six hundred!" The robot snapped its chain forward as its attack points shot up once more, this time to the highest level attained during the entire duel (3500/2800).

"Now, in Assault Mode, Sigma Droid can attack you directly. At the end of the turn, I take half its attack points as damage. But it matters not, for the duel is over."

Oceanus stood stock straight, his otherwise tanned face growing pale. "You have never known true fear before this, have you?" sneered Blight, cocking an eyebrow. "You claim to love the ocean. Let me see how much you love it when you're deep at the bottom of that endless black abyss, lying there all alone with no one to ever help you escape. Attack!"

Oceanus fell to his knees, his eyes turned to the dusky sky of the Realm of Death, his lips moving in a silent prayer. All his courage and pride seemed to have disappeared as his pupils began to dilate once the electric chain snapped against his chest, sending spasms through it. He didn't even cry out in pain as the electricity disrupted his nerve impulses, stopping the blood in his veins. He knelt on the small patch of land for a moment, motionless, before he fell backwards into the water. His eyes were blank.

When the water disappeared, along with the monsters, there was no sign of him.

(Oceanus: 0, Blight: 4200)

"Foolish!" grunted Blight as the mist around him began to thin considerably. His Duel Disk vanished.

"I wonder if you could possibly answer this simple question, Horseman," said a hollow voice behind him. It was the only voice besides that of Apocalypse himself that could actually send chills down Blight's spine.

"What are you doing in my realm, and what gave you and your master the right to come here?"

Blight whirled around to see the unmistakable, wraith-like form of Death himself.

"YOU!" he bellowed, taking a step back. The aura around Death seemed to radiate nearly as much as power as Apocalypse, perhaps an equal amount. But while the feeling one got from Apocalypse's presence was one of widespread destruction and devastation, Death's was far more subtle, and just as unnerving. Death was about simply that: death. It was not about rending one's head from his body. Not about ripping someone in half.

No, it was about simply negating him from existence. Blanking him out, going back to the archives of all that existed and tearing his name out. It was so…. _personal_, it made him feel so _mortal_, that in an instant the Horseman realized exactly why Apocalypse had warned him against the Council member.

A small shrub was growing on the ground next to him. As Death brushed by it, it immediatley lost all color and began to rot away. In the air around him, Blight began to see other wraiths, strange spirits flitting around and disappearing, only to reappear behind Blight himself. There were sounds, strange cries echoing from the bizarre entities that surrounded their master.

There was a reason why Death was considered the most feared member still on the Council in higher circles of entities of Blight's power, not that there were many. It was because the army he commanded was the largest in history. That was because he commanded every army in history, and they obeyed him unquestionably. But Blight was surprised not to have encountered more of his servants. It seemed like Death had made it his business to confront Blight and send a message to Apocalypse.

For Blight had taken Apocalypse's word to heart. His words were caught in his throat as the wraith wafted closer to him ever so slowly. For the first time in his existence, he knew what true fear was. He was paralyzed. He knew deep down that men who ran from Death were fools. Once Death decided to find you, it was better to get it over with.

Still, he tried. He screamed and fired off a gigantic sphere of pure white energy right in Death's face. It slammed into the wraith's head, momentarily throwing his hood back before it simply passed off into the distance. For that mili-second when Blight saw the Council member's identity, his true face, he was sapped of all resistance. He went pale.

Death pulled his hood forward calmly, and reached over with his hand. His index finger touched Blight's shoulder, and he could feel his pulse begin to weaken. His vision grew hazy, and for a moment, his heart began to thump extra fast before slowing down imperceptibly. He couldn't think clearly, so he couldn't even move away to escape Death's touch.

He knew it was coming. It was a sensation he had never felt before, and he was glad he would never feel it again. Just as he felt his lungs seize up, refusing to draw one more labored breath, he heard a voice he could have never been more glad to hear.

"**Move away, Death. Your business is with me. Not my Horseman**."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Haou knew that the situation could not have been better. Blight and Apocalypse would deal with Death. He himself would conduct the ritual. No opponent save a Council member could stop him at this point, and it would be child's play to find the necessary gravestone and send Phoenix to his doom forever.

The name caught his eye within moments. Phoenix lay prone beside him, but it was easy to grab his leg and drag him slowly towards the necessary grave. Had he really known what the name on the stone meant to the friends of his vessel, he would have taken a moment to appreciate the irony. But he didn't, and it was with extreme frustration that he found himself having to perform the menial task of recruiting Apocalypse's Third Horseman.

But this humiliation was only temporary, he kept reminding himself. In the grand scheme of things, it was worth spending some time in performing deeds for the heathen if it meant that he would not have to fear dealing with other enemies while he consolidated his powers. There would come a time when he was ready, and when that time came, all his foes and oppressors would know true fear……

He pulled the card that he had taken all that time ago from within his armor, and placed it on the grave.

"_Power of the foe…. Unknowingly given, you will resurrect your victim_."

The grave glowed slightly, but nothing else happened. The card remained where it was.

"_Blood of an ally, unwillingly given, you will revive your comrade."_

He frowned at this. This was the most humiliating part of the whole ritual. He had been expecting Blight to do it, but his fanatical devotion to Apocalypse would negate all thoughts of opposition from his mind as he performed the Ritual. Perhaps that was the rogue Council member's cold genius, knowing where his rebellious servants were more useful than those who were far more devoted to him.

He reached over to his armor and pulled out a small, black, obsidian knife. Pulling back his sleeve, he winced slightly at the sharp pain that parted his skin, causing a few drops of blood to fall on the card. The aura flared up, and the ground above the grave seemed to ripple. But there was one more step.

"_Soul of the fallen, given for atonement, you will renew the innocent_."

There was a cannon-like bang around them, and the ground beneath Aster and Haou shook slightly. But otherwise, there was nothing to be seen. Slowly, very slowly, the mist around them began to turn crimson. It began on the bloodstained card on the grave, and began to spread. Figures erupted from the mist, human figures, wraiths, mutilated corpses of an infinite number of dead men…. The first one appeared right next to the gravestone where Haou was standing.

It barely had to stretch out its arm to touch him, as gently as if it were greeting a friend. His face gave away nothing when they crossed his skin, even though it felt like ice was cutting through him. The second appeared right in front of him, issuing a hissing noise. It held a sword, made of red mist. Haou snarled and stabbed it with his knife. The form shattered into more wisps of mist which reformed soon again, this time as the abstract form of a dead woman.

Another appeared, then a forth, then a fifth. They surrounded Aster and the Supreme King until the two men were only shadows among the misty figures. They began to whisper, and Haou wondered if Death had ever witnessed this act. He would have been proud, the King knew, proud of the fear these flightless angels of his inspired in those foolish men who attempted to bend his will. But Haou steeled himself and did not react as one of them whispered incomprehensible words in his ear, its voice almost as ethereal as the mist itself.

For a moment, the two men were completely obscured by the mist. They could not be seen. Slowly, however, very slowly, it began to dissipate. However, there was only one difference. Aster was gone.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

They brought everything back. The memory of pain and cold fear, of the burning desperation running through him when Sartorius had destroyed Destiny Hero Bloo-D, when Blight had crushed him during his duel along with James, when he had woken up in that godforsaken dungeon, screaming for help, and finally, when Haou had sealed his fate.

He heard someone whisper a name he thought was his own, it sounded like a welcome. At first, he wondered why he was here. But then he remembered Haou's words, that cut through his heart sharper than any knife ever could. He fell to his knees, unaware of his surroundings as the shadowy forms around him whispered things in his ears that he did not understand, pressing into his mind like a disease, infecting every fiber of his being with madness. It was his fault that Jaden was captured now, he could have prevented it, but he didn't. As evil as Haou and Blight were, they were merely telling him his sins. He remembered his promise to repent, and he fell to his knees.

He would have given anything for them to stop, anything….. Even if it meant joining them.

"If you could save yourself, by sacrificing the life of one innocent child, would you?"

He looked up to see the figure among the rest that was addressing him. He didn't recognize it, but it seemed to recognize him. It spoke with blank sadness.

"I CAN'T TAKE IT!" he screamed as the whispers grew into shouts.

"THEN DO IT NOW! REPENT FOR ALL THAT YOU'VE DONE, AND ALLOW THE INNOCENT ONE, WHOSE STORY IS FAR FROM OVER, TO RETURN TO FINISH HIS PURPOSE!"

He would welcome Death now, greet him with open arms… For his time was up. He had allowed Jaden to be taken by those demons, and now it was time to atone.

He reached out with his hand, and the figure touched it. Slowly, slowly, he felt the world going black. With a final, tired smile, Aster Phoenix died.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Haou watched the tall, sleek figure rise up from the ground with blank indifference. He touched his face, bringing down the rough fingers over the newly created skin. His eyes widened, and then narrowed as his hands fell to his sides, clenched.

"Who am I?"

"You are Sylar, Third Horseman of Apocalypse."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**NO! This Sylar has nothing to do with Gabriel Gray from the popular Drama Heroes, even though he is a badass villain and one of my favorite TV Show characters in history. Sylar is at this moment just an alias for him that I picked up as a whim from Heroes, once you see more of him you will agree with my choice. **

**Three people already know the identity of the Third Horseman, four including me. I'm wondering how many of you could actually guess it. Tell me in your reviews who you think it is.**

**On another note, even though Jason is my primary OC, and most authors base their OC's on themselves, he has NOTHING in common with me. I do not suffer from a dissociative identity disorder, in fact he only really uses the same deck type as me and maybe shares a slight resemblance in stature.**

**Finally, I hope all you guys had a great (and warm) Christmas, and a rocking New Year! 2008 was good, but here's to 2009, which should be even better. Nightrise is just starting to heat up, and I hope all you guys who've been with me from the beginning will see me to the end.**

**This chapter is dedicated to Metal Overlord 2.0 for all the help he's given me with the fic, along with the OC's Sigma and Zeruge. Thanks a lot, man! Plus, there's a cause for celebration. This fic has crossed 300 pages, 3000 hits, and a mind-boggling 200,000 words, with only SIXTEEN chapters! Advent had three hundred and forty thousand, yet it had forty-seven chapters. Huzzah for huge chapters!**

**REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**


	17. Renewed War

CHAPTER SIXTEEN: Renewed War

**Starlight AT: Had to happen, mate. But don't worry, the D-Heroes are not done, not by a long shot….**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: Maybe that one was a bit over-elaborate, but I'm glad you liked it. I thought maybe that entire scene was a **_**bit**_** too Mission-Impossible-like, but it looks like it turned out well in the end. That final scene was the darkest one I've ever written, I had to revise it twice over for being too dark, and that's saying something. Word of advice, man, things as you know it are not what they seem at the end of this one…. But everything, at the end, are exactly what they seem…. Try and figure that one out, lol.**

**Aelsthla-Mental: I appreciate the praise and the criticism. It's always good when authors realize their mistakes.**

**Candyman123: Sylar is the main antagonist in the popular show Heroes. He's one of the reasons I watched it…. Oh, and Hayden Panettiere, I suppose, lol.**

**Shadowcat: Glad you liked it. Welcome back to the reading community.**

**KageNoNeko: Unclear sentences…. Such as….? Anyway, thanks for the review.**

"I will make the first move," declared Zeruge. "I call upon The Six Samurai – Zanji (1800/1300)!" A man armored in brown mail materialized onto his field. The brown mail was inset with intricate golden designs, and came down to a little below his waste. He wore thin gray cloth covered with mummy-like bandages otherwise, along with elbow and knee pads. He had a similar helmet, along with a long staff in one hand.

"I will place two cards facedown and end my turn. Show me your strength."

"Nothing would please me more," replied Sigma sarcastically. He looked over his hand. "I summon Alien Shocktrooper (1900/800) in attack mode." Slithering out of the darkness of the garage was a large, reptilian, centaur-like creature. It resembled a fish to a certain extent, with scaly green skin and flipper-like projections on its feet. The upper part of its body was much more muscular and was covered in metal armor with sapphires embedded in them. It held a long, simple sword, and its face was flat, like that of a lizard, except with a helmet and a few teeth. It had a long, thick tail flopping out from behind it.

"It may be but a normal monster, but its power alone is enough to deal with your samurai. To take extra precautions, however, I will activate Double Summon, in order to conduct one more normal summon during the turn. I choose Alien Warrior (1800/1000)!"

Sigma's new monster was far less subtle than the first. It was easily as big as a large SUV, and though it remained vaguely human its hands and feet were disproportionately large, with gigantic claws extending out like daggers. It was partially covered in shimmering, silver armor, with sapphires embedded in parts of it. Its head was huge, like that of a dog, and a thorny frill framed it. It gave a loud roar.

"Now, Mr. Mitsunashi, your warrior's time is up. Alien Shocktrooper, send that gentleman to the graveyard."

The centaur-like extraterrestrial raised its long, fang-like blade and charged towards Zeruge's field. It hefted the sword up, and swung towards the weaker monster. However, Zanji lifted his staff and blocked the blade, before giving a heave and throwing the reptilian creature off.

"My monster was saved by the play I just conducted. I first activated my facedown card, Call to Arms! I can now special summon one Six Samurai monster from my hand if I happen to have another one in play. I choose The Six Samurai – Irou (1700/1200)!"

Zeruge's next warrior was dressed in a black, flowing battle robe. Glowing purple armor was clapped all over his torso and arms, and a green cape was draped over his shoulders. A blindfold covered his eyes, while long, thin black hair fluttered in the cold wind coming in from outside the parking lot. He held a sheathed sword in one hand.

"Then, I activated my other facedown card, the trap, Flames of Brotherhood. This card grants all Six Samurai monsters two hundred extra attack points for every one I already have in play. Consider it an Allied Forces, but only for Six Samurai, and only works when there are at least two Six Samurai monsters in play. It does, however, have the added advantage of being a trap, thus providing me with the element of surprise. The fact that Zanji now surpasses your Alien Shocktrooper in terms of strength, is ample proof, I think."

Zanji (2200/1300) looked up at the alien. With a cry, he sprang into action, twirling his staff. He dealt the trooper a devastating blow to the head, turning it over one hundred degrees to the right with a cracking noise. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, it exploded, throwing green slime all over the ground, which quickly disappeared.

(Zeruge: 8000, Sigma: 7700)

"Even Irou (2100/1200) is too strong for your Alien Warrior. Do you wish to progress with your move?"

"Not my battle-phase, at least. However, those who believe that force will always win duels are foolish. I move to my second main phase, and activate the magic card Corruption Cell "A". This allows me to place a single A-Counter on one of your monsters. I choose The Six Samurai – Zanji."

As far as Zeruge could see, there was no visible change in the samurai, caused by the presence of a counter.

"A-Counter?" he inquired, intrigued.

"Yes, they tie directly into my strategy and I must warn you, that you will be seeing quite a lot of them as the duel progresses. They make no difference now, but there will come a time when you will wish you never heard of the A-Counters…." He gave a morbidly low chuckle. "I will then set a card and end my turn."

Zeruge picked up the top card of his deck. "I set one card facedown. Now, Zanji will target your Alien Warrior!"

Zanji charged across the field and lashed out with his staff. It crashed into the bear-like beast's chest, slicing through its thick armor while it roared in agony, swinging its arms around. Suddenly, however, it ripped out the staff from its chest. Zanji looked down at his own chest, which was glowing green. With a cry of pain, he suddenly exploded, never to be seen again.

"Explain yourself!" said a furious Zeruge.

"That was merely my trap card, Detonator Circle "A"," murmured Sigma. "It destroys one monster with an A-Counter on it, and deals each player one thousand points of damage."

(Zeruge: 7000, Sigma: 6700)

The demon frowned. "Very well. But I should warn you of Zanji's effect: if there was another Six Samurai on the field when he attacked, any monster he battles with is destroyed. So unfortunately for you, your Alien Warrior will disappear."

At his words, the ghostly form of Zanji appeared from within his master's graveyard. It went over to Sigma's field, and faded away into a fine mist which entered the armor of the Alien Warrior. It roared, and suddenly exploded, throwing shrapnels of metal all over the place. One of them barely missed Zeruge's head. He didn't even flinch while Sigma frowned.

"Now, Irou will attack you directly." The masked Six Samurai drew a razor sharp, extremely long katana from his scabbard. It glinted in the stray rays of moonlight that filtered in, reflecting off his sword. With a nod to Zeruge, he leapt into the air, the very picture of a classic Japanese assassin. His sword fell towards Sigma, who caught it between his middle finger and forefinger. Irou struggled to break lose, but the Paradias agent's strength was far too much. With a cry, he pushed downwards instead, causing a small cut on Sigma's hand.

(Zeruge: 7000, Sigma: 5000)

"Turn end."

Sigma drew in a relaxed manner. "I summon Alien Infiltrator (800/500) in attack mode." The monster that had appeared on his field was an almost mechanical looking reptile-like fiend. It had a small, flat head with two, long goblin-like ears. It wore gray armor, with two metal tentacles extending out in the place of arms. A broad body was precariously balanced on three-clawed, green legs, while slit-like scarlet eyes peered out from underneath a broad helm.

"If no Spell, Trap or Monster card exists in the same column as Infiltrator's monster card zone on your field, it can attack you directly." Suddenly, the monster cackled and both its tentacles shot out, and slammed into Zeruge's chest. They bounced off his chest armor, but it was a powerful blow that knocked the wind out of him, nonetheless, and he grunted out loud, much to Sigma's delight.

(Zeruge: 6200, Sigma: 5000)

"Come now, Mr. Mitsunashi! Don't tell me that my Infiltrator has already got you afraid! If that is the case, the possibility of this duel lasting for an entertaining amount of time are extremely low."

"Just stop talking and continue your move," growled Zeruge. "My purpose for dueling you was not to listen to your incessant chatter, but to ensure that no Eagle agent ever comes to death at your callous hands."

"Do not tempt me, you fool!" Sigma gave a low laugh.

"You are the fool here," replied the demon, throwing his head back so that Sigma could stare deeply into the endless black voids of his eyes. "Just a jester for your dark purpose. You claim to be the real puppeteer, but who is really between the two of you, pulling the strings all the while and sending you off on your evil deeds, all the while preparing for the day when you suddenly become dispensable?"

"Do not question my worth to Paradias," snapped Sigma, showing a slight amount of anger for the first time. "Without me, they wouldn't be half as powerful as they are now. Reflect knows and understands how valuable I am to the organization. My mastery over the art of death is unmatched by any Eagle agent alive."

"There is a key difference, between me, Zeruge, and you, Sigma," murmured the demon. "You _think _you are the master of death. Unfortunately for you, _I _am the master here. I may not be the most powerful demon alive, but in terms of experience and subtlety, I am extremely overqualified to deal with you."

"You are extremely arrogant, has anyone ever informed you of this?" inquired Sigma, still maintaining his calm, calculating exterior.

"Arrogance is a relative term. I do not claim to be something I am not, while you constantly go on about your own power. Believe me, Sigma, I am not attempting to bring down your strength and skill, vile though you may be, but it is quite strange that you persist in your belief that Paradias truly needs you as much as you think they do."

"What do you mean?" muttered the agent, narrowing his eyes.

"To begin with, I am quite shocked myself that you are so ignorant of what I speak of. Perhaps another sign that Reflect does not even trust you enough to inform you of such things, let alone trust you with its full story. If you still choose not to listen to me, then your situation is one of pure arrogance. Do you truly believe Paradias would have risen to the level of being watched by the Infinity Council if there was not more to it then meets the eye?"

"Paradias is the most powerful secret society in the world!" scoffed Sigma. "Even the likes of the Freemasons pale in comparison to the kind of monopoly that it has over all aspects of human life, from economics to politics."

Zeruge allowed himself a faint smile, as if he was actually amused by the kind of confidence that Sigma possessed.

"You really do not know even a small amount of what I speak of. In different circumstances, I might have actually felt sorry for you. You continue to keep such confidence in your vile organization, yet if Reflect is successful, there is going to come a day very soon when you and every other member of Paradias is going to become useless to him."

He was going to continue, when he noticed that Sigma's fist was clenched slightly. He stopped himself. He had said just what he needed to. If he went ahead and gave even the slightest hint, Sigma might relax and eventually arrive at a rough answer through conjecture. However, leaving it at a such a precarious position would keep even a genius mind like his distracted, causing him to make key mistakes during the duel.

"I am not going to waste more of my time explaining such things to you," he said in a cool tone. "Now finish your move so that I may make mine."

Sigma relaxed. "You're bluffing. I can tell."

"Believe what you want, Sigma. But I will not give away such an advantage by revealing this kind of information to you. Think over it, Sigma. Think over it and consider what it is that you did, or didn't do, that caused Reflect to not consider you worthy of this information."

"You may continue with your pathetic mind games for as long as you wish," retorted Sigma coldly. "They might have worked on a normal man, but your failure to understand the true scope of my power will be your downfall. I set my final card and end my turn."

Zeruge drew. "I activate my facedown Cheerful Coffin, which allows me to send up to three monsters in my hand to the graveyard. I only need to send two, however." He chose the two cards and slid them into the graveyard slot of his Duel Disk.

"I remove Mezuki (1700/800) in my graveyard from play. When it is removed from play I can special summon another zombie-type monster in my graveyard. I choose Crow Tengu (1400/1200)!" The translucent form of a large, ox-like warrior materialized on Zeruge's field. He was very well-built with a toned physique, and had the head of an enraged ox. In his two, large arms, he held a long axe. Silver gauntlets were clapped over his wrist. He had a scrappy gray loin cloth that came about halfway down his hooved feet.

It disappeared, and was replaced by the form of a large crow, whose black feathers had gained a dull shine. It looked like a normal crow, other then the presence of two, four shining orbs jutting out of its torso. It gave a loud screech, echoing throughout the emptiness of the parking lot.

"Zombie-type monsters?" said Sigma incredulously. "What would such creatures be doing in a Six Samurai deck? Completely ridiculous."

"For all your supposed experience and intelligence, you refuse to understand that which you consider foolish. It is not that which we know of that poses a danger to us, but that which we know nothing of…. And in your case, all that you think of as weak will come back to haunt you one day, Sigma."

"Get on with your move!" hissed the Paradias agent.

"Very well. But in any case, I will tell you that along with The Six Samurai you will also face a special set of zombie monsters called the Yokai, which means 'demon' in Japanese. My deck is specifically tailored to merge together these two strategies."

"Intriguing," replied Sigma, who was back to his cool, calm, collected self. "But a waste of my valuable time. Please continue your move so that I can finish my work here and leave."

"Very well. When Crow Tengu is summoned, I can destroy one monster on your field. My choice is obviously your lone Alien Infiltrator."

The crow screeched, and the spheres on its body began to glow white. Bolts of electric energy erupted from them, lighting up the parking lot and exposing the true, horrifying visage of Sigma's lone monster, which was about to be atomized by the power of the undead bird.

"I cannot allow something such as that, I am afraid," said Sigma, pressing a button on his Duel Disk. "I activate the continuous trap card, Planetary Contamination Virus. By sacrificing one Alien monster on my field, I can destroy all monsters on your field _without_ A-Counters on them."

The covert reptile hissed, and extended its tentacles. They slammed into Irou and Crow Tengu, ripping through their chests and stopping all movement. Sparks of red energy danced across the metal extensions towards the two victims, igniting their bodies and triggering a large explosion. The explosion hit the Infiltrator as well, shattering it and its metal armor like plastic, leaving the entire field empty.

Zeruge's face was marred by a scowl. "I see. You waited for me to summon Crow Tengu so that you could do maximum damage by sacrificing your Infiltrator. I can make no further moves other then setting one card facedown."

Sigma drew. "Activate, Card of Demise. I draw five cards from my deck now, but I must discard my entire hand on the fifth turn of activation." He quickly refilled his hand, and spread out the cards, observing each and every one of them with an expression of pure calmness and indifference on his face, even though Zeruge knew that if his emotions mirrored his expression he would never have been such a successful agent.

"I activate the continuous magic card, "A" Cell Breeding Device." Appearing in front of Sigma were a set of tubes. They were attached to small glass cells filled with yellow liquid, in which there were strange, formidable looking objects in them, and when one looked closer one could tell they were alien embryos, from which tentacles seemed to be sprouting at a gradual place.

"Now, I summon Alien Telepath (1600/1000) in attack mode," he said while placing the new card on his monster card zone.

The newest alien looked like a gigantic caterpillar. It was roughly the size of a buffalo, with pairs of white spheres lining its chest all the way down to its large tail. A head bizarrely like that of a human was precariously attached to its thick body, with two ball-like yellow eyes and a gigantic ruby like sphere on the bridge of a flat nose. Its mouth opened wide, with large, yellow teeth, and two feelers danced around on its head.

"Attack him directly." At his command, the alien's feelers lit up with yellow energy, and let lose bolts of orange lightning out at the demon. It struck him in his chest armor, driving him back a bit, but he held his ground. Still, it was a painful attack and it incited an angry grunt from him.

(Zeruge: 4600, Sigma: 5000)

"I set one more card and end my turn."

Zeruge drew. "I call upon Shutendoji (1500/800) in attack mode." A demonic, lion-like man appeared on the field. He had a spike-like, golden mane that looked odd while framing his red skin. His face was permanently marred by intense anger, and his attire consisted of a black loin cloth with heavy spiked armor on his shoulders and torso.

He roared upon seeing the Alien Telepath, even though he was slightly weaker then it. "By the effect of Planetary Contamination Virus, every monster you normal summon, flip summon, or special summon during the first three turns after its activation gains one A-Counter."

Zeruge paid no attention, even though he made a mental note of it carefully.

"By the effect of I remove from play two zombie type monsters in my graveyard, and draw one card." The spirits of Mezuki and Crow Tengu made fleeting appearance behind Zeruge and vanished immediatley, while he calmly drew one more card, giving him two in his hand and one facedown on his field to go with Shutendoji.

"I equip him now with my facedown Axe of Despair, which will boost his attack points by one thousand!" Appearing in the hands of the lion-like demon was a long axe, with a handle of knarled wood and brutal, thick blade that seemed to be developed more for hacking than cutting (2500/800).

"Next, Shutendoji eliminates your Telepath." The demonic beast roared and charged towards the insectoid alien, who simply reignited his feelers and fired off a bolt of red lightning at the demon. However, its target was not Shutendoji himself, but his weapon. It simply shattered the axe with ease, sending shrapnels all over the place.

With that, the telepath let lose another burst of electricity, which slammed into the zombie-type monster's chest, bursting out the other side and causing him to explode.

(Zeruge: 4500, Sigma: 5000)

"Explain yourself!" exclaimed Zeruge in shock.

"It's very simple, really. My Alien Telepath allows me to remove one A-Counter on your field in order to destroy a spell or trap card on the field. I removed the single counter on your Shutendoji, and destroyed Axe of Despair, weakening it to the extent that it was easily destroyed by my Alien Telepath."

If Zeruge was more perturbed, he did not show it. "I set a monster in defense mode, and end my turn."

Sigma looked over his hand once more. Zeruge could tell nothing about his emotions, especially since he was wearing sunglasses. "I summon Alien Skull (1600/800) in attack mode."

A creepy-looking, skeletal beast had walked out of the shadow onto Sigma's field. To some extent, it looked just like a human skeleton, but when one looked closer there were emerald spheres embedded in various parts of its body, which seemed to be made of various sized skulls itself. Its chest was a massive skull with two emerald spheres as eyes, while its arms had thick, oily purple skin with bone armor. Long, evil looking claws extended from both its hands and feet.

"His effect will not be able to be used if I summon him in this way, but it is not a cause for worry to me. Alien Telepath will exterminate your facedown monster."

Once again, beams of red energy left the insectoid creature's feelers. They slammed into the facedown card, flipping it face-up to reveal it as a small man dressed in traditional, brown samurai armor. Its face looked strangely like that of a monkey, with extra hair on its hands and feet as well. It clutched a spear and had a small helmet, but couldn't let out even a squeak before it was decimated.

"When Shien's Footsoldier (700/300) is destroyed, I can special summon a level three or lower Six Samurai monster from my deck. My choice is Hand of the Six Samurai (1600/1000)."

Replacing the young soldier was a woman dressed in a yellow and blue outfit. She had an aqua-colored hood over her pale head, and clutched a small dagger in her hands.

"Since you special summoned a monster, it now gains an A-Counter due to the presence of my Planetary Contamination Virus."

"I don't see how that would change your feelings on whether or not you want to send your own monster to the abyss as well."

"It seems you cannot grasp that only one of us will be leaving this building alive tonight. And I intend to be that one. Alien Skull will introduce your newest warrior to her fallen comrades."

The skeletal beast charged towards the Samurai and hefted both its arms up. Her eyes narrowed and she drew her knife, in preparation for giving her life to rid the world of this threat to her master. However, the Alien Skull's fist slammed through the knife, shattering the metal and striking her chest. She was sent flying over the lot, crashing through cars and out over the edge of the wall, down into the deep, black abyss.

"How on Earth did your monster slay mine?" demanded Zeruge. "Their attack points were equal!"

"Perhaps it was a bit forgetful of me to mention that when an Alien monster battles a monster with one or more A-Counters on it, that monster loses three hundred attack points for every A-Counter on it. That means your Hand's new score was thirteen hundred, making it easy prey for Alien Skull."

(Zeruge: 4200, Sigma: 5000)

"Very well. I end my turn."

Zeruge offered silent thanks that Planetary Contamination Virus' effect would finally be over. He looked at his newest card and smiled in relief. This was exactly what he needed to break free of Sigma's suffocating strategy.

"I can only summon this monster by removing two or more Six Samurai monsters in my graveyard. I choose the Hand and Irou, so that I can call upon Enishi, Shien's Chancellor (2200/1200)!"

Filling some of the empty space on Zeruge's field was a grim, elderly man. His face was so covered up by his bushy brown beard that one could barely make out his features. He wore a purple gi, covered by a green jacket-like garment. On his belt were two swords, and a small tuft of his hair was tied behind him. He folded his arms grimly and fixed Alien Skull and Alien Telepath with a grim smile.

"Then I play Swiftstrike Reloader. It only activates when I have one monster with 'Six Samurai' or 'Shien' in its name. I can special summon a number of Six Samurai monsters from my deck whose level is equal to the level of said monster. Since Enishi is level six, I can special summon these level three monsters, The Six Samurai – Yariza (1000/500) and The Six Samurai – Kamon (1500/1000)!"

Kamon was a grim, dark man dressed in purplish red mail. It came down to his waist, with extra strong knee and elbow pads made of a copper-like metal. His gi was bluish-purple, and he had a tight fitting helmet on his head. In one hand he held a stick of dynamite.

Yariza was dressed in black armor, which came down to his knees. A large helmet was set on his head, with an end that seemed like a wizard's top hat. Inset within the pitch-black armor was a growing, emerald substance, which formed intricate patterns. He had on similar boots, and in his right hand he clutched a long staff, from which a green blade erupted out from at the front.

"Now, Kamon's effect will allow me to destroy one face-up spell or trap card when I have another Six Samurai monster in play. Your "A" Cell Breeding Device has met its end."

At his word, the grim man lit up his stick of dynamite, and flung it across the field. He then dove away dramatically as he could, landing some distance away on his knees as the dynamite struck the card, causing a large explosion. A red plume of smoke erupted over Sigma's field, while the pair of Alien monsters glanced at each other, disconcerted.

"Now that your foul magic card is no longer a threat, I will reveal to you Swiftstrike Reloader's second effect. As a drawback, Enishi will be unable to attack for the turn. But his effect more than makes up for it: I can destroy one monster on your field, but I must sacrifice his attack. Not that it matters, as he cannot attack in any case."

The aging samurai's eyes flashed, and he drew both swords. He threw them both forward, and they slammed into the Alien Telepath in an 'X' shape, leaving deep wounds. Blood began to leak out as the gigantic reptile screamed and shook the swords off. Enishi leapt forward, caught both blades, and with a single, surgical blow, beheaded the freakish creature.

"Now, I will show you Yariza's effect! It can attack you directly if I have another Six Samurai monster in play."

At Zeruge's command, the black-armored warrior raised its saber and dashed across the darkness of the parking lot. He avoided a jab from the Alien Skull, and leapt directly towards Sigma. The Paradias agent parried the first blow with ease, but the second caught him on the shoulder, leaving a small burn mark. Before he could react, Yariza was out of range again.

(Zeruge: 4200, Sigma: 4000)

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Li Ching dropped against the rusted body of a van and gasped. He slid down the rotting metal until he hit the ground, trying as hard as he could to take a proper breath. His hand went to his shirt, and he felt something wet on it. He took another gasp, and leaned his head backwards against the van.

"DAMNIT LI, SHOW YOURSELF!" bellowed Eizan. "YOU'RE HURT! YOU WON'T MAKE IT!"

Li was fortunate that Eizan truly believed Li's wound was really that serious. It would slow him down, but it might end up as an effective deterrent to some of Eizan's men. Firing at a wounded former comrade of theirs was probably not a part of the job description.

That would all aid him in his goal at the point. To find Jason Becker.

He didn't like the boy, he admitted that. He was an empty shell, and at most times had no respect for authority. He had a bit of a rogue streak, perhaps not as much as his father, but enough to disobey orders in certain situations for the 'greater good'. However, he would be willing to listen. The boy _needed _to know that he had been lied to for nineteen years. _Nineteen years_. Once he heard what Li had to say, the old man would be surprised if he didn't agree to his proposition. Becker's unit was a tight-knit one, all of them were personal friends and would be willing to do anything for each other. Despite their regular distaste for him, particularly Sarah Taylor, their sense of self-righteousness would overpower anything when he was able to speak to them.

Becker _had_ to be the first choice for him to go to. Not only did Li's findings closely concern him, but he would be the best protection against the likes of Sigma, or, perhaps even if Eagle decided to divert resources to find and silence him. And he hoped they would. It would only aid him in his attempt to open Becker's eyes about how he had been lied to and manipulated by this cruel organization, for nearly two decades…..

He coughed again, and stood up. He still clutched that same handgun in his right fist. It had perhaps six or seven rounds left, he didn't know. But it was all he needed. There was no way he could gun down all of Eizan's men. He didn't even want to. They were good men, honorable men who believed they were fighting corruption and injustice. The chances that they knew the truth were as likely as Becker actually gaining an interesting personality.

Then, there was the demon. Using a gun on him would be as effective as a slingshot using pebbles. No, his weapon would have to serve as a distraction. If he could make it across the lot to the stairs, it was only two floors to the helipad. He knew the helicopter was waiting up there, and it was only a question of reaching there, and taking it to L.A. A single look at his identity would allow him immediate access to his Learjet parked in Los Angeles International Airport. Then it would be six hours to Jason Becker.

In the distance, he could hear Eizan and his guards getting closer. It was now or never, for if they found him lying like this, he would be unable to escape.

Staggering upwards, he held his gun up. Taking a deep breath, he plunged into the shadows, moving his aged feet as fast as he could. Almost immediatley, one of the guards picked up the sound of his movement. He didn't even need to say a word, for within seconds Li heard the maddeningly uniform sound of footsteps charging after him.

"If you do not stop right now, Li, I will kill you!" quivered Eizan's voice in the darkness.

Li ignored him, and pushed off his blood-stained jacket. It was merely slowing him down. The exit was barely fifteen feet away….. To his shock, he heard the sound of a bullet slam into the concrete, a hair's breath away from his right foot. He stopped dead.

"Do not make me do this, Li!" growled the Japanese man, stepping into his line of vision as he slowly turned around.

"Drop your gun."

Li looked him in the eye coldly. "No."

Eizan gripped his own weapon tighter. "Listen to me, Li. I know what you've done. By all rights, you should be dead by now. If it hadn't been for the fact that I need to know how exactly Paradias was able to infiltrate Eagle, I would have had you killed."

"Yes, just like you did nineteen years ago, am I right?" hissed Li.

Eizan stopped short. One of the guards next to him narrowed his eyes.

"Do you think I'm a fool, Eizan? Oh yes, I've known. I think it's unwise of you to keep such things secret from your closest advisors and such high-ranking members of this organization. How many _really_ know what happened on that night, nineteen years ago?"

"Don't spread dissent by poisoning the minds of my men, Li. I'm warning you…" began Eizan, a hint of anger creeping into his voice.

"You! You, are warning me!" screamed Li. "Of all the audacity…. To look the one man who truly understands what you've done in the eye, and then threaten him! This organization is more degenerative then I've thought, Eizan. If a man such as you is at the head, a liar and a mur-…."

"I will not stand for another word of your fallacies!" thundered Eizan, raising his gun involuntarily.

At that, something flashed in the eyes of the nearest guard. "We can take him alive, sir," he said stiffly. "Do not attempt anything reckless."

Eizan paused, and took a breath. "Yes. I'm sorry. Cuff him and take him to one of the cells. Triple the security if you have to, but I do not want anyone seeing him until I do."

"You've forgotten one thing, Eizan!" howled Li, raising his gun and pressed the barrel to the side of his head.

"If I can't kill you…. I can still kill myself."

As one, the guards all raised their guns. Li took a step back. He was now right in front of the edge of the lot. If he shot himself now, he would fall nearly two hundred and fifty feet over the railing, even if he survived the bullet.

"What are you going to do?" sneered Li. "Kill me? You'll only be helping me. Tell them to stand down, Eizan. They're all children in this game you play. They don't want my blood on their hands. Not one of them is a killer. Not one. Telling them to attack me would only add another sin to your list. Do you want to be responsible for ruining on of their lives? Haven't you done enough?"

Eizan looked him in the eye. "Don't fire," he growled. "We need him alive."

"Yes, give them the old speech, why don't you, Eizan?" whispered Li. "Why not tell them why you want me alive? Yes, you need to find out just how much Paradias has infiltrated this pathetic excuse for an organization. No, really, why don't you explain that you need to find out exactly _how_ I got to know this kind of information, how I know every detail of what occurred on that night nineteen years ago, about what kind of look graced your face when your black heart told you to press down on that trigger…"

Eizan snarled. It was as if he didn't even acknowledge what Li's next words were. He raised his gun, and fired.

It wasn't even close. In fact, it was far off. It slammed into the ground five feet from Li's feet. He cackled, and the guards next to Eizan erupted in shock. However, at that moment, a pulse of energy blasted towards them from deep within the lot. It seemed to be from the clash between Zeruge and Sigma, and so powerful it was, that it forced all to their feet. A car was thrown forward, and barely missed Eizan.

In the confusion, Li dragged himself forward. A single guard spotted him, but before the young man could act, Li raised his gun and fired. An ugly grimace graced his face as the bullet hit the man's forehead, sending a spray of blood outwards and exiting out the other end of his skull. He didn't want to do this. But he had to.

He stumbled forward, half running-half lurching, and made it to the door. Just as Eizan turned to see him leave the lot, he pushed the door against the frame with all his might. The monumental effort nearly caused him to pass out then and there, but he was just in time to latch it before the shoulder of one of Eizan's guards slammed into it in a fruitless effort, attempting to stop Li from escaping.

He lay against the door, gasping for a moment. It was three inches thick and made of pure steel. Nothing less then a bazooka would be able to break through this. With another grunt, he struggled up the stairs, vengeance the only thought on his mind.

Within moments, he was on the roof. A storm was brewing. No, more like a hurricane. Las Vegas was normally not a place for a lot of rain, but this seemed like an exception. Temperatures were below normal for winter as well, touching fifty degrees Fahrenheit. Ignoring the unusual atmospheric conditions, Li made for the helicopter in the middle. He closed the door behind him and placed an axe lying in case of an emergency across its length.

Apparently the pilot had seen it fit to make off for a beer, or something of the like. Li swore. Flying it would be difficult enough normally. But with his injury, it would be almost impossible. But he had to do it. His life depended on it. Besides, it wouldn't be that long…..

He struggled with the door to the cockpit. Behind him, he heard an explosion and the crash of the metal door against the stairs. It seemed Eizan was taking no chances in letting him go. Hauling himself into the seat, he slammed the door shut and began conducting preliminary flight checks. He was not a professional pilot, but knew how to operate a helicopter, at least in theory.

His vision turned unclear for a moment, and he swore. He didn't have time for this. He could almost hear the sound of five pairs of angry feet pounding up the staircase, now all of them willing to kill him for taking the life of their comrade…..

Finally, he was done. Taking a deep breath, he moved the joystick up. The rotors were beginning to turn. He heard the crash of a man's shoulder against the door. A crack appeared in the wood of the axe.

Ten seconds… Ten seconds was all he needed….

Screams could be heard, and a burst of bullets ripped through the door, in a desperate attempt to prevent him from fleeing. None of them even came remotely close to the helicopter. The rotors were moving at full speed now, and within three seconds it would be off the roof….

There was a roar, and two men simultaneously crashed against the door, snapping the axe in half and throwing open the staircase to the chilling wind and heavy rain. They raised their guns, but it was too late. Li was already in the air. Both of them let lose a burst of fire, and were soon joined by the others, but all bullets missed, considering that the heavy storm was obscuring the shooter's vision to a ridiculous extent.

Li entered the co-ordinates of Los Angeles International Airport. Pulling out his cell-phone, he dialed in one of his subordinates numbers. "Prepare my jet," he hissed in a raspy voice. "I want it fueled and ready for New York. Have a pilot ready…. And a doctor."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Death waited momentarily before retracting his hand at the sound of Apocalypse's voice. For a second, it seemed to make no difference to Blight, and oxygen still refused to enter his nasal passage. Just as he thought his Master had arrived one second too late, his constricted chest loosened. It was as if all the air he had been attempting to take in since Death had touched him was flooding back into him.

He fell onto one knee, momentarily floored by the enthusiasm with which his body responded to this new lease of life. His pulse was skyrocketing, and his heart was beating like that of a mouse. He gasped a few times, allowing the life to flood back into him. But neither of the Council members was paying attention.

"I did not expect you to come in person," echoed Death's voice.

"**I consider recruiting my servants an important task, evidently more then the Infinity Council.**"

"It seems your Horseman decided to show me this when the thought entered his mind that he should demonstrate the power of judgment that only I truly control over Oceanus."

"**We will kill all who get in our path. Even till now, over twenty-seven thousand years, what I am unable to grasp is how the power of the governing council of all existence has not been questioned, when its entire foundation is built of hypocrisy and fallacies**."

A pair of crimson pupils flashed within Death's hood.

"The Council is bigger then one member. I say that, and so do all the others. Balance is essential, and you were opposed to that. For that, you were punished."

"**I have not come here to debate whether or not the injustice I suffered at the hands of the Council was justified or not. I am not vengeful. I will not go out of my way to punish the Council. My only purpose is to continue with my former aim, the reason for which I exist. But however, if the Council stands in my path I will have no choice to sweep it aside and continue until I bring Armageddon**."

"I do not blame you for wishing for destruction, Apocalypse. I love death, I thirst for it, it composes every fiber of my being. Withstanding the urge to smite every living being in this Universe, to extinguish the fire that lights their hearts, withstanding that urge causes me more pain then you could possibly imagine. Indeed, you could never imagine it because despite your destructive power, you were always the weakest of us. You never could withstand your urges. You never realized what strength and perseverance it took to adhere to the purpose of the Council, and allow the world to settle in a perfect balance….

"Do you think Life does not want to bless each and every being here with immortality? Did it never occur to you that Chaos would be permanently flooded with the temptation to send his forces washing over the Universe, bringing as much anarchy and madness as possible? Order could control the very movement of the atoms that composes all creation, but he is stronger then you, Apocalypse, and he did not do it!"

"**Do not speak to me in such a patronizing manner**!" thundered Apocalypse. Black lightning crackled around his fist.

"You have not acquired even one Seal of Immortality right now, Apocalypse," said the Council member softly. "The Touch of Death, would, perhaps, be less effective on you then your Horseman. I would never know, I have never considered trying it. But believe me, the temptation to use my greatest strength on the Council's worst enemy is now stronger than ever… But I would not, for negating you from existence would be as good as bringing an end to the Universe. It would leave three forces of Light, and only two of Darkness, which would be disastrous for the Universal balance, which you have claimed the Council cares nothing of, a great number of times."

Blight got to his feet. "Master, together, we can destroy hi-…"

"**Silence**," echoed the emotionless voice of the being who represented the essence of destruction.

He looked at the wraith, a piercing look in his eyes. "**I arrived here willing to do battle with you, Death, if it be necessary. But, however, my Second Horseman has already achieved my aim. The Ritual of the Fallen Angel has been completed, and another has joined your ranks, while one has left it. You can do nothing to stop him. Battling you would be pointless at this point. If I leave now with my Horsemen, you would be foolish to stop us, for it would mean battle with me, something you have dreaded for two hundred and seventy centuries**."

The wrath screeched. It was a loud, piercing sound, one which even caused Blight to cover his ears and snarl out in pain. Apocalypse simply stood stock straight, keeping an impassive eye on the Council member. The mist around them turned bloody-red for a moment, and he could here the sound of many of those who had passed on whispering in an arcane tongue.

Then, it stopped. Death met Apocalypse's gaze.

"**I am not fighting you now because it would cause more harm then benefit to our cause. Leave, you fool. Leave. The next time we meet, it shall be on the battle-field, and you will be facing the Council as a whole. We will not hesitate to take more drastic measures then**."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Sy-… Sylar?" whispered the other man.

"It is the name Apocalypse has given you," replied Haou coldly. The man's body, covered in rags, shivered in the intense cold. His face hardened.

"Who is this Apocalypse you speak of?"

"Apocalypse is an entity of incredible power, perhaps, at this point, even more so then me. He wishes to bring destruction upon all existence, but he has a number of foes who wish to prevent him from doing so. In order to aid him, he plans to recruit four Horsemen. Each one is to be extremely powerful. However, I assume he has chosen you because the close affection that his enemies formerly had for you would drive them to misjudgment. The First Horseman has told me that you have many reasons to despise them, indeed."

Sylar's eyes widened. He fell to his knees, and screamed out loud. He grabbed his head as the memories began to rush back, bombarding him like a series of missiles, piercing his heart. Haou watched impassively as he writhed on the ground next to him, thrashing and screaming as the intensity of the recollection increased.

"NO! NO! _**NO**_!!!!!!!"

There were scratches all over his body. He staggered upwards, and knelt forwards, a pleading look in his eyes. "SEND ME BACK! **SEND ME BACK**!"

Haou simply looked at him, no emotion gracing his face. "_Why? _Why did you bring me back to this hell? You plucked me from peace and silence and brought me back to the place I never wanted to return to!!! Do you think I hated he who took my life? I welcomed it! My life was a nightmare! NO! KILL ME! KILL ME NOW!"

Haou turned on heel and began to walk away.

"Apocalypse did not want me to do anything else. What happens to you now is not my concern. More then likely, the spirits of this place will drag you back down to the depths."

Sylar stood passive for a moment, and then rushed towards him. Haou was still holding the obsidian knife that he had used to take a few drops of his blood. The crazy man grabbed his wrist and placed his fist on his chest.

"DO IT! DO IT NOW!"

Haou ripped his wrist from Sylar's grip. He whispered in a cold, seething voice.

"You are a fool. You may now take revenge on those who made your pathetic façade of a life so unbearable. More intelligent individuals would have done anything for an opportunity such as this. It is beyond comprehension why Apocalypse would choose such a weak, servile, and deplorable creature as his Horseman."

Sylar froze.

"Revenge?"

"The power he has granted you is considerable. You may not be as mighty as myself, but each and every one of those who has supposedly wronged could be punished with absurd ease. It appears that you truly are a feeble and lamentable being if you do not wish to exercise your right as judge and jury, to make the sinners pay."

He reached down and held up the card that he had kept on the grave. When Sylar saw it, he screamed again, as another memory came roaring back to him. It was odd, he had never seen the card before. But for some reason, he felt it was innately connected with one of his most hated foes, as if the card and the man were the same being……

"Your body is built of the blood of the Supreme King, and the power behind it belongs to this heathen beast of hell. All that remains is your drive to continue to survive, your wish to extract vengeance and continue as living freely. Under Apocalypse, all your desires can be fulfilled in the blink of an eye."

The man reached out and grabbed the card. He looked at the wonder of the beast depicted on it, the dark fury that threatened to almost reach out of the confines of that simple object and consume all that surrounded them.

"Revenge…." He said it more as a statement now then a query. His eyes darkened. "Revenge..."

His body crackled with electricity, as anger swept over him. "REVENGE!"

He looked to the sky. "DO YOU HEAR ME! I WILL KILL YOU FOR WHAT YOU DID TO ME! I WILL KILL YOU!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kevin Hunter and James Cassell watched the fallen figure down on his knees, screaming curses to the dark sky, while the Supreme King himself stood silently a few feet away, watching the newest Horseman with a face that reflected a mixture of boredom and perhaps disdain.

"So that's it then, huh?" muttered Kevin.

"Well, we were too late. The Supreme King has already performed the ritual. Under different circumstances, I might have decided to kill the Third Horseman right here and now, but Haou will be a major problem, even for the both of us at once…." replied James.

"Reflect will not like this, but we can't do anything. Zerato was the spanner in otherwise perfect works. Had it not been for him, we could have been in time to prevent the ritual from even happening. Now, it makes no sense to remain here. We have some intelligence, at least. We can give him the name of the Horseman, perhaps he will be able to gather information from some of his friends in high places. I don't care. Now, maybe, he'll finally allow me to go after Kyle."

With that, the strange youth walked away at a blistering pace, followed by a scowling Kevin Hunter.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sarah and Serena walked separately from the rest of the group, an embarrassed silence having fallen upon them.

Joey was hopping mad by the time the chopper touched down on the man-made island, barking at Kaiba (who had been flying it due to the unfortunate murder of his pilot) to go faster. Serenity was in terrible shape, and a stretcher had been brought to the base of the tower. She was immediatley carted off to the infirmary, followed by both Joey and Seto. The latter also wished to have a look at his brother, who still hadn't come out of his coma.

That left Rikuo, Ryou, Kyle, Deondre, and the two girls alone in the lobby. An employee came up to the two. "Mr. Kaiba instructed me to show you to your rooms…" he squeaked. Sarah sighed, and followed him. She could not believe it had come to this. Her very first time in charge of a field operation, and she blew it. She blew it badly. Now, Drake Manning would probably be reprimanded for poor judgment, and she might even be kicked off the task force. Even if Zeruge vouched for her, as he seemed to believe that she genuinely thought of them as impostors, she didn't know what Eizan would say.

None of the four spoke to them as they entered the elevator. They were on the fourteenth floor, and the employee handed them identical key cards to a pair of rooms, side by side. Sarah entered it, and was mildly surprised to find that the room was quite like an expensive hotel room to a dormitory in an office building. Probably the first thing she needed was a shower. Thankfully, basic clothing was available in the closet next to the sofa.

Undressing, she entered the bathroom and turned on the shower on full pressure. Only under the powerful jets of steaming hot water could she finally begin to unwind, and think about the repercussions of what had happened today in a realistic manner.

It was unlike Eizan to allow such a terrible error in judgment to go unpunished. But when she thought about it more clearly, perhaps it was stretching to think that she would be kicked off the task force. Jason and Brian were the best field operatives, while Serena's experience in Eagle management division was valuable. She herself functioned as an effective analyst, and while her job was really among the monitors and information, her high intelligence and experience in the information sector was always valuable in the field. No, she probably wouldn't be heading up any operations soon, but it was unlikely that she would be punished harshly.

But Drake…. That was probably another story. She didn't even want to think about it.

After luxuriating in the shower for a good twenty minutes, she toweled herself off and ended up donning a simple pair of jeans and a blue sleeveless T-shirt. She threw on a denim jacket and sat down on the sofa, her head resting in her hands. She couldn't remember the last time she felt so tired….. Or hungry.

Before anything, she needed to contact Eizan.

With trembling hands, she lifted her cell-phone. All five members of their group had been provided with a direct, secure line to Eizan's private phone, in case of an emergency. Looking back, it seemed foolish not to have called him then and there to clarify the identity of the Infinity Council's duelists.

She paused for a moment, along the monotonous sound of the rings to penetrate her mind. She almost felt herself nodding off to sleep then and there, but was shaken out of her reverie by the sound of a curt 'hello' on the other line.

"Sir… It's Sarah."

Eizan's voice was rushed and angry. "What is it you need?"

Sarah was taken aback by his distracted manner. "I just wanted to know what you wish for our next move to be, after the, um, incident on the beach."

Eizan snorted. "Forget about it. From what the demon told me, it was more of Manning's fault then yours or Serena's. I'm afraid stringent action will have to be taken against him, and to tell you the truth I would have looked further into what role you played in the matter, but I just don't have the time for it. Not after what just happened."

"What happened, sir?"

With increasing horror, Sarah listened to Eizan's brief description about how Sigma had broken into the Eagle Headquarters in an attempt to assassinate him, Li's betrayal, the battle in the parking lot, and his untimely escape.

"What about Sigma?" she yelped.

"He's still somewhere here, battling Mitsunashi. I would search for them if it made a difference, but anyone whose not a demon or a Millennium Item holder would be no match for Sigma. We're monitoring the entire building by the video cameras, but it seems the energy released in their battle has knocked out all our surveillance equipment. They're somewhere on the top two floors, and I've surrounded the lot with fifty armed men. If Sigma _does_ come out alive, our final option will be to try and gun him down. We're still in the process of evacuating the few remaining analysts."

Sarah gulped. "So, so that means the man who ordered Nicholas against me and Jason was…."

"Li," agreed Eizan.

"But… how?" Sarah was at a loss for words.

"I was a fool not to see it. Li has been in charge of the information department for the longest time. God knows how much information he has kept from me. I didn't know about the assassination attempt until thirty minutes ago."

"But all this makes the Las Vegas Headquarters completely insecure!" replied Sarah heatedly. "How do you know how much information he's given away? Every single undercover Eagle agent in the world may now be compromised. And you weren't even able to stop him escaping!"

"Fortunately, I have a pretty good idea of where he'll be going," said Eizan dryly. "In about forty-eight hours, Li Ching will be knocking on the door of Seto Kaiba's New York headquarters."

"He's coming _here_?" gasped Sarah, standing up in shock. "Why would be do that? It'll be walking into the lion's mouth!"

"Well, if you know why he betrayed Eagle, then to some extent it'll make all the sense in the world."

"What do you mean?" she said, narrowing her eyes.

"I will admit, Sarah, I have not been entirely honest with you on this subject, or perhaps anyone. But truthfully, this does not concern you very much. Once I have dealt with this Sigma issue, I will be on my way to New York. Li cannot be allowed to accomplish what he wants to do, or it will mean a major setback for Eagle. If he turns up, tell Kaiba to capture him and all whom he comes with and keep them under lock and key until I get here. Stay where you are, call no one."

"But what is this all about?!" she shouted, her sleepiness now forgotten, anger very noticeable in her voice.

"I am afraid that I cannot tell you, Sarah. I will, however, say this…. It concerns Jason Becker."

There was a click, and the line was disconnected. Sarah swore. How dare he be so arrogant about this!

She called him back, but no one picked up. She decided to leave it be, knowing that it would be unwise to bother Eizan when he was in the middle of a full fledged battle in the very heart of the Eagle organization, perhaps a hostage situation. All she could hope was that Zeruge was strong enough to fight Sigma…. But then again, from what she had heard, _no one_ was strong enough to fight Sigma.

What concerned her even more were Eizan's last words….. "_It concerns Jason Becker_……."

It wasn't as if Jason didn't have enough problems as it was. God only knew what ghastly Necropolian conditions he was struggling under, with only Brian to rely on…. It had been playing on her mind from the instant he left, but she had been able to block it out by focusing on other things. Telling her to stay put could have been the worst thing Eizan could have asked her to do, because it meant she could think of nothing else.

The one thing that drove her crazy was this: _What if the second personality awoke_?

She had discussed it with Brian the night before they left. The only reason Jason had been able to successfully suppress his other identity was because of the aid and support of his friends, such as herself, Brian and to some extent, Serena. Sure, the treatment was effective, but being able to socialize and speak to others was the major factor.

Now, possibly alone in the dark and terrible City of the Dead, who knew how long he would be able to handle it, before the monster that formed his other half took over and brought all their work over the years to nothing?

She shuddered, and brought her knees up to her chin for warmth. She shivered, more out of apprehensiveness then the cold. And there she sat, in that same position, until she fell asleep in about ten minutes, and woke up nine hours later, when all hell had broken lose just six miles away in New York City.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Seto Kaiba stood beside Serenity's bed, his eyes almost crimson. He had not slept in over twenty-four hours, but he didn't care. He had alternated between Mokuba and Serenity, while Joey had remained fixed over his sister, hovering over her like a shadow, refusing to leave at all. Eventually, she had regained consciousness, and Seto had left the room out of courtesy to give the siblings some private time.

Finally, she had convinced him to take a short nap. Kaiba had refused, however, staying with her until Joey planned to wake up, and evidently it seemed like that 'short nap' was a marathon sleeping session to make up for all the shut-eye he had missed over the past couple of days.

Right now, the television was turned on, with CNN being the current channel. Some of his aides had warned Kaiba that with the amount of time he had spent neglecting the company's financial affairs was starting to affect its stock. News had slipped out that he had missed an important meeting one of his deputies, who wanted to discuss the possibility of corporate downsizing. He had failed to return three phone-calls from another CEO. The apparent inefficiency of Kaiba Corp.'s owner was leaking out, and people were spreading rumors that the company's working was not like the clockwork it once was. Seto wanted to find out just how bad the rumors were, and then go about silencing those who had started them.

And when he had been expecting to see news about corporate raiders and that AIG may have filed for a chapter eleven, he was instead greeted by the most gruesome sight he could ever imagine.

In the last eight hours, eight people had been killed all over New York City. The modus operandi of the perpetrators were identical. The crimes were committed with surgical presicion, the likes of which caused even the most hardened detectives of NYPD to remain clueless. Pictures of the corpses washed all over the screen, preceded by the ever-present tagline of 'These scenes may be unsuitable for younger people. Viewer discretion is advised.'

The corpses, at first sight, looked completely unharmed. It took a very sharp-eyed coroner to notice yet another puzzling detail: all victims had been killed by the bite of a snake. Specifically, a viper. At least, that was as far as they got. The venom had some characteristics that showed resemblance to that of a normal viper, but it could not be pinpointed at all.

In fact, the investigators found only one thing in common between the eight. All of them were divorced, their former spouses having filed for it as they had been engaging in extra-marital affairs. It may have been possible, theorized the police, that they were dealing with a psychotic madman here whose wife had perhaps cheated on him, and he was venting out his frustration on other people like her.

But such an insane man would never be able to evade them for so long. Indeed, a killer motivated by such a situation would not usually resort to such sophisticated an unorthodox means. No, not a trace remained of the killer, not even a single fingerprint in the entire city.

"This is sick," whispered Serenity.

Kaiba's fist tightened. "It is," he said in a hard voice. "But there's nothing we can do about this. I have a feeling it's connected to what has been going on here, but it's too vague. Let law enforcement handle this. For now, I need to tighten up security here so that another breach like the one when Yuki was kidnapped does not happen again. After that, I need to contact the leader of this mysterious Eagle organization, or maybe the representative of the Infinity Council who briefed us on the Seals."

The mention of the other duelist's journey brought an uncomfortable silence in the room. It had been made very clear to them that there was always going to be a distinct possibility that some of them, ranging from one to possibly all, might not make it back. It was a dangerous mission, and the ones who had taken it had done so while being fully aware of the risk.

"When do you think they'll be back, Seto?" murmured Serenity.

"I don't know," he sighed, rubbing his eyes. "I just don't know."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Elemental Hero Flame Wingman, Il Bud, and Ryu Kokki had the potential to deal a combined total of sixty-six hundred points of damage. Fatal, considering the circumstances. Not just for Daniel, if one looked at the blaze of black fire, the barrage of hellish needles, and a crimson burst of energy, but also for Tea. So, it would be extremely beneficial for the young half-demon to have a useful card facedown.

Luckily, he just happened to have that.

"I activate Hero Pulse! This only works if a level seven or higher Elemental Hero has just been destroyed in battle. Your battle phase is now ended, and I can draw until I hold five cards in my hand!" Just as the amalgam of dark energies were about to fry Daniel into a rather unpleasantly cooked variant of human meat, the translucent form of Elemental Hero Shining Flare Wingman appeared in front of his master.

And with that, he roared. The sheer force of the sound seemed to generate a pulse of energy which swept over the field like a monstrous earthquake, blasting through the attacks and flattening every creature on Ha Des' field.

The roar continued, and the moon seemed to shine down extra brightly on Daniel's field. The sound mellowed down into a soft, chilling note, before it stopped and Shining Flare Wingman disappeared. Daniel smirked and drew four cards, while Ha Des' zombies began to pick themselves up.

Yugi had unknowingly been holding his breath until that point. He exhaled. "That was close."

"I can see that your persistence has reached an annoying level," murmured the King. "You irritate me, but I can do nothing about it while I cannot attack. It matters not, however, for you have not one monster to protect you. For now, I end my turn. I am merely delaying your doom, and that of your friends."

Daniel drew, holding a full six cards, enough to launch a full counter. And he couldn't think of a better way to do it then this…..

"I play O – Oversoul! This allows me to special summon one Elemental Hero from my graveyard, and I choose Elemental Hero Neos (2500/2000)!"

A flash of light appeared in the sky and suddenly a powerful white warrior with a slicked back horn on his head and spikes coming out from his elbow joints. He had a bit of red lining on his body, along with a bit of blue as well. On his chest was a blue circle.

"Foolish," snorted Ha Des. "It would have made much more sense to summon Shining Flare Wingman."

"Probably, under normal circumstances. But I also happen to hold this in my hand: Elemental Hero Clayman (800/2000)!" Materializing onto the field was a large round grey and black like creature with golden trim on his feet and a red dome head. His body was built thickly. He took a one knee position and crossed his arms, showing his impressive defensive strength.

"And how on Earth would that help you?" sneered Ha Des.

"Because of this: Underworld Gem! By removing five spell cards in my graveyard, it will replicate the effect of one normal magic card in my graveyard, and I choose O – Oversoul! Now, I remove Card of Demise, Double Summon, Double Fusion, Polymerization and the quick-play Hero Pulse I just used to bring back Elemental Hero Sparkman (1600/1400)!"

A blue and gold armored warrior with electricity flowing around his body appeared onto the field beside of Neos and the large, rock-like man.

"What do you plan to do now?!" thundered Ha Des.

"This," murmured Daniel, plucking the three cards off his Duel Disk and sliding them into his graveyard.

Neos, Sparkman and Clayman all leapt up, out of the darkness and into the shine of the moonlight. They seemed to disappear within it, and were soon nothing but flitting black shadows. The trio of shadows merged, forming a larger one, which suddenly rocketed off into the darkness, seemingly lost forever.

Within seconds, before Ha Des could offer another piece of his much unneeded criticism, a huge form crashed down on the prison roof. It didn't resemble the original Neos in the slightest, for its body was built more like a mountain then anything else. It had a small head covered by a helmet, exposing two, yellow, slit-like eyes. Its body seemed to be made of rocks, similar to Clayman, but they were much more finely rounded. He wore crimson armor, and two, electric energy wings sprouted from his back. On one hand was a small blaster, which also crackled with electricity (3000/2500).

"This is Elemental Hero Thunderstorm Neos (3000/2500)."

Even Ha Des looked dumbstruck. "Did you… Did you just Contact Fuse?"

"Yes, I did, as a matter of fact. Did you really think Contact Fusion was limited to Neos and the Neo-Spacians? No, most Elemental Hero users are aware of the existence of rare, yet powerful Contact Fusions between Neos and other Elemental Heroes. Thunderstorm Neos is only an example of one of the many, powerful ones available. And you'll get a taste of their true strength right now, with Neo Space!"

Turning his Duel Disk vertical, Daniel tapped the end of his Duel Disk, causing a slot to shoot out. Placing the card into the slot, the slot shut and his Duel Disk began to lightly glow with rainbow energy. Almost instantly, the horrific scene around them shattered, and the field became a multicolored area that surrounded the pair. It was like being within a prism when light filtered through it, nothing could be seen in all four directions but endless flashes of all kinds of colors.

"Here, Neos and all his forms gain five hundred attack points. Plus, they remain on the field when the turn ends instead of returning to the fusion deck, as the case normally is. Now, I will use Thunderstorm Neos' (3500/2500) first effect. He can attack all monsters in play if Neo Space is active on the field! He has many more, but at this point, I don't think I'll need to use them, now will I?!"

With a roar, the titanic hero raised his blaster. Lightning began to gather in it, and soon an entire ball of lightning hard formed on the tip. He roared, and flicked his arm upward. The sphere condensed into a bolt which shot across the field, and slammed right into the chest of Ryu Kokki. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, the bolt bounced off.

It was not gone for long, however. As it rocketed off into the sky, it began to divide down the middle. Once, twice, thrice…. Within moments, there was a barrage of lightning bolts coming down on the field at a ground-breaking pace. They consumed Ha Des' entire field, with a minimum of four striking each monster and the remaining spread all across.

The explosion was mind-blowing, to say the least. It kicked up the stones of the ceiling, and generated a huge dust cloud around Ha Des' field. In order to prevent being blinded, all the others had to throw up their hands, so they could not witness the horrendous sight of the three zombies being friend to the point where some with a more extreme appetite would have actually considered them well-cooked. Their skin was literally burnt off, leaving a mangled, dry, gray mass that was supposed to be flesh.

(Ha Des: 0, Daniel: 1250)

As the smoke began to clear, it was then that Daniel realized how powerful the attack had truly been….

Ha Des' corpse looked like it had been killed again. No, as if it had been _destroyed_. Most of the bones had been shattered by the attack, and the flesh was burnt black. The eyeballs no longer remained, presumably having simply been disintegrated in the heat. Part of his head had been blasted off, and he lacked an arm, along with part of his foot. When he spoke, it was as if someone had stuffed paper-clips down his throat.

"_You may have prevailed this time… But know this, I used not even a tiny fraction of my strength against you. I will give you a demonstration when you reach my castle, and then, proceed in wiping out all threats I've had to my possession of the Seal_.

"Where's Tea?" demanded Yugi. "Bring her back here!"

A raspy cough echoed from within Ha Des' throat. "_I am sorry, Mr. Moto, but I am afraid I lied. Restoring your friend to you would be too risky. I cannot afford to lose a golden opporunity such as this to wreck your own confidence and rid your group of one of its members. It appears the girl will be meeting Ha Des… Do tell her to give him my most terrible wishes_."

With a shrieky laugh, the unnatural, necromantic light in Ha Des' eyes disappeared. Yugi swore and ran over to the edge. It seemed, however, like he was too late. The moment he touched the rope, it snapped. He gave an inhuman roar, one that sounded like that of a lion, and seemed ready to plunge down into the fiery depths himself as Tea began to fall.

Even as Jason grabbed one shoulder and Brian the other, as a dark, serpentine form erupted from the flames in the nick of time. A hand extended out and grasped Tea, speeding up the side off the tower just as they were able to pull Yugi back.

It was Dark Blade, riding on a Pitch-Dark Dragon. Behind him was a Curse of Dragon, being manned by CJ.

"Come on!" he bellowed as the Curse of Dragon hovered near the battlement. "We don't have time for sharing stories around the campfire now, or else we're going to be the marshmallows!" It was true. The fire was growing. The explosion on the rooftop had only served to aggravate it.

Without hesitation, the group clambered onto the yellow dragon's back, and only Yugi have Tea a single, fleeting, perhaps frustrated look as Dark Blade undid her bonds, and settled her down behind him. The Curse of Dragon was large enough to take all their weight at once, albeit with a growl of pain. With a single flap of its wings, they were off, leaving behind the ruined remains of Necroguard Prison, and the corpse of the once great Dark Ruler Ha Des…….

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Belial stood on a slightly higher rock as his army surged around him. He held his massive broadsword in one hand, ready to attack at a moment's notice. He didn't look like it though, for his eyes were fixed on the gigantic, green door set into the solid rock of the massive cavern. It was the entrance to the labyrinth, the first line of defense for the King of Necropolis.

He ignored the cries and screams of pain as his followers began to clash with the guards. He could hear the distant screech of dragons or some heathen beasts of the like as they brought reinforcements…. Someone must have sounded the alarm. Not that it mattered, however. All he needed to do was make it to the Seal…. And then nothing could stop him.

"_If you believe you can survive the revenge of all those whom you have oppressed over the past decades… You are wrong. The Seal of Immortality _will_ be mine, and then I crush the opposition I face in this dimension, and move onto bigger and better things. You believed your plan was foolproof, the way you hid behind lies and deceit, the way you thought no one would know your secret… But I have known you were the King all along, and I will kill you for it… _**Angel**."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Another cliffhanger! I'm getting better at this. Anyway, this chapter is dedicated to Roger Federer, the greatest tennis player in history who **_**just**_** missed out on his 14****th**** Grand Slam with a horrible loss to Rafael Nadal in the Aussie Open Final. I couldn't write for three days after that, but I finished it with a marathon session today. Hope you like the cliffhanger.**

**Anyway, also props to Metal Overlord 2.0. He's helped me a lot with the plot and duel writing, plus he helped me get back on track after I couldn't write a word post the Aussie Open debacle. Thanks a lot for the help, man. Read this guy's fic, Dream Duel. He insults Yami Marik (bad) but knows how to write a duel that could teach any of us a thing or two (good)!**

**I'm not sure when I'll update next, I have 149 questions in Physics to finish by Tuesday. After that, the semester exams are on in March. But still, I'll work at it. Hope to see you guys all again soon. REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!**


	18. Unwavering Challenge

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: Unwavering Challenge

**Eeh! The second longest chapter I've ever written. Hope this was worth the wait.**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: Very glad you liked it, mate. It's only getting better from here on out. Watch out for the Li-Eizan deal, some very shady things are going to come to the light very soon.**

**Starlight AT: Atem is in the Puzzle, I'm merely focusing on Yugi as well. Why should Atem do all the work?**

**Candyman 123: Well, it wasn't soon, but I'm sure it's good.**

Yami stared confidently at the still Gate Guardian. Behind him stood Tea, Daniel, CJ, Jason, Brian and Ryu. Angel lurked behind them with the few soldiers of Belial's army who had accompanied them thus far. The others were all outside the labyrinth, battling the King's forces. It had been a bloody and gruesome affair, but thanks to some risky maneuvers by Belial's field commanders, they had been able to make it here unharmed. Now, their main aim was to fight their way through the three obstacles that stood between them and the King.

Yugi had given up control of their body to Yami, at least until they reached the King, so that he could rest.

He closed his eyes, and uttered a syllable in Egyptian. His Puzzle glowed slightly, and he felt the ancient magic flooding his body as its power activated. The Guardian continued to stay put. Testing the waters, Yami murmured another phrase, and the Puzzle shook slightly. A burst of yellow energy erupted out, striking the Guardian in its chest. For a moment, nothing happened.

Then, Yami bellowed out the same phrase louder. Another blast issued forth, this one much stronger. It would have felt like being hit by a speeding train had it been a human, but the gigantic monster only groaned slightly and took a step back.

And then it decided to retaliate. Without warning, the part of it that was called Suijin let out a gigantic screech, and a jet of water, easily four feet across. It would have submerged all of them, had it not been Daniel to react this time.

"Elemental Hero Shining Flare Wingman (2500/2100)!" he declared, holding up the card. Evidently, he was not pulling any punches, as the majestic, white, shimmering hero materialized in front of the group. It's wings splayed out, and a silver barrier appeared around them, warding off the water.

Then, the group of duelists began to react, one by one.

"Archlord Zerato (2800/2300)!" declared Tea in a shaky voice. Appearing next to her was a creature with large white wings, that formed around his upper chest and a red scarf covered his neck, a white helmet with red horns, a blue skirt like appeared around the waist, a powerful curved blade in his right hand, and purple skin that lightly gleamed.

Fortunately, she had not been hurt during her capture. During the flight to the King's stronghold, she had been quick to narrate how the Elemental Cosmic Sentinel had simply deposited her in the cell at the Necroguard Prison and left. She had not touched the food and water they had provided her with, and was very weak. An injection made of herbs found on the edge of the Abyss was enough to revitalize her temporarily, but it would not last long. At least, her tearful reunion with Yugi had made it all worth it.

"Hmm…. I think Berserk Gorilla (2000/100) about does it here," declared CJ. A tall gorilla appeared in front of its master. It had blue skin, but its hide seemed different from that of regular silverbacks. It looked like it was covered in blue fire. As the gorilla howled an beat its chest, a small wisp of flames escaped its mouth.

Before Jason, Ryu or Brian could add a monster of their own, they were stopped by Yami. "Wait!" he snapped. "Save your energy for the Ultimate Obedient Fiend. We've got this one… Come out, Buster Blader (2600/2300)!"

Joining Yami was a large warrior with purple, silver, and some gold trimmed armor, a purple hood over his head, with red eyes, two small prongs on his head, and a large lance on his back appeared onto the field.

"ATTACK!" bellowed the four, and the real battle for Necropolis began at those words.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Belial couldn't say whether he was enjoying it, or was disgusted by it. He simply watched the battle between the Gate Guardian and the duelists in the floating orb, with a blank look on his face. How absurd, how terribly foolish they were to continuously fall for that little reptile's tricks. How had the Necropolian soldiers first found them? He had been tracking them all along. It must have been only too easy for him to take his place among the rank and file of the wretched city, simply _waiting_ for an opportunity to crush the resistance.

But that was where Belial had outsmarted him. He had not bet everything on the group…. For he wouldn't be standing there, in the private chambers of the King of Necropolis, if he had, would he?

It was almost a game that they played, as he thought about it. The two of them, locked in this eternal battle of treachery and wits. As much as he enjoyed it, Belial hated it. He wished he could have killed the fool right then and there, when he was within his grasp, in the heart of the resistance, but the Seal would have then been lost forever….

Right now, he would let them come to him. The Fiend had been dealt with, as had the magic that formed the third obstacle, which had really been three enchantments in one: Imperial Order, Skill Drain, and Royal Decree. Most Duel Spirits were so dependant on using their inherent magic in battle, that without it they were rendered useless. But it was child's play for Belial, and now he was here in the King's empty castle, having killed any servants or guards he found on the way.

"Come to me, gentleman…." he murmured. "Come to me, and I will show you a true battle of Duel Monsters."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Yami fell to one knee, gasping. It hadn't been pretty, but they had finally done it. He gave a small smile to the Mirage Knight (2800/2200) that he had used to deal the finishing blow. The remains of the Gate Guardian slay smoldering on the floor of the dark cavern. It had been risky to call upon _this_ particular monster, indeed, as it depended on how much strength he was willing to give up. But his other option was Obelisk the Tormentor, which he did not want to have to resort to at this stage.

The knight disappeared, leaving the entourage of duelists alone. They looked back to the soldiers, including Dark Blade, Mataza the Zapper, and the Freed the Brave Wanderer who had been there when CJ had defeated Ryu Kokki.

"It's going to get dangerous after here," said Yami. "Thanks for everything, but it would be in the interest of your own safety if you didn't accompany us beyond this point."

Dark Blade nodded. "We were ordered to stop here in any case." He looked at Angel. "It's been good to catch up, old friend," he muttered. "Wish it could've been under different circumstances."

"Me too," replied Angel. "If we survive, and this monarchy does indeed fall, then maybe we can finally go out for a drink again," laughed the warrior, reaching forward and clasping the older man's arm.

Yami couldn't quite place his finger on it, but he thought he saw a slight hint of anger enter Angel's eyes when Dark Blade had said those words. But he dismissed it as merely stress, as Angel chuckled and shook hands with his friend. The three warriors departed into the shadows following nods from the rest of the duelists. They turned to face the large door that separated the labyrinth and the next chamber. With a deep breath, CJ and Brian walked up to the doors and pushed.

To their surprise, it opened with ease. Both squinted, expecting to be greeted by the roaring, screaming and spitting Ultimate Obedient Fiend.

But they found nothing…. Nothing except the rotting corpse of a beast that _had_ been guarding the King's private castle.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Belial chuckled. The look on their faces really was _priceless_. Especially Angel. He looked like he had seen a ghost…

He held up the deck of cards. This, indeed, was going to be a duel that would shake the very foundations of the City of the Dead.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"What on Earth?" gasped Daniel. "How the… What the… Who killed the freakin' demon?!"

His words might have been devoid of the eloquence Jason normally preferred to speak with, but they summed up his thoughts exactly. The Ultimate Obedient Fiend was a beast of great power, one that even they would have had to struggle against. Who else in Necropolis would've been powerful enough, or even had the motive to break into the King's private castle? Everyone who wanted to bring him down was part of Belial's resistance, and as far as he remembered, the Marquis of Darkness had never mentioned more soldiers accompanying them this far.

But it was Angel who seemed to most shocked. He was absolutely speechless.

The tall, white-haired form of the Marquis leaping into the air, his blade flashing… The foolish fiend, however powerful, wouldn't have stood a chance. Still, he never thought the man had such brutality in him… The monster had not been killed, it had been _destroyed_.

But more troubling was that he _knew_. There seemed no possible way for him to have found out, it was almost unthinkable… The entire plan was airtight. Every single chink had been filled up. How finely he had woven it together, bating them to their deaths like a worm on a hook… They could have never found out. But somehow, _somehow_, that creep _knew_.

"There's no point in debating this right now," muttered Brian. "Belial will catch up soon enough. If anything, there's someone else here who has a vendetta against the King, and we'll soon find out whether he's against us as well."

"_Oh, there is definitely someone here who _**loathes**___the King_," thought Angel maliciously. "_And he'll be willing to rip his guts out when he sees him. This is absurd… Belial alone is fine, but with the Pharaoh here as well this is all for nothing_."

"No!" he tried. "This is dangerous. You can't take anything for granted in this city. How do you know whether or not the other player here can be trusted? This is unsafe! For all you know, this entire thing has been orchestrated by the King to fool us into overconfidence!"

"That makes no sense," replied Jason calmly. "I can tell when danger is afoot, and logically, nothing can go against us here. _Assuming_ there is someone else in there, who killed the Fiend, he could only be against the King. Killing the Fiend would serve no purpose of the King, all it could do is make it easier for us. Even if the person who killed the Fiend is against us _and_ the King, it only makes things marginally more difficult for us, because we're still a group of seven. It may even make things easier for us, because the newcomer might choose to only concentrate against the King. Were we his main target, he might have chosen to confront us before we entered this little fun-house of the King. How would he even know that we're here, if we're his target?"

"I like your assumption that the person who killed the Fiend is male," sniffed Tea.

Yami smiled at the quip, but looked back at the Fiend. Angel's voice snapped him back.

"We have to leave! You can be sure of nothing with the King! You only have to go as far back as the Necroguard Prison to realize just how unpredictable he is. We went in when we thought it would be only too easy, and we nearly got killed."

"But what was the point of coming to his hell-hole?!" fired back Daniel. "To get the damned Seal! We knew it would be dangerous, after that it's only a matter of how dangerous it is. You can leave if you want, but we're going ahead no matter what. We just want to go home."

"_If_ you decide to follow that rather foolish bit of advice and leave this place, I'm afraid I'd have to do something nasty, which would be quite a shame, considering you know something very interesting…" echoed the deep voice that they were by now all so familiar with. As one, the group turned around to see the tall, lean form of Belial, Marquis of Darkness, standing in the doorway at the end of the room.

"You!" gasped Yami. "You never told us you'd be coming here as well! Did you kill the Fiend?"

Belial ignored him, and took a step forward, keeping his eyes fixed on Angel.

"I really did believe you were going to make a run for it, upon seeing the Fiend, being the coward that you are. Fortunately I was able to make it here in time, as it would have been a shame if you had really had the foolishness to leave."

"What are you talking about?" demanded Jason.

Belial didn't seem to have heard him. Angel, meanwhile, did not reply.

"Did you believe you could actually get away with such an audacious scheme? You believed you were manipulating us, leading us into your foolish little trap, but you were wrong. I was always a step ahead of you; you were merely a puppet dangling off my strings, dancing your way towards me… And your demise."

Angel's look only hardened.

"I have returned for my revenge… And the power I truly deserve. And you are going to tell me where I can find it," said Belial coldly, drawing his sword.

"What's going on here?!" bellowed Yami, stepping between them. "This is absolutely ridiculous, Belial! This is Angel, he's been with us all along. He can't possibly be whoever you think he is!"

"Angel never existed!" bellowed Belial, his eyes flashing. "At least not till a few days ago! This conniving serpent killed him! His body rots in the foul Necropolian soil as we speak! He's been fooling you all along, since you entered the city he has sent his people after you, waiting, hoping for a breakthrough. He's behind everything! He was the one who sent a message to the prison _in advance_, clearing it of all prisoners and guards, leaving that rotten undead fool to distract you."

"What are you talking about?!" screamed Ryu. "Who is he?" He pointed at Angel, who did not flinch, but merely continued to gaze on blankly at Belial.

"You were all fools not to realize it!" bellowed Belial. "I was considering sharing this information with you, but not one of you deserved it! Can't you see it?! Signs have been left all throughout your mission. Sloppiness on his part, but absolute idiocy for you to not notice it. When you chased that Paradias agent through the city, who could have posted guards at such convenient intervals to try and stop you? When the Elemental Cosmic Sentinel left after dueling you," as he said the last word, he pointed at Ryu, "why would the King contact him? Because his purpose of having his troops challenge your group was merely to slow you down so he could locate you! When he found most of you, he simply wanted to wait until he used your supposed power to gain my trust, and then be able to bring down by resistance from within!

"But he underestimated me. I noticed the signs early on, the uneasiness with which he behaved around me, the unusual stamina and strength he exhibited when using a Duel Spirit to join in the chase of the Paradias agent. He used his magical sense to locate the portal from which you entered Necropolis. All this could have been coincidental, but when I had one of my subordinates locate the Angel's dead body, it was beyond suspicion."

Yami stood there, for a moment, unmoving. Then, his jaw dropped. "Don't tell me…."

Belial nodded. "The man whom you have known as Angel all this time is really the King of Necropolis himself."

All heads turned to the elderly man, whose blank expression turned into a dry smile. "I was wondering when you fools would catch on."

"Impossible!" gasped Daniel. Even Jason seemed stunned. Never in his wildest dreams could he have imagined this….

"It is very possible," snapped the Marquis. "Now, if you don't mind, I have some long unfinished business with His Majesty." He spoke the last two words with a touch of extra disgust.

"Your arrogance blinds you," murmured the King. Slowly, very slowly, Yami could notice the change in his voice. Angel's voice was bland, and dry. The King's, however, was cold, silky and scornful.

"You can run no more. You may have been lucky to escape my headquarters, but if you had even a little common sense, you would have picked up the signs that your pathetic little charade was falling apart. Now, however, you have no way to escape."

The King stretched his fingers, and clenched them again. "You seem to assume that I _want_ to run from you," he murmured.

Belial held up his sword. "You have no hope. None at all. Dealing with me would be hard enough for you, but here you would have to face not only the Pharaoh himself, but also three Demon Lords."

His eyes flashed slightly. "Tell me where the Seal is. _Now_."

"Impoliteness is never advisable in your enemy's home," replied the King. At that moment, he gave a sharp snarl, and stuck his hand out, so that it was facing Belial directly. A nexus of emerald energy shot out, and it would have sliced Belial's head off had it come into contact with him.

However, the Marquis' reaction time was next to zero. He raised his blade and deflected the attack with a flick of his wrist. The nexus bounced off and slammed into the wall, about fifteen feet away. It left a burn mark, and all of the rock there had been incinerated. Yami and the others backed away, alarmed.

The Pharaoh was about to raise a hand, but was silenced by Belial. "Do nothing! If he dies, then the Seal is lost forever! I will deal with him myself."

"_Deal with me_?" laughed the King coldly. "_Deal with me_? If you were capable of such a feat of strength, you would have attacked my palace long ago. This is meaningless bravado, I could extinguish the force that keeps your blood pumping with merely a _thought_! You are nothing to me, you foolish demon. The mere fact that I slipped into your ranks, unnoticed, unstoppable, shows what a pathetic organization you have."

He sneered. "_Angel._ What a mediocre disguise that was, looking back now. I did grow to enjoy the identity however, perhaps to the extent that I would even consider going by that name now…."

"If you were so powerful, why were you overthrown by Ha Des?" sneered back the white-caped giant.

The King's hard eyes flashed. Evidently, Belial had struck below the belt. "Speak not of what your knowledge is so minimal, you fool!" he snapped. "Ha Des paid the price for his actions, and the remains of his corpse now lie ravaged in Necroguard Prison. Two deaths he died, each one worse then the other. You can rest assured that for being such a thorn in my side over the past fifteen years. Even before that, all those raids and battles that you carried out under the orders of your now dead friend… No longer will I tolerate such insolence! All that time you considered me a coward… I was merely consolidating my power over this city. When I'm finished with you and this pathetic group, it will be time to extend my hand of conquest beyond the Abyss, and into a far more prosperous world!"

"In order to do that, you will need to survive me," replied Belial. Without warning, he tensed his legs and then took off towards Angel. Quick as lightning, the older man raised his hands. A blast of green energy fired out, slamming straight into Belial. This one was far too powerful to deflect with his sword. It sent him flying across the cavernous room, and right into the rock of the wall. He burst through, and seemed to land outside. Not a sound was heard from him.

Yami snarled. "I don't care who you are, Angel, or whatever your name is, but I came here to claim the Seal for a much higher purpose. If you do not tell me where it is now-…."

"You'll do what?" sneered Angel, turning to look at the Pharaoh. "I am the Dark King of the Abyss. Not one of you can even imagine my power. I could smite each and every one of you, Belial's entire army, and this dimension itself right now. And when I am able to unlock the secrets of the Seal of Immortality, even the Infinity Council will be unable to stand in my path, for I will be greater than Apocalypse ever was!"

Yami locked eyes with Angel. There fight had gone unfinished the last time they met, perhaps overshadowed by the greater enmity between the Pharaoh and Marik. But the intensity of the hatred between them could truly be felt in the air, even more so since the capture of Tea.

He could feel the power coming off in waves from the body of the man he had once considered an ally. He had no idea how he had been able to suppress these kind of signs for such a long period of time, but now he understood why the King was so feared. The level of dark magic within him was easily as much as Yami Marik at his maximum, while controlling all three Dark Gods, and possibly beyond Zorc Necrophades himself. One on one, he would have a clear advantage over Yami in a battle of magic.

"And if you're dealing with him, then you've got me to contend with as well," grunted Daniel, stepping forward. His ears, which were already pointed as a demonic trait, were now pricked upwards like those of a dog when they sensed danger. His eyes alternated between a dim crimson and their normal color. His tail was twitching, wrapping itself around his waist and unwinding again rapidly.

"_Daniel is strong, but God knows Rikuo would have been a much greater help here. Belial himself is strong, but this guy is something else altogether… Maybe if the three of us, perhaps along with Ryu as well, attack together, we could knock him out long enough to find the Seal and leave this place_….."

"So, it is now time for you to pay the price for invading my kingdom!" screeched Angel, raising a hand. Yami blinked, and just as a golden shield began to appear around him, the echo of Belial's voice was heard from behind them.

"You seem to have forgotten that I'm not done!" His gigantic form crashed through the wall, knocking into Angel's body. He seemed to be flying, and this had generated an aura of green energy around him. A trail was left as he continued forward, driving the King into a wall. They continued on, perhaps breaking out into the room beyond as well. The residual energy, combined with the sheer force of Belial's attack caused a gigantic cloud of smoke to rise up around them. A part of the cavern had ignited, and flames seemed to be present.

"We need to get out of here!" bellowed CJ. No one needed to be told again. The cavern had an open door at the far side, and they rushed through it. This room was also about as large as the previous one, but seemed to have nothing else in it. Perhaps Belial had dealt with this obstacle as well. But they didn't care. The fire was spreading. In the far distance, they could hear grunts and snarls and the sounds of Belial and Angel exchanging savage blows.

As fast as possible, the group exited the final cavern as well. The door at the end was ancient and ornate, made of metal. Perhaps it would hold the fire. Perhaps it would not. But they had a choice between braving the flames, and trying to fight Angel together. At this point, the latter was probably preferable. CJ, Brian and Ryu braced themselves against the doors, pushing with all their might. Smoke had already begun to filter into the final room. As the doors slammed shut, they were finally able to observe their surroundings.

It was probably the worst garden any of them had ever seen in their life. If it could even be called a garden… It was more like a wasteland. Truthfully, it would be better off simply being called a courtyard to the universe's most depressing palace. It was more like a prison then a palace, being a simple, black, broad building with a pair of turrets on either side. Evidently, the King's real estate sensibilities were just as morbid as his operation methods, with a number of heads speared on spikes. It reminded one a bit of the Tower of London, except that the entire area around them was _empty_. There was not a soul in sight. Even Angel and Belial couldn't be seen. Behind them, the fire raged against the doors.

"What do we do now?" said Tea urgently.

"We have to fight Angel," said Jason in his cold voice. "It is the only way. He's extremely powerful, one can tell, but it would be pointless to leave without the Seal. Our first aim, however, is whether or not we can trust Belial. The way he spoke of the Seal, I am unsure whether or not he has ulterior motives."

"We have no choice," replied Yami. As if on cue, Angel came crashing down towards the ground from out of the dark sky. He slammed into the gravelly ground, and Belial seemed to drop from above as well. He was gripping his broadsword, and Angel was barely able to flip over, with surprising dexterity for a man of his age, and catch the blade in his hands.

The pair seemed locked for an instant, Belial above, hovering in the air, and Angel below, his brow creased with wrinkles of exertion, sweat trickling down his face. Suddenly, they both relaxed. Angel let go of the sword, and Belial landed a few feet away from him.

"Leave if you wish," said the Marquis coldly, without even glancing at the group of duelists. "I have no further use for you."

"Again, your arrogance will be your undoing," whispered Angel. "Even _with_ these fools, it would be difficult for you to even challenge me. By yourself, whatever you say, Belial, I would crush you. There is a reason Ha Des was chosen as the leader of your resistance against me, and not you…"

"Do not speak that name, it does not deserve to even grace your filthy tongue!" spat Belial. "You not only killed the Dark Ruler Ha Des, but also oppressed all his supporters and the people of Necropolis for decades! The Seal was meant to be _mine_, I was Ha Des' heir, you fool! But you took what was rightfully mine, and for that, I will kill you."

"Perhaps you would want to settle this affair in a manner that would be more beneficial to the both of us," remarked Angel.

Yami couldn't understand a word of the exchange between the pair, but Angel's latest words hit home. "A Shadow Game…." he gasped.

Angel glanced over at him. "Ah yes. I think you fools have reached the point where I can tolerate you no more as well." The dark fog began to roll in. Yami's Puzzle glowed, as he tried to negate it, but it seemed far too powerful. Within moments, the air around them seemed to have been painted black. The dark castle was visible in the distance. But otherwise, only the Shadow Realm was visible in all four directions. The pulsing of the fire had ceased against the wall. They were in the Realm of Darkness, to determine the fate of the City of the Dead. In another situation, one could have appreciated the irony.

A Duel Disk flashed into existence on the hands of both combatants. "My terms are these: If I win, then you will not only reveal the location of the Seal, but the Shadows will also claim you as their victim," said Belial coldly.

"An unlikely event. Mine, however, are more realistic. _When_ I win, everyone else in this courtyard, besides myself, will become permanent residents of the Shadow Realm. Even your Millennium Item cannot negate a deal struck within the Shadows, Pharaoh," he said, glancing at Yami. "It was foolish of you to get involved."

Belial and the King stared at each other. "LET'S DUEL!"

(Belial: 8000, Angel: 8000)

"I will make the first move," declared the Marquis. Yami felt Tea tense up next to him.

"_Let me come out_," urged Yugi. Yami did not argue this time. The golden aura around him died out, and the ancient Pharaoh was replaced by the smiling teenager. Tea's eyes widened. "Yugi…" They hugged instantaneously, but broke apart just as quickly. She seized his hand, gripping it tightly. All eyes were on the duel, for they knew that their very lives depended on it.

"I set a monster in defense mode. Then, I will also add one facedown card. That will conclude my move." The spectators seemed to exhale collectively at the unimpressive first move. All eyes shifted from the two brown-backed cards on Belial's field to Angel's empty one.

The powerful King looked through his hand of six like he had not a care in the world. "Evidently, your dueling skills are similar to your methods in battle… Pathetic and senseless. My deck has been carefully constructed over decades. Truly, there is not one in this plane of existence or the next that can stop it. I will show you why now, by summoning Orc – Soldier of Mordor (1900/800)!"

Appearing on Angel's field was a beast that many would recognize, but never get used to. It was very vaguely humanoid, but anyone could tell that its true nature was quite demonic. It stood roughly six and a half feet tall, and was quite muscular. However, its skin was gray and clammy. Its facial features were badly disfigured, and its armor, though strong, was mouldy and covered in rust. It held a curved scimitar in its right hand. Pointed, almost goblin-like ears pointed out of the sides of its head.

Yugi and Tea gasped. Even Daniel and CJ seemed to recognize it. "Tolkien…" The word fell off Tea's tongue like a drop of dew off a leaf.

Angel raised a hand. "My Orc will now attack your facedown monster!"

Belial sneered slightly as the horribly disfigured creature charged towards his monster. Its sword rose and fell like the axe of an excecutioner, flipping up to reveal a woman with long mid-back length purple hair, pale skin, and a set of black flowing robes. She screamed in shock as the sword cut through her, slicing her body in half and shattering it into countless tiny pixels.

"You destroyed Witch of the Black Forest (1100/1200). I can now add one monster with fifteen hundred or less defense points from my deck to my hand." Just as he began to pull his deck out of his Duel Disk, Angel sneered.

"My Orc negates the effects of those that he slays. So unfortunately for you, you gain no advantage." The demonic creature slashed down with its sword again. The air seemed to split, and a sharp pain forced Belial to drop his deck back onto his Duel Disk.

"You shouldn't count your good fortune yet, especially since you have none. This battle has only begun."

The King glared at him. "I will set a card and end my turn."

Belial drew calmly. "I summon my Legion Shocktrooper (1900/1400)!" Slithering out of the darkness of the garage was a large, reptilian, centaur-like creature. It resembled a fish to a certain extent, with scaly green skin and flipper-like projections on its feet. A long, thick tail flopped out behind it. However, equipped with advanced mechanical battle armor with a glowing green stone set into its chest. It holds two huge glowing energy broadswords a breathing apparatus fixed over its face.

"Legion?" frowned Jason. These were monsters he had never even heard of, despite his extensive knowledge of the game's intricacies.

"Legion Shocktrooper allows me to discard any number of cards and special summon to the field an equal number of Legion Clone Tokens, whose stats, level, type and attribute are the same as this card. I will discard A Second Chance, Flash of the Abyss, and Legion Stealth Craft I (1800/600). Now, I can remove A Second Chance from play to draw two cards!"

Even as he snapped the top two cards off his deck, three creatures identical to the original, centaurian reptile appeared on his field. The four all hissed at the Orc at once, which didn't seem too impressed at all. Neither was the King.

"No card can be so powerful. There is some drawback to your Legion Shocktrooper."

"Very perceptive," agreed Belial. "On the turn that this effect is used, I cannot attack. I do, however, have four monsters with nineteen hundred attack points each, which should be a fair challenge for you. I will now set a card and end my turn."

Angel drew aggressively, and the shadows seemed to warp with his anger. "I will not spare you! I summon my Goblin Tamer (1800/1500)!"

Next to the Orc materialized a similar creature, if a little less imposing. The newest fiend was far thinner and slightly built, wearing light mail as opposed to the larger Orc's much heavier armor. It held a spear in one hand, and had a wooden shield on the other. Its face was less revolting, but had a longer nose and ears, along with narrow, shifty eyes. Wrinkles creased all its exposed skin, and it let out a cackle upon seeing the assortment of monsters on Belial's field.

"It's weaker then my monsters," pointed out Belial.

"But not if I equip it with the union monster, Warg – Wolf of War (800/800)!" At his word, a feral-looking, wolf-like beast with frizzy fur roared and appeared from within the shadows. It looked more like a lion at first sight, as the hair was especially heavy around its neck. It's fur was greenish-brown, and its eyes reflected a primal sense of hatred.

At that moment, the goblin hissed, and a whip appeared in its hand. It cracked the long, sinuous weapon, causing the warg to cry out in pain. A cut was clearly visible on its flank. Ignoring the creature's pain, the goblin mounted it and raised his spear, letting out a cry of triumph.

"Warg – Wolf of War can be equipped to either Orc, Soldier of Mordor, or my Goblin Tamer. Whichever one is equipped gains five hundred attack points." The goblin-like beast roared again, thrusting his spear out in confirmation of his new power (2300/1500).

"Now, Goblin Tamer will destroy your original Legion Shocktrooper!"

The warg snarled, its eyes now a feral crimson. It leapt forward, while its master thrust out its spear threateningly. The Shocktrooper that it targeted kept its eyes fixed on it, until the last moment when Belial reacted.

"I activate my facedown Chaotic Wormhole! Now, the monster that you attacked with is removed from play. On my second standby phase after activation, I can special summon one 'Legion Clone Token' whose stats, type, effect and attribute are all the same as the monster that I removed from play."

A swirling, black vortex appeared in front of the charging goblin and his steed. He shrieked, and tried to halt the galloping wolf, but it was too late. It entered the sectional power of the chaotic vortex, and was soon sucked in. The vortex remained stationary for a moment, and then vanished, leaving nothing but the Orc, Soldier of Mordor, on a very angry Angel's field.

"You will pay for that!" he spat.

"That is merely your opinion. Continue your move."

Angel glanced at his hand. "I end my turn."

Belial drew, looking extremely confident. "I summon Legion Infiltrator (1000/800) in attack mode." The monster that had appeared on his field was an almost mechanical looking reptile-like fiend. It had a small, flat head which was covered by a glowing green helmet. It wore a fluorescent blue armor, with a large green stone set into the top of its helmet. Instead of legs it had the posterior of a spider, crawling along on eight mechanical legs. In its short, stout arms it held a blaster.

"Legion Infiltrator can be special summoned to the field when I have at least one other Legion monster in play. Since I special summoned him, I will now sacrifice him as well as the original Legion Shocktrooper to call upon Legion Spawn Carrier (0/2500) in defense mode!"

The two monsters vanished. Appearing from the darkness was a hideous, mutant-like creature. It had a large, dripping eye set in a scaly face. Six, armored, spider-like legs crept out beneath it. Instead of a torso, it had a set of transparent sacks filled with a yellow fluid, with a creature that looked shockingly similar to the Legion Shocktrooper gestating in each one.

Tea made a face. "What a charming fellow."

The King snorted. "Two tributes, and zero attack points? Few effects are worth such an investment."

"Unfortunately for you, my Legion Spawn Carrier ranks among them," replied Belial coldly. "Now, I will have one of my three tokens attack your Orc, Soldier of Mordor, thus clearing your field at the mere cost of one monster."

The centaurian reptile raised both its swords, and with a hiss bounded across the field. The orc roared in reply, and slashed forward with his scimitar. It cut right through the energy blades of the Shocktrooper, stabbing into its chest. But it was not done, however, for it struck back out with a snarl, stabbing one of its blades wildly forward, catching the orc on the throat and severing its head. The two corpses shattered, for their strength was equal.

"Now, my remaining two Tokens will attack you directly," commanded Belial. The Legion Clone Tokens both hissed, and their shadowy, reptilian forms slithered forward, their sword being raised threateningly all the while. Angel snarled in reaction, pressing a button on his Duel Disk.

"I activate Dark Wall of Air, which reduces all damage from direct attacks to zero." Black, howling winds, sprang up out of nowhere. The pair of lizard-men stopped short, disconcerted by the ferocity of the dark storm in their path. Growling angrily to each other, they turned on heel and paced back to Belial's field.

"Firstly, my Spawn Carrier gains a Spawn Counter every time a Legion monster is sent to the graveyard. I then turn the board over to you." He seemed slightly annoyed, if anything.

Angel seemed quite unperturbed by the shift in momentum in the duel, if any of them ever had _any_ momentum, considering that the scoreline was still at eight thousand all. He drew calmly. "I summon Wolf of the Spirits (1800/1200)!"

A snarling, spitting canine that made the warg look like a docile poodle exploded onto Angel's field. Its fur seemed to be glowing to such an extent that one could go as far as considering it to be extra-terrestrial. Saliva leaked from its jaw as it leered forward at the two Shocktroopers on Belial's field. Its eyes glowed horribly as it let out a roar. Its paw was the size of a man's torso.

"Wolf of the Spirits allows me to special summon one dark attribute beast, or fiend monster from my hand on the turn he is summoned, as long as it is level four or lower. I call upon Uruk-Hai, Spawn of Saruman (1900/1700)!"

The newest monster was a lot like the Orc, but for larger and more muscular. It was dressed in full battle armor, instead of the Orc's light mail, along with a heavy helmet. The armor was a pitch-black in color, and he held a long, crimson daemon-blade in one hand. There was a white hand painted onto his helm, and every time he roared it seemed to glow. He was at least eight feet tall.

"I do not see the point of such a move. Neither monster can fell my Spawn Carrier, and to defeat either of my Clone Tokens you would sacrifice your newest monster as well, leaving you with nothing but your pathetic wolf."

"Incorrect," voiced Angel, as he pointed at the Legion Clone Token. "Uruk-Hai, eliminate that monster."

The large beast lumbered forward, unsheathing its sword. The spectators fell silent again, as two monsters prepared to take each other's lives for the second time in the duel. To their shock, however, they saw the demonic beast's blade slice right through the comparatively feeble energy swords of the centaurian Shocktrooper, stabbing him in the chest, and causing him to shatter.

"Explain yourself!" said an outraged Belial, wringing his fists.

"It's quite simple, really," laughed the King. "Even though your primal brain might be unable to comprehend it, my Uruk-Hai is not destroyed in battle if he attacks a monster who is stronger or has the same attack points as him. Instead, he loses attack points equal to the damage that would be inflicted by the attack. Since your Clone Token was equal in strength to my Uruk-Hai, he lost no strength."

"An interesting monster," breathed Belial. "But such strength is a waste in the hands of he who has no clue about how to use it."

"Talk is cheap," replied the King confidently. "You would do better to translate your words into your dueling."

"I shall, in due time," replied Belial, annoyed. "Now make your move."

"Gladly," replied the King. "Wolf of the Spirits is useless to me at this time, so I will end my turn." The Uruk-Hai snarled viciously as the Marquis looked over his hand briefly before preparing to draw.

"Legion Spawn Carrier now has two counters," reminded Belial as he drew. "I call upon my Legion Warrior (1800/1400)!"

An almost mutant-like, silvery creature outfitted with black armor materialized from the shadows onto Belial's field. It was roughly as big as a large rhinoceros, with disproportionately large hands and feet, each about as big as a desk. Its eyes were like a pair of deep, hollow black voids. A thorny frill framed its head, with green stones embedded in its chest cavity and each shoulder. Its claws had spinning laser edged teeth like futuristic chainsaws.

"Another weak monster!" laughed Angel.

"Not more so then your Wolf," replied Belial. "Now, he can attack it!"

The mechanical mutant roared and the chainsaw-like claws on his hand began whirring. He leapt across the field, and the razor-edged blades sliced through the flesh of the wolf with ridiculous ease. It gave a long, mournful howl, before its head was sliced off as well. However, the howl seemed to have frozen the Legion Warrior. He simply stood there, rooted to the spot with a growing sense of horror on his face. Wolf and soldier shattered.

"Just like your Uruk-Hai, my Legion Warrior has a useful effect when destroyed in battle. I can now special summon from my deck one more copy of Legion Warrior, whose attack points will be equal to one hundred points more then that of the monster that destroyed him. Arise, my second Legion Warrior (1800 + 100 1900/1400)!"

Another, mechanical giant materialized on Belial's field, roaring at the Uruk-Hai. These two were equal in strength, and the demon was not afraid to roar back.

"I _would_ have attacked your Uruk-Hai as well, and summoned my third Legion Warrior, but this effect can only be used once per turn," said Belial smoothly. "Legion Spawn Carrier now has three Spawn counters, and I intend to make that four! Legion Clone Token, attack his Uruk-Hai!"

The final centaur-like beast reared up and roared. Its energy blades whizzed through the air, and slammed into the scimitar of the demonic soldier. The artificially created beast, however, knocked away the blades one by one with ease, and stabbed forward. It slammed into the reptile's chest, causing it take a sharp intake of breath before shattering.

"Now, my Spawn Carrier has his fourth counter!"

"What is the point of all this?!" snarled Angel.

Belial glared at him, and spoke in a voice that made even Jason and Yami stop short in surprise. "The point, you fool, is to make you pay. You took what was rightfully mine, and did not pay heed to the consequences then."

Their eyes locked. "I will make sure you do not do so this time around."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Zeruge and Sigma was surrounded by absolute silence. All four monsters, The Six Samurai – Kamon, The Six Samurai – Yariza, Enishi, Shien's Chancellor, and Alien Skull were all completely silent as their masters simply stared at each other. The distant sounds of the struggle between Li and Eizan's men were gone now. To be immersed in such darkness and quiet was truly an eerie feeling.

(Zeruge: 4200, Sigma: 4000)

"Despite your claims, I cannot help but get the feeling you are enjoying this duel as much as I am," enunciated Sigma.

Zeruge's eyes darkened momentarily. "I will give you the truth once, and only once. Dueling the President of Paradias and dueling the company's lowest operative both mean the same to me. Maybe I am a duelist at heart. Maybe I am not. I simply desire peace. Dueling someone of your caliber under different circumstances, perhaps that would have been enjoyable. If you imagine that the two of us could develop a sort of grudging admiration for each other, you could never have been more wrong. You are evil, and have taken the lives of innocent people. For that, all you deserve is punishment."

Sigma gave a sharp chuckle.

"You servants of the Infinity Council are _so_ naive…. Yes, we of Paradias truly realize how blatantly corrupt your little organization really is. I never cared much for the philosophy that Apocalypse has stood by in his campaign against them, but recently the truth _has_ occurred to me. Light always has an advantage over Darkness, which is simply not fair. A perfect balance is the principle upon which the Council supposedly governs existence. Tell me now, if six entities cannot agree on a basic ideal, and an argument over this has led to a cosmic war, what right do they have to govern the lives of trillions?"

"Had it not been for the existence of the Council, not one of us would have been born!" snarled Zeruge. "Do not presume to speak on topics you have no knowledge of."

"Oh, but I know more about these things then you think," murmured Sigma. "You, for example, Zeruge Mitsunashi. I can tell how your heart shifts. It feels like I'm holding it right here in my hand."

Zeruge did not answer, but his eyes narrowed. This was beginning to annoy him.

"Ah, I can see. You're getting angrier now. Your heart, it's beating faster. I may not be as much a human as the rest, but I understand them better then anyone. I asked you earlier, why did you change? I do not need that answer any more. I have observed you long enough to come to my own conclusions. It is quite simple, truthfully. Your blind devotion to the Infinity Council tells of someone who has lost all hope in other sources. It is a sign of helplessness truly, to simply look at a greater power and hope that it solves your problems.

"Your origin, perhaps, is trickier. The armor you wear is Japanese, and made perhaps in the seventeenth century. But it has been augmented with magic. Why, one must ask, would someone of your resources not resort to acquiring a better quality of armor? It shows a strange attachment, perhaps an emotional one, to your possessions…. Perhaps to your home country. And that is what makes you weak! Attachments hamper one's progress to great power, and can ultimately make the strongest warrior a helpless weakling. I let go of all my attachments long ago, and that is exactly why I stand here before the one who will show you the path to the next world."

Zeruge smirked faintly. "Your psychoanalysis of me is all very well. But it foolishly gave me an insight into your own mind."

"Oh…" muttered Sigma. "This should be amusing."

"Rumors about your history are vague and floating," said Zeruge flatly. "I myself do not know much, except for this…. You are more human then you think, aren't you? Trying to look at the human race from the outside, claiming you are not one yourself… You are foolishly distancing yourself from the race. And contrary to your belief, the further you are from humans, the more difficult they are to understand. I gave up my humanity as a great cost for the power I hold, but not completely. I understand that giving up one's roots is one of the most foolish things one can ever do. I have the power of a demon, and the mind of a human.

"And that is my advantage over you, Sigma. The way you constantly attempt to distance yourself from your humanity is futile. Even if you do not express it, the fact that as much as you run from your humanity, and you come face to face with it every time you look into a mirror, frustrates you. And that added confusion makes you even easier to deal with. You cannot deny what you are. I have accepted that I am neither human nor demon, but yet I am both. If you can even attempt to accept that you are still human, despite how unnatural your abilities are, then perhaps you will become more effective. But as of now, you are nothing to me."

"Please, your words began to bore me since you decided to begin," scoffed Sigma. "You have no idea what I am, and you will never know, because I am going to end your life tonight."

"Then I will end my turn all give you the opportunity to attempt that."

Sigma drew. "I believe it is time to make this duel a little less stagnant. I sacrifice Alien Skull and remove it from play in order to summon Alien Heretic (2000/2000)!" The skeletal beast shrieked and vanished. The ground seemed to crack in front of Sigma, and a dark, hideous form leapt out. It looked far more horrible then any of Sigma's previous monsters. It looked like a giant insect more then anything, with a small head, with a large torso.

Looking closer, Zeruge began to see a resemblance to the Insect Queen (2200/2400). Its skin was a bright green, with a small, humanoid head. It had slit-like eyes, with large fangs sticking out of its deep mouth. In fact, its entire body looked like it was made mostly of large, sharp bones, with globs of flesh present at irregular intervals, and the green skin draped over it like a blanket on furniture. A reptilian frill was present behind its head, and large, fluttery wings were attached to its back. Its legs were more well-built then the rest of its body, resting on feet with razor sharp claws. It had no arm, and its head was perched on a long neck. It looked almost draconic, and it shrieked suddenly, its frill fluttering wildly.

"My Heretic is one of the more powerful Alien monsters in my deck. You see, once it is summoned I can immediatley place one A-Counter on each monster on your field." At his word, the strange creature screamed and spat out globs of green slime at each of the samurai. They all snarled and snapped it away with their weapons, but were only partially successful. A small part of it remained on their weapons, sliding towards them and latching onto their arms. Enishi, Kamon and Yariza gasped in shock as the slime began to burrow deeper in, tearing through their armor and disappearing into their skin.

"Now, Alien Heretic gains three hundred attack points for every A-Counter in play."

The strange creature shrieked again as its power increased (2900/2000).

"Now, I will take care of the irritation posed by your Enishi permanently. Alien Heretic, bring me one step closer to victory."

The extra-terrestrial being roared and opened its mouth. A wave of green energy erupted out, and Enishi (2200 – 300 1900/1200) raised his blades in defiance. He gave Zeruge a sad smile, and then with a warrior's cry he leapt into the wave. It was unfortunate, however, that he would not make it, as he slowly began to disintegrate due to the blast, piece by piece. Within moments, he was gone, with nothing but a black burn mark on the ground as the only sign of his demise.

(Zeruge: 3200, Sigma: 4000)

"Do you honestly think you can defeat me at this rate?" taunted Sigma. "Every time you try and make a comeback, I strike back and eliminate your advantage. You are only delaying the inevitable."

"Your incessant talk is merely a waste of time," said Zeruge sharply. "Complete your move so I can move onto mine."

"Very well. I set a card. Go on and make your move."

Zeruge drew, his eyes closed. He would truly need a large amount of luck to get out of this situation. Yariza and Kamon would only stand up to the wrath of Sigma's Alien Heretic for so long. He looked at it, and exhaled.

"First, I switch Kamon to defense mode. Then, I use his effect, to destroy one magic or trap card in play when I have another Six Samurai monster in play." The grim-faced man lifted up a stick of dynamite, and lit it. He threw it over the Alien Heretic to the brown-backed card, just as both him and Yariza dived for cover.

There was an explosion, leaving nothing but the tattered remains of Repayment of Losses on Sigma's field. The Paradias agent and smirked, drawing a card.

"It matters not," replied Zeruge. "For now, Yariza can attack you directly, as I have a Six Samurai monster in play."

The weaker warrior raised his staff, and shot off across the field at lighting speed. The green blade carved through the air, parrying a small sphere of green energy that had been spat out by the Heretic, and continuing on towards Sigma. Once again, the small man was able to nick him on the shoulder with a quick pass of his blade before retreating to the sanctity of Zeruge's field.

(Zeruge: 3200, Sigma: 3000)

"Then, I set a card and end my turn."

Tactically, this was Zeruge's best option, and he knew it. He just hoped that Sigma would take the bait…

The Paradias agent seemed quite satisfied with the way the duel was progressing as he drew, especially since it was largely in his favor at that point.

"I summon Interplanetary Invader "A" (0/500) in defense mode!" Sigma's newest monster was without a doubt the most disgusting one he had summoned throughout the duel. It was a huge, purple, insect-like creature, covered with swollen bumps, a few tentacles sticking out here and there. Its bulbous eyes were blue and red, with a trunk-like extension wagging around. It had almost mechanical-looking legs, like those of a spider.

"My, my, my," muttered Zeruge, bemused. "I have seen some hideous creatures in my time, but not one of them could use a visit to a plastic surgeon as much as your friend over there."

"Yes, he is not exactly a charmer," replied Sigma. "But the purposes he will serve me is something a demon of your low intellect would be unable to understand. At this point, however, I only need my Alien Heretic (2600/2000) to destroy Yariza, whom you foolishly left in attack mode!"

The draconic monstrosity roared, and another wave of green energy left its jaws and sped towards Zeruge's field, this time to the smaller samurai who had just targeted its master. Suddenly, Yariza leapt up and thrust his staff out. It seemed to deflect the green wave towards the kneeling Kamon, who nodded grimly and stood up, spreading out his arms to receive the blast. The blank look of hatred remained on his face as he was slowly atomized by the blast.

"This is an effect common to all Six Samurai," murmured Zeruge. "I can force you to attack another one of them if I have more than one in play."

"Perhaps your tactical skills are better than I expected," mused Sigma. "That, I admit, is intelligent. However, your entire strategy is going to fall apart if you insist on playing this pathetic, defensive game based on stalling. I now set a card and end my turn." Neither player had a card in his hand.

The demon swordsman drew. "I summon Gozuki (1700/800)!" Another, undead beast of a monster appeared next to Yariza. It looked a bit like a lion, except for the fact that its fur was black, and far more muscular then a normal lion. In fact, its forelimbs were tipped with paws that looked more like hands, for they were gripping a very large hammer. Its thick mane lifted up in the night wind.

"Once per turn, Gozuki lets me send a zombie monster from my deck to my graveyard. I choose Onmoraki (1200/1000)!" He quickly found the card and slid it into his graveyard slot.

"But I shall introduce you to him immediatley, by activating my facedown Call of the Haunted!" Onmoraki appeared next to Yariza and Gozuki, looking for all the world like the most hideous phoenix to ever exist. Its feathers were black, with orangish-red, clawed feet sticking out from beneath its body, large wings flared out. But its eyes were the scariest part, as instead of normal eyes, it looked like someone had lit a fire inside the sockets. All one could see was a burst of oily red fire flaring from within the holes as the bird screeched out at the two monsters.

"When he's special summoned from the graveyard, I can draw a card," said Zeruge confidently. "_My entire duel depends on this one card… You have never failed me in the past before. Do not do so when it is most important, I beg of you_."

He snapped it up, and at that moment, a glimmer of moonlight shone against it. He looked at it, and exhaled. "Now, you will see why my two strategies are so deadly when used in tandem! By sacrificing three zombies or warriors on my field, I can special summon this deadly beast!"

Gozuki, Yariza, and Onmoraki vanished one by one, in columns of light.

"I call upon thee, Protector of the Fallen, Defender of the Dead…. Rise up, Guardian of the Six Samurai Tomb (3100/3100)!" In the dark fog of the night beneath them, blue lights shone as a dark roar was heard. Soon, a blood-red dragon with two mighty, dark horns on the top of its head ascended from the fog, it being the source of the roars. On its body was bronze armor, which had black patterns with Japanese symbols running down its thick legs and body. It had dark, almost blood-red eyes, and sharp, dirty, white teeth. Its sinuous tail ran behind it, along with recoiled, black-angel-like wings, which were sunk down and retracted on its back. In its claws it clutched a pair of urns, possibly filled with ashes, which again had a kanji scrawled over each.

"An impressive monster…" breathed Sigma, as the dragon roared once more.

"Guardian of the Six Samurai Tomb gains one hundred attack points for every monster in my graveyard. I have eleven, meaning it now capable of usurping Obelisk the Tormentor itself!" The zombie-dragon roared again, this time so loudly that it was surprising that the building had not collapsed around them (4200/3100).

"Now that your Alien Heretic is back to its original strength (2000/2000), as there are no more A-Counters in play, you will be taking a hefty amount of damage. Guardian of the Six Samurai Tomb, attack with Vengeance of the Fallen!"

The zombie dragon opened its maw, and belched out a gigantic wave of pure magma. It sizzled across the field, slamming into the foul alien with a hiss-like, burning sound. It screeched in agony as the temperature rocketed to over forty degrees Celsius, literally causing it to melt in front of Sigma's very eyes. The Guardian continued on, letting lose more and more magma, until the heretic was completely buried in the hot mass of molten rock. With that, it began to fade away, showing that Sigma's monster had not only been destroyed, it had literally been vaporized.

(Zeruge: 3200, Sigma: 800)

"Your comeback, I must admit, was unexpected, yet well-executed," said Sigma, still calm.

"Comeback?" growled Zeruge. "I have taken control of the duel. You have less than a thousand life-points remaining, and I have a monster with over four thousand attack points in play. Confidence is one thing, arrogance is quite another. I now end my turn. Make your move, Sigma, but be careful if you wish to survive."

The Paradias agent drew swiftly. "I set a monster in defense mode, switch my Interplanetary Invader "A" to attack mode, and end my turn."

That was it. Zeruge drew confidently. His deep voice echoed throughout the cavernous parking lot.

"I summon The Six Samurai – Nisashi (1400/700)!" Zeruge's newest monster was dressed in glowing green armor. It was very futuristic looking, with inlaid molten emerald patterns all over it. Its armor came down to its knees, after which brown pants were visible. He wore similar boots, elbow-pads, and a helmet, and held a pair of swords. From each handle, a glowing blaze of green energy sprouted out, humming whenever the samurai moved them.

"_I do not understand why he switched his Invader back to attack mode. He has literally handed the duel to me. There _has _to be a trap here, but there is also a very small chance that he is bluffing. I will call his bluff, but not take undue risks. Yes, I think attacking with Nisashi makes most sense right now_."

"So are you prepared to call my _bluff_?" laughed Sigma. Zeruge's head shot up from his hand, shocked.

"Yes, you didn't think I was unaware of what you were thinking, did you? I can tell you're quite shocked as to why I would give you the potential to deal me forty-two hundred points of damage when I have less then one fifth of that value of life-points."

Zeruge glared at him. "Do not think that you can be so patronizing. I call your bluff, and attack your facedown monster with Guardian of the Six Samurai Tomb!"

The undead dragon roared once more, its majestic wings flaring up and scratching the ceiling of the car park. Its maw opened once more, letting lose a gigantic flow of magma. It washed over Sigma's field, and the card couldn't even be revealed before it was completely vaporized, leaving only the slimey abomination of an invader on the Paradias agent's field.

"My Alien Hypno (1600/700), however useful, shall not be missed," dismissed Sigma.

"I have won. I attack Interplanetary Invader "A" with Nisashi!"

The samurai looked at the huge, ugly creature and seemed to wrinkle his nose in disgust. With a helpless shrug, he hefted his weapons up and tore across the field. The large extraterrestrial was barely able to look sleepily up at his attacker, before his head was cleaved off by a single slash of the samurai's blades, and then his body was split down the middle by another.

"The duel is over," said Zeruge coldly.

"No, not really," muttered Sigma. "I activate my facedown Endless Thirst, which will grant me one thousand life-points and allows me to draw two cards if the difference between the attack points of your monster and mine exceeds one thousand. Therefore, I am still in the duel."

(Zeruge: 3200, Sigma: 400)

Zeruge frowned. He had expected Sigma to have some purpose behind leaving his weakest monster in attack mode, and it was apparently that he wanted to use it to draw more cards.

"And now that your battle-phase is finished, I can use my Interplanetary Invader "A"'s effect. I now take control of the monster that destroyed it in battle!"

Zeruge gasped as Nisashi grasped his head in pain. Spores erupted all over his skin, which began to gain a green shade. He looked up once more, his eyes crimson and horns sticking out from his helmet. He cackled wildly and walked over to Sigma's field, ready to show that he served a new master.

Zeruge glared at him. "You will truly pay for that."

"Perhaps another time. Right now, it is apparent you can do nothing more."

Zeruge frowned. It was true. "I end my turn."

Sigma drew, now holding three cards. But suddenly, Zeruge realized that it didn't matter at all.

"The Card of Demise!" he snapped. "It requires you to discard your entire hand now! You can do nothing!"

"Really?" mocked Sigma. "That may not be the case, as I have a card known as Extraterrestrial Resurgence in my hand. Whenever it is sent to the graveyard by a card effect, I can remove from play one level five or lower Alien monster in my graveyard, and draw cards equal to its level. I choose my level four Alien Hypno, meaning I have four cards now. Not to mention, I also discarded Repayment of Losses, which means I have almost a complete hand to work with."

Zeruge gritted his teeth. His patience was wearing thin. Just as it seemed like he was on the verge of a crushing victory, Sigma now had the resources to possibly turn the duel around.

The Paradias agent looked up darkly at Zeruge. The demon could see his green irises glowing even through his dark glasses.

"I am sorry to say that your efforts are now in vain. I sacrifice Nisashi to summon the next level of extraterrestrial strength: Cosmic Horror Gangi'el (2600/2000)!"

Replacing the tainted samurai was a true monstrosity. It could barely fit within the parking lot, its head splayed against the ceiling. The beast was what came to people's minds when they thought of the word 'alien'. It stood roughly fifteen feet tall, with a huge number of scythe-like tentacles lashing out from its torso. Its head was reptilian, resembling that of a vicious lizard. Razor sharp, narrow and thin teeth were present within its jaws. Its eyes were primal and yellow, while its entire body seemed to be made up of a purple, semi-solid substance.

"Twenty-six hundred for one tribute?" questioned Zeruge, put off by the hideousness of Sigma's newest monster.

"It is actually a level seven monster. However, it can be tribute summoned with a single tribute when I use a monster of my opponent's as a tribute. Now, I activate its effect immediatley, allowing it to place one A-Counter on your Guardian!"

"It makes no difference!" retorted Zeruge. "Now that I have Nisashi in my graveyard, my Guardian will have four thousand attack points even when his strength his reduced."

"You do not seem to understand how much trouble you really are in! I activate Riryoku, which will slash the attack points of your Guardian in half, in turn boosting that of Gangi'el by the same amount. Watch now, as your once proud dragon is drained of his strength and made utterly useless!"

Zeruge stood stony-faced as the undead dragon groaned in agony. Tendrils of energy twisted out of its body, looping together to form waves that swished across the field towards the towering beast (4750/2000). The latter roared with triumph as its attack points went through the roof, making it easily more then powerful enough to deal with the dragon (2150/3100).

"Now, my Cosmic Horror Gangi'el will bring us to a more even level in terms of life-points."

The towering monstrosity roared and its tentacles angled forward, going for the hapless dragon (1850/3100). They curled around it, and it immediatley blasted them off with spheres of lava, weakened as it was. But, to its horror, more tentacles began to grow from the burning stumps. The alien's demonic head echoed a roar as the tentacles continued to wrap themselves around every inch of the undead dragon, until it was completely smothered. The endless stream of tentacles continued on until the dragon was no longer visible. Suddenly, sparks of electricity passed through all at the same time. One could see the yellow bolts dancing over the writhing bulge in the sea of tentacles that was the Guardian, and the writhing immediatley ceased. Once the tentacles withdrew, Zeruge's field was empty.

(Zeruge: 300, Sigma: 400)

"Surrender would be advisable now," sneered Sigma.

"I would appreciate it if you kept your advice to yourself, as I, for one, am not interested in it," said Zeruge through gritted teeth.

Sigma sighed. "Very well. I set a card and end my turn. Make your final move, demon."

Zeruge drew. "_I will win because it is my will. Not because destiny wills it. I have learnt long ago that successful ones are those who make their own destiny_."

He showed the card to Sigma, who gasped. It was Hand of Fate.

"Hand of Fate? I expected a duelist of your caliber to know how situational such a card is. Even the most amateurish duelists would realize that this card is absolutely useless."

"I see you are acquainted with its effect. Hand of Fate selects three cards from your graveyard, of my choice. One is a spell, one is a monster, and one is a trap. It will shuffle them, and I will have to choose a card and declare a card type. If it is correct, I can summon or activate that card. If not, then I am dealt one thousand points of damage."

"Which would end the duel," pointed out Sigma as three cards floated out of his graveyard, assembling themselves in a row with their backs facing Zeruge.

"I have a two-thirds chance of losing this duel. You are correct. But the thirty-three point three percent chance of a turnaround cannot be discounted." He gazed at the three. Their faces were shrouded in darkness, so even Sigma could not see them.

"I choose the middle card, and declare magic."

The card titled back to Sigma, the darkness clearing. He gasped.

"By your reaction, it seems that I was correct," said Zeruge with a faint smile. "I chose Card of Demise, meaning I draw five cards."

Even as he refilled his hand, Gangi'el roared. "You still have to contend with my Cosmic Horror."

"Considering what I have drawn, that should not be difficult," retorted Zeruge. "I call upon The Six Samurai – Yaichi (1300/800)!" The final Six Samurai monster was tall and lean. He was dressed in light gray armor that looked yellow. A tall, hat-like helmet was perched strangely on his head, and he held a bow in one hand, with a quiver of arrows in the other.

"That is a weak monster," scoffed Sigma.

"Perhaps it is. But this next one is not. When I have a Six Samurai monster in play, this great warrior can be special summoned to the field. Meet the Grandmaster of the Six Samurai (2100/800)!"

Appearing next to Yaichi was an aged man, dressed in metallic black armor. It seemed to have melted sapphires embedded in it, for the mail had an unnatural glow. He was blind in one eye, with a yellow eye-patch covering it, while his remaining eye was fixed on the pulsating mass that was the Cosmic Horror Gangi'el. He held a sheathed sword in one hand, with the scabbard resting on his shoulder.

"Still too weak," retorted Sigma.

Zeruge ignored him. "Finally, I can special summon the strongest Six Samurai monster to the field when I have two more already in play. Rise up, Great Shogun Shien (2500/2400

A tower of flames erupted out of the ground directly in front of Zeruge. As the crimson fire began to recede, a burning form was visible within it. A towering marauder stepped out onto Zeruge's field, dressed in red hot crimson armor, and clasping a thin, glowing katana in one hand. A blue cape fell over his shoulders, obscuring from view a number of spikes that were present on his armor. His helmet did not obscure his face, which had a cold, hard expression to it. A symbol depicting fire was present on his chest plate.

"This is meaningless!" snarled Sigma.

"Do not continue to talk about things that you know nothing of!" fired back Zeruge. "I activate Shogun's Sacrifice! Now, I can send Great Shogun Shien back to my deck, in order to boost the attack points of all Six Samurai monsters on my field by eight hundred, and allow me to draw one card for every Six Samurai monster in play!"

The fiery samurai nodded to his subordinates and stepped back into the darkness. Sigma gasped as Yaichi (2100/800) and the Grandmaster (2900/800) turned to glare at him.

"I could end the duel this turn, but it would be, as you said, 'impulsive'. I will instead use Yaichi's effect, allowing me to destroy a set card in play while I have another Six Samurai monster on the field, at the cost of his attack for the turn."

The card Sigma had face down flipped up, revealing it as Mirror Force, and then vanished. Zeruge grinned, and pointed at the Cosmic Horror Gangi'el.

"Your monstrosity's reign is over. Destroy that beast now, Grandmaster!"

The old man dropped his sheath, heaving his sword up. Eager to show he had plenty left in him, the samurai leapt towards the gigantic beast that took up most of Sigma's field. With scintillating presicion, he dealt the extraterrestrial monstrosity blow after blow with his sword, efficiently avoiding the wildly lashing tentacles. Within moments, there were pieces of flesh lying all over the field. For the finishing blow, the Grandmaster landed on the creature's head, and gave a yell of triumph before stabbing down.

There was a huge explosion of liquid and flesh. The size of the projectiles would have knocked Zeruge over if he had not been able to avoid each one. When it all cleared, Sigma's field was completely empty.

(Zeruge: 300, Sigma: 100)

Zeruge seemed confident, but even till this point Sigma was unperturbed. "You will pay for your deeds very soon," murmured Zeruge. "I will set a card and end my move at this point."

Sigma drew. "It would have been wiser to take the risk of finishing me off last turn. Because then you would have only had to meet your end at the hands of Cosmic Horror Gangi'el. But since you were insistent on prolonging this game, I am afraid you will have to be sent to the next world in a much more painful fashion. I will begin orchestrating your end with my Pot of Avarice."

He held up Cosmic Horror Gangi'el, Alien Telepath, Alien Warrior, Alien Skull and Alien Heretic. Then, he slid them into his deck, and drew two more cards.

"Come, Alien Ammonite (500/200)."

A fish-like, extraterrestrial beast soon became the lone creature on Sigma's field. It looked like a spike-covered piranha, with purplish-blue skin. Its eyes were yellow and bulbous. Small extensions extended out from various parts of its body, tipped with claw-like pieces of bone.

"When Alien Ammonite is normal summoned, I can special a level four or lower Alien from my graveyard, although it will be destroyed on the turn's end. I call back Alien Warrior (1800/1000)!"

The silvery armored beast about the size of a huge gorilla, with disproportionately large hands and feet appeared next to the Alien Ammonite. Even this large beast, however, was too weak to challenge the two Samurai on Zeruge's field.

"Finally, when an Alien monster is normal summoned, as Ammonite was, I can special summon Alien Dog (1500/1000)."

A demonic canine appeared on the field. Its spiky fur was blue. Clapped over its back was bone-white armor, with sapphires embedded in it. It extended onto its neck and head, leaving a pair of slits for its shady green eyes, and its lower jaw free. Clutched between the two jaws was a single bone. The dog yipped playfully at the Warrior and Ammonite.

"When Alien Dog is summoned like this, I can distribute two A-Counters between all monsters on your field. I place one on each."

"Even then, Yaichi will have eighteen hundred attack points, only weak enough for your Alien Warrior to destroy at the cost of his own life," retorted Zeruge.

"That's not my plan," growled Sigma. "Watch now, demon. You are about to have the great honor of being destroyed by a beast that you don't even have the right to _look_ at. This magnificent creature is the epitome of the Alien race, and can only be special summoned by sacrificing three Alien monsters. Now, prepare yourself to face the wrath of the most powerful creature never known to mankind! Rise up and slay my enemy, **Alien Emperor – Dormant **(3000/3000)!"

The trio of new aliens vanished in columns of green light. Zeruge knelt down and placed a hand on the floor. It was beginning to tremble. He soon realized why, as a great crack split through the ground all across the field. It was going right down between his legs, and he was barely able to avoid the fall by jumping onto one side.

"_What kind of beast is this_?"

The floor was in ruins. Cars were dropping down through the gaping hole, as Sigma's proclaimed beast appeared. Rather, it was not really a beast. It was actually a massive machine that looked like an oversized fish-tank, filled with green liquid. It took up nearly half of the floor, with Sigma being barely visible behind it. He walked over to the other side so that Zeruge could see him. Within the liquid, various wires and a mass of circuitry could be seen, connected to the shadowy silhouette of an enormous creature within the liquid.

"This is the closely guarded heart of the Alien Empire," murmured Sigma. "The natural resources of an innumerable number of planets have been converted into fuel merely to speed up their lord's reawakening. If it comes to that stage, hell would be preferable for you. But that is unlikely, for even Yugi Moto and Seto Kaiba would be hard-pressed to destroy this beast."

"Three thousand attack points is impressive, but I find it strange that you would sacrifice three monsters of a specific type just for such impressive statistics."

"Oh no… The Alien Emperor goes far beyond just attack points. You, however, will not live long enough to witness its might beyond what you can see, for three thousand attack points is more then enough to eliminate you. Destroy his Yaichi!"

The entire life-support system began to rumble. The silhouette of the beast within moved slightly, and a fist reached outwards, grasping one of the wires. Suddenly, there was a twitch, and the wire came lose. The fist waved upwards, and the wire splashed out of the green liquid. For a moment, Zeruge caught a glimpse of a knarled, green hand, before the wire wrapped around Yaichi. At that moment, the Grandmaster slashed the wire with his sword, and it broke off. Suddenly, it extended again, this time wrapping itself around his own wrist, and pulling the aged man into the deep abyss of green liquid before he could even react. He did not surface.

"I chose to switch your target from Yaichi to the Grandmaster, meaning I survive this turn."

(Zeruge: 200, Sigma: 100)

"You are only delaying the inevitable!" roared Sigma. It was the first time he had expressed such a degree of anger in the short while Zeruge had known him. "Alien Emperor is a truly unstoppable beast. Your attempts to stop it are downright pathetic: and in the event that you do, his true form will be unleashed, and you will wish you had never been born. Make your last pathetic move, demon, and see how long your pathetic samurai last against me!"

Zeruge drew. "_No one monster is unstoppable_….."

"I sacrifice The Six Samurai – Yaichi to call upon my Nine-Tailed Fox (2200/2000)!"

The samurai vanished, and was soon replaced by a towering fox. Its fur was snowy-white, and strangely enough, it did have nine tails, all attacked to the same part of its rear, flaring out like wisps of flames. It roared, and the tails flared out even more. Its eyes were a deep red.

"The Nine-Tailed Fox does not have any effect if it is not special summoned by its own effect," put in Zeruge before Sigma could say anything.

"Then what was the point of that move?!" growled Sigma.

"Merely to send Yaichi to the graveyard, where he can join his fallen compatriots. I now have all six of the original samurai in my graveyard and removed from play pile, Zanji, Kamon, Yariza, Yaichi, Irou and Nisashi. When all six have fallen, he who originally led the group, but then disappeared, will rise up once more to take the place of his fallen brethren, and strike down what evil struck them down in the first place. Only when all The Six Samurai monsters are in my graveyard, can I summon the lost one. Rise up, The Seventh Samurai – Divine Sovereign Izanagi!"

The six warriors all appeared on Zeruge's field in spirit form. They knelt down one by one, and began to pray. There voices sounded in unison, the identical Japanese syllables being repeated at the same time again and again. Their voices began to reach a crescendo, and a spark of light appeared from within the chest of each one. The six sparks united to form a sphere. It looked like a glowing, glass ball, with a small bit chipped off. The final spark appeared in the sky, directly in front of the moon. It floated down, and melted into the sphere, completing the ball.

The six samurai smiled, knowing their work was done. They could rest in peace now. They vanished at once, and the sphere began to expand. It took on a roughly humanoid shape, tendrils of light extending out to form arms, and more to form legs. The light disappeared to reveal a tall, handsome man of Japanese descent. His angled eyes glanced from Sigma to the large machine. He wore organish-red armor, with various pieces strung together. He had a spiked helmet on his head, which was tied beneath its chin. A cape flooded out beneath him, and long, brown hair came down to his neck. He held a long, thin blade in one hand, which glowed red. Sapphires and ruby was embedded in his armor in various places (3200/3200).

"An impressive monster," said Sigma, still unbothered.

"And it shall be the end of this duel… He is treated as being a Six Samurai monster for various purposes, but however powerful its effects are, it does not matter. Izanagi, attack and destroy Alien Emperor."

The samurai nodded and raised his blade into the air. It glowed green, and he began to move it in the air, in seemingly random motions. As one watched, it was apparent that the motion was _not_ random, and he was in fact carving a pentagram into the air, with the energy of the sword leaving behind a trail. When he finished, he placed his sword on the ground and began to murmur something under his breath. The pentagram released a monstrous explosion, which consumed his entire field.

"The duel is over."

To his shock, when the smoke began to clear, the giant, shady-looking tank was still present, with Sigma standing behind it.

"I may have forgotten to mention the effect of my Alien Emperor," laughed the Paradias agent. "It comes into play with five 'Life Support Tendril' counters on it. Whenever it would be destroyed, in battle or by a card effect, I can remove one counter instead. So I did just that, and my Emperor survived the power of your Samurai."

"But even so, the two hundred points of damage would have been too much for you to survive!" snapped Zeruge.

"That was thanks to my facedown Gangi'el's Blessing trap card. I take no battle damage for battle involving Alien monsters, and can then draw one card for every Alien monster on my field. As I have only one, I stand to gain a lesser advantage."

(Zeruge: 200, Sigma: 100)

The demon frowned deeply to himself. This provided Sigma with a perfect opportunity to wipe out Nine-Tailed Fox the next turn. He was not worried about Izanagi, it could easily hold its own. But he would need to be careful to avoid losing by an attack on his weaker monster.

"_I need to destroy this beast five more times in order to truly finish it off… Impressive power indeed_."

"I set my last card and end my turn."

Sigma drew. "Now, feel the true power of the Alien Emperor. Once during each of my standby phases, as long as it has at least one 'Life Support Tendril' counter on it, I can special summon from my hand or deck as many Alien monsters as possible. Rise up, Cosmic Horror Gangi'el (2600/2000), Alien Heretic (2000/2000), Alien Mother (2300/1500), and Alien Overlord (2200/1600)!"

Zeruge's eyes widened as a whole series of abominations began to appear around the huge tank. The writhing mass of tentacles and hideous, mutated draconic creature could be recognized at once. Next to them was a tall, screeching female fiend, dressed mostly in white, bone-like armor with blue sapphires embedded in at various points. She had four, clawed arms, which were slashing wildly at thin air, which were attached to frilly spines on her shoulder, with a similar one framing her head. The final beast looked like a genetically mutated dinosaur, with orange skin and a reptilian head similar to a Tyrannosaurus rex. However, it was dressed in heavy metal armor with more sapphires, and instead of tiny three foot arms its six arms looked like lengths of solid wire attached to its body, lashing out wildly in all directions. They were tipped with claws about the length of razors.

Zeruge was a bit taken aback by the sudden appearance of such hideous creatures on his opponent's field. The Nine-Tailed Fox roared a challenge, unaware of how badly outmatched it was. Izanagi simply looked on calmly, still in complete control of the situation.

"First, Gangi'el allows me to place an A-Counter on one monster on your field. Alien Overlord allows me the same benefit, only on all monsters. I will place one of Izanagi, and two on your Fox. Now that I have three A-Counters on the field, Alien Heretic gains nine hundred attack points (2900/2000). Since your Izanagi will be weakened, he will be easy prey for Alien Emperor. However, I will instead end it on much simpler terms by targeting your Nine-Tailed Fox instead. Alien Heretic, end this now!"

The monstrous dragon-like beast screeched out loud once more, and let lose a molten green wave of energy towards the weaker fox. It roared back, and a wave of flames left its jaws in a final bid to survive. But it was hopeless, as the dragon's attack had overpowered it within seconds. Just as it all looked over, Zeruge reacted.

"I plan to win this duel, Sigma, and it seems to be something you simply cannot understand. I activate Burst Spirit, which will allow me to sacrifice a monster in play and deal you one thousand points of damage, while increasing the attack points of one other monster by the same amount. But that does not matter, as the duel is already over!"

The fox suddenly evaporated into a wisp of red vapor, which entered the blade of Izanagi (4200/3200). He calmly slashed his sword across the field in a horizontal motion, and a wave of white energy erupted across the ground, heading straight for Sigma, whose reaction time was next to nothing.

"I activate Mystik Wok, sacrificing my Alien Heretic to gain twenty-three hundred life-points!"

The abomination barely vanished into a wisp of smoke that entered Sigma's body before he was blown off his feet by the wave of energy. He fell to one knee, gasping in shock as pain wracked his nerves. He slowly stood up, and the otherwise light green glow that his eyes emanated behind his shades were gone, replaced by the dark red glow of fury.

"You will pay for that!" he spat. "When Alien Heretic leaves the field, he takes all A-Counters with him. Unfortunately, your Izanagi will no longer be weakened."

(Zeruge: 200, Sigma: 1400)

"I cannot, unfortunately, change the positions of any of my newly summoned monsters because they were just summoned this turn, but I can do so to my Alien Emperor. That brings me to another ingenious card of my Alien set known as Ruler's Sacrifice! It is an equip card that attaches to the monster on my field with the highest attack points, ensuring that I cannot change its battle position as long as the card is in play. However, I can, in return, change the battle positions of any other monsters in play, regardless of whether they were summoned this turn or if they attacked or not."

The tank emanated a sudden glow, which was even more intense then before. The glow seemed to force the remaining three monsters all back, snarling and hissing at Izanagi all the way.

"I set a card and end my turn."

Zeruge drew. "Izanagi attacks Alien Emperor."

Once again, the tall samurai swept his blade across the field in a slashing motion. As it went, a wave of white energy was once again generated in its path, blowing across the field at light-speed. It slammed into the glass walls of the tank, which began vibrating. It looked like they were going to crack. The beast within stirred, and began pulling on more wires in frustration. Just as if it looked like the monstrosity within would finally surface, the energy faded, But the damage had been done.

(Zeruge: 200, Sigma: 200)

"Your Alien Emperor now has only three counters remaining," said Zeruge confidently. "I will now activate one of Izanagi's powerful effects! By removing a Six Samurai monster in my graveyard from play, I can destroy one card on your field, once per turn. I remove Hand of the Six Samurai from play in order to once again target your Alien Emperor – Dormant!"

The tall samurai stuck his blade into the ground, which began to vibrate. It seemed like the tank was beginning to shake as well, and just as the cracks seemed to appear again, it stopped. "That's two left," commented Zeruge.

"My turn is over."

"_His Seventh Samurai is noticeably more powerful then the rest of his monsters… It may even be able to destroy my Emperor. I didn't expect it to reach this stage, but he is merely digging his own grave. The moment he destroys Alien Emperor – Dormant, I will be able to arrange a face-to-face meeting for him with the Devil_."

Sigma drew. "First I will use Alien Emperor's effect to call upon my Alien Warrior (1800/1000) in defense mode, from my deck." The large, humanoid creature materialized next to the other three, looking noticeably less strange when compared to the other monsters that Sigma possessed.

"Now, I Mystical Space Typhoon, which I use to send Ruler's Sacrifice to the graveyard. Then I switch Alien Emperor – Dormant to defense mode. I end my turn."

"_Come now… You fool. Come, use your beast to slay mine. Open Pandora's Box. Sign your own death warrant by sending Alien Emperor to his grave_."

Zeruge drew strongly. "Izanagi, attack Alien Emperor now!" Scarcely had the explosive wave of energy barely slammed into the glass walls did the samurai cause another earthquake by slamming his sword into the ground. Zeruge held up The Six Samurai – Irou, looking on with a faint smile as the combined force of the energy the quake began to rattle the glass even more then before.

"Your Alien Emperor is now mortal. The final counter has been removed."

Sigma did not answer. A truly dark smile had curled over his lips. "No… You could never have been more wrong." Within the trembling tank, the dark form within was ripping out wires with fervent abandon. It was thrashing around wildly, throwing acid out of the tank. It splashed over Sigma's other monsters, causing them to cry out in pain.

"By removing the final Life Support Tendril counter, you allowed my Alien Emperor to take the next step. He is now beyond immortal."

The silhouette within was growing even angrier. It had grasped a pair of wires that seemed too stubbornly attached to the tank to be pulled off. A long, high, chilling screech echoed from within. It pulled even harder. At that moment, a spark of electricity must have gone off within the liquid, for the explosion that ensued rocked the entire building.

Zeruge raised a hand over his face to block the flying dust and shards of glass. Even Izanagi seemed stirred by the explosion. He raised his sword in anticipation, looking high into the smoke. The ceiling had ruptured, they now seemed to be dueling under the open sky, considering that the walls had long since been blown away. The remaining Alien monsters had been killed in the explosion, a gargantuan beast had risen within the clearing smoke now.

"Face the next level of extraterrestrial might," whispered Sigma. "I call out Alien Emperor – Unleashed (4500/4500)!"

The life support machine was in ruins as a colossal beast, as heavily muscled as Obelisk but with an elongated skull, enormous piranha like teeth, and fleshy petals around its neck. Sparking cables run off its back and trail behind it as it frees itself from the ruined machinery slithering forward on a massive centipede like lower body. At first, one would be inclined to think of the Diabound Carnal, but it was far more well-built and deadly. Its lower body seemed very vague, for it was immersed in a wreckage of wires, glass and dead body parts of the destroyed Aliens. It raised its gigantic arms outwards, and roared. It was possibly the loudest sound he had ever heard.

"When Alien Emperor – Unleashed is summoned, all cards on my field are destroyed. But with this beast, I do not need any other cards. You survived the might of Cosmic Horror Gangi'el, and somehow escaped the wrath of Alien Emperor – Dormant. You were unlucky to endure those creatures, for now you will have to be negated from existence by a beast so powerful that even the Egyptian Gods would be hard-pressed to match up with it."

The demon looked the other man in the eye.

"Then show me the power of your beast."

"Indeed I will. However, it is still your turn.

"_I did not plan to play this card, considering I thought that after dealing with Alien Emperor – Dormant, I would have won the duel. But as the case is… It would be inadvisable to not build up my own strategies in favor of not allowing him to do so._

"I will instead play the Card of Sanctity, so that the both of us can draw until we hold six cards." Not taking their eyes off each other, the pair of duelists slowly began to refill their hands. "I set three cards facedown," declared Zeruge. Three brown-backed cards appeared on the field behind Izanagi.

"I end my turn."

Sigma drew. "The duel ends now! Alien Emperor – Unleashed, destroy his Divine Sovereign with Cosmic Life Cutter!"

The mammoth extraterrestrial roared once more. The visible parts of its gigantic body began to glow as it took a giant step forward, if that was within the physical capabilities of its centipede-like body. At first, it was merely inching towards the samurai, but soon began to pick up the pace, smashing through the strewn alien corpses and wreckage of the life-support machine. Its hands began to glow green, and it through them both back for a moment, before slamming the together at the wrists, unleashing a wave of unholy, emerald energy. Izanagi looked calmly into the oncoming abyss of death. His master looked just as unworried.

"I activate Pentagram Shield."

An enormous, circular, wooden shield spun around in the sky over Zeruge's field. A silver, star-shaped pentagram symbol was drawn in metal at the center of the defense tool. "Pentagram Shield increases the attack points of one monster on my field by five hundred until the turn's end, and allows me to special summon one level three or lower monster from my graveyard. I choose The Six Samurai – Yariza (1000/500) in defense mode."

Appearing next to Izanagi (4700/3200) was the small, armored man clutching a sword with a green energy blade.

"As I now have another monster in play, the battle will be replayed. Choose your target."

Sigma hissed a laugh. "You fool! You have sealed your own fate. Alien Emperor – Unleashed, destroy Yariza!"

The towering giant suddenly shifted his arms, and diverted the blow of green energy towards the miniscule warrior. The smaller samurai's eyes widened before he was utterly incinerated by the blast. Within moments, only ashes were left in place of his body. The blast continued on, however, crashing through what remained of the wall and ceiling, meaning that they were pretty much completely exposed to the freezing night sky now.

The beam continued on, going further and further into the sky until it finally faded away.

"When Alien Emperor – Unleashed destroys a monster in battle, he gains one 'Power Surge' counter. For every counter he has, my Emperor gains five hundred attack and defense points!"

The beast roared again, raising its arms and stretching them outwards as a ring of green light appeared in front of its chest. It embedded itself in the creature's chest, inciting another roar of triumph (5000/5000).

"I activate my facedown Crusader's Blade! This will equip to Izanagi, and his attack points will now be increased by one thousand whenever the opposing monster's attack or defense power increases!" (5700/3200)

Sigma did not even flinch. "I set four cards facedown," he continued. Barely visible behind the goliath on his field were four brown-backed vertical cards, dwarfed by the veritable bulk of Izanagi and the Alien Emperor.

"I end my turn. During my end phase, if I have not destroyed a monster in battle, I must remove a Power Surge counter from my Alien Emperor – Unleashed, or he is destroyed. But, you foolishly gave me the target of your Six Samurai even after you strengthened Izanagi to the point where I would have been unable to destroy him. In actuality, your move meant nothing, except to strengthen my Emperor further." (5200/3200) (5000/5000)

Zeruge drew slowly. "You still fail to understand that concentrating only on your own strategy is fatal. One must watch their opponent as well, and you have made this mistake in the most basic of circumstances. Now Izanagi is two hundred attack points stronger then your Emperor, meaning that I can end the duel right here. Attack now, with Blade of the Seventh!"

Izanagi looked at the Alien Emperor coolly, while the monstrosity roared a challenge. One more time, he cocked his wrist so that his sword was pointing backward, and then slashed it in a horizontal motion. The same wave of white energy swept across the field silently, going straight for the Alien Emperor, who roared one more time and slammed his wrists together, firing off a blast of green energy straight for the other attack. The two collided, and for a moment, neither made any headway.

But the struggle was one of display, as both duelists knew very well. Just as Izanagi's attack began to slowly overpower that of the Emperor, Sigma pressed a button on his Duel Disk. "I activate Banishment of the Servile. By removing one level three or lower Alien monster in my graveyard, I can place one more Power Surge counter on my Alien Emperor – Unleashed! Watch now, as he annihilates your pathetic samurai!"

The awakened lord of the aliens stamped its foot down into the ground. Its sheer weight caused its foot to go down over one and a half feet into the ground. Using this as leverage, it began to slowly step forward, causing the width of its blast to increase in tandem. Izanagi's face hardened as it did so. They were back at a stalemate again (5500/5500).

"Foolish!" snarled Zeruge. "Crusader's Blade activates!" The Divine Sovereign's blade glowed suddenly again, and with a quick motion he swept it across the field once more, sending out another blast, similarly colored, to join the first one. The two attacks seemed to be more powerful combined, slowly beginning to once again overpower the might of the Alien Emperor (6200/3200).

"Activate: Extraterrestrial Sanctum!" countered Sigma. "This will increase the attack points of one Alien monster on my field by three hundred for every one that is sent to the graveyard this turn, until the end of the turn."

He then pressed another button on his Duel Disk. "Needlebug Nest!" Quickly, he began picking up cards from his deck.

"That allows you to send five cards from the top of your deck to your graveyard!" gasped Zeruge in realization.

Sigma held up his five cards. Alien Hunter, Alien Kid, Alien Mars, Alien Grey and Alien Psychic. At that moment, the Alien Emperor, who was on the verge of being overpowered, gave a resurgent screech and flared open his arms. A fresh stream of energy burst forth, joining the original, fading blast, and cutting right through the top layer of the wave of energy that Izanagi had spewn forth (7000/5500).

"You fool!" spat Zeruge. "Crusader's Blade will be your doom."

Fresh determination entered Izanagi's eyes, and he glared back up at the Alien Emperor (7200/3200). Another slash of his blade followed, sending a third wave of white energy right back into the fray. It compounded his original attacks, forcing the Alien Emperor yet another step back.

"Unless you can strengthen your monster by eleven hundred attack points this turn, the duel has ended!" bellowed Zeruge over the noise of the attacks,

"I do not have to strengthen my monster, I must merely weaken yours. Or have you forgotten the basic strategy of the Alien deck? I activate Infection Incubator "A", which will place an A-Counter on one monster on your field! Now, watch as your so called invincible monster is weakened to the point of death at the hands of Alien Emperor!"

Zeruge stood there for a moment, shocked by this new development. At that moment, the Alien Emperor finally made a breakthrough in the battle. It seemed like he wanted to destroy the planet, for the energy he suddenly put into his ensuing attack looked more than sufficient. Izanagi's waves of energy, strong though they were, were easily overpowered as the attack continued streaming on, and smashed right through them, going directly for the Seventh Samurai (6900/3200).

Izanagi had been hovering about ten feet in the air by this point, and the attack send him crashing down. The force with which he hit the floor caused smoke and debris to cover the field. Zeruge once again raced an arm to cover his eyes in order to prevent dust from entering them.

Sigma's triumphant, soft laughter could be heard even over the wild explosion. "Truly foolish of you to try and challenge Alien Emperor – Unleashed, to a one on one battle. Now, your chances of survival are non-existent, miniscule as they were prior to the destruction of Izanagi."

(Zeruge: 100, Sigma: 100)

"Oh no… I would believe that by your logic, it would still come under 'miniscule'."

To Sigma's shock, the Divine Sovereign was still standing on Zeruge's field. He was scratched and bruised, and his armor was dented in places, but he was still standing. "HOW?!" bellowed Sigma.

"It's very simple. Now that Izanagi has returned to fight for his brothers, they will do anything to help him. By removing a Six Samurai monster from my graveyard from play, Izanagi cannot be destroyed in battle.

Sigma cursed under his breath. "_It doesn't matter. I will wipe him out using Alien Emperor's effects_."

"I set two cards and end my turn now." (7200/3200) (5500/5500)

Sigma drew. By face value, Zeruge's monster was obviously stronger at the moment. "I now activate the most powerful of my Alien Emperor's effects. I can remove one Power Surge counter on it from play in order to destroy one card on your field. Now, your Seventh Samurai will be sent to the graveyard."

The Alien Emperor roared again, and raised his arms. The ring of green energy on his chest came lose, floating in the air in front of him. With a growl from the monstrosity, the ring suddenly glowed again, letting lose a monstrous explosion of mist and green fire straight for Izanagi. Once again, it seemed as if the lost samurai was about to be destroyed, but as last time, Zeruge reacted.

"I activate my facedown trap card Protection of the Dojo! This prevents all Six Samurai monsters on my field from being destroyed by card effects until the end of the turn." The explosive influx of gases and flames began to fade away before it could reach Izanagi, who kept his eyes fixed on the Alien Emperor.

"Fine! I will destroy it by battle. Sanctum of the Alien Ruler activates! At the cost of discarding the rest of my hand, one monster on my field will switch attack points with one on yours! Alien Emperor attacks to end this duel!"

The towering beast roared once again and let lose an explosive blast of green energy, which was far more powerful then the previous ones. In reply, Izanagi once again silently swept his sword across the field, the familiar white wave of energy coming forth to meet the green one (Alien Emperor – Unleashed : 5000/5000 - 7200/5000) (Izanagi: 7200/3200 - 5000/3200 - 6000/3200).

"Now it's my win!" laughed Sigma, as the Emperor began to immediatley overpower his counterpart, walking forward, all the while increasing the width of the two attacks by decreasing the distance between their sources.

"Never!" bellowed Zeruge, holding up one last card. "I activate Sanctum of Omnipotence, which can only target level eight or higher monsters. This card negates the attack increases of the enemy monster, and instead increases my monster's attack power by that amount." (Alien Emperor – Unleashed : 7200/5000 - 5000/5000) (Izanagi : 6000/3200 - 8200/3200)

The Emperor moved in for one final assault, but made a fatal mistake. The space between the two was far too small now, and the attacks seemed to implode into each other. As the entire field was eclipsed by a wave of energy for a moment, driving both duelists to their knees, Izanagi took advantage, leaping into the air. His shining blade moved like the wind, slashing right through the Alien Emperor's neck, severing head from body. Combined with the already fragile energy surrounding them, the entire area seemed to overload. The Alien Emperor's body exploded, eclipsing Sigma's scream of fury.

For a moment, there was silence. It seemed like the city that never slept had finally decided to take a nap. Then, a white wave of energy exploded out of the parking lot on one of the top floors of the Eagle Headquarters, washing over the city. Whoever saw it thought they were hallucinating, and went back to doing whatever they were.

(Zeruge: 100, Sigma: 0)

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Eizan lay in wait behind a wall, praying that it would not crumble behind the explosion. The temptation, _was_ admittedly too great. He needed to know what was going on. The unthinkable had seemingly happened… Sigma had _lost_.

Luckily, the final explosion had not damaged the building any more then it was. Although he did wonder what the news channels would make of it, he could care less at this point. His primary concern was capturing Sigma. As he slowly left the sanctuary of the wall, he realized this would not be an easy task.

Amid the wreckage of cars, concrete and smoke, he could make out Zeruge's heaving form at one end. He ignored him. The demon could take care of himself. He looked from one side to another, as more guards filtered into the area. He heard the distant screech of fire-engines making their way towards the building. But it didn't matter, nothing mattered…..

The Paradias agent was nowhere to be seen. He looked wildly around, until a speck of light caught his eye. He looked up. On the terrace of another building, one perhaps fifty to sixty meters from where they were standing at this point, was the battered, yet standing form of Paradias' deadliest agent. Even though he couldn't see him clearly from this point, Eizan could tell he had a faint smirk on his face. With that, he disappeared into the shadows.

Eizan didn't say a word. He merely clenched his fist, and spoke in a stiff voice to a subordinate. "Prepare my plane. I need to be in New York by noon tomorrow."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Reflect seemed amused. "So… Sigma actually lost," he murmured to himself. "I did not expect this, but in the grand scheme it does not matter. Eizan does not have the intelligence or personnel to capture him, he's probably on his way back here right now. At this point…"

He sat back in his leather chair, leaning against the comfortable and exquisitely designed back. He looked out into the night sky. It was four a.m. Dawn was coming soon. But until then, the blinking, green glow of the Jade Star lit up the sky. He wondered what the others were making of it. Eizan, the Chosen Duelists, the Infinity Council… After all, it was the first time that it had ever appeared the view of those who resided on Earth.

"Come to us, Jade Star," he murmured. "Come, and bring me the final piece of this puzzle."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**The start of one great duel, the end of another, and some very enigmatic things to be said by Reflect at the end of the chapter. I was sad to get only three reviews for the last chapter, please do review more this time.**

**Oh, and the Alien Emperor cards belong to Metal Overlord 2.0, as do Zeruge and Sigma. Thanks for allowing me to create a great duel!**

**Btw, I will be unable to update till at least April. I have exams on the 12****th****, ending on the 20****th****. I may be able to write, and if I update sooner, then that's all good. But don't expect anything. I just hope this one tides you through till then, I think it's good!**

**Do review, though.**


	19. Race for the Seal

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: Race for the Seal

**I'm back! It's been quite a while, and I'm sorry to say that the result is my second shortest chapter of the fic. Don't worry, the next one will be far longer. I was merely tired of not updating, and the ending was as good a place to end it as any.**

**I'm slightly disappointed that I had only three reviews, but it's no problem. To those who did review, you have my eternal thanks, starting with:**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: I really can't thank you enough for how much help you've given me with this fic, man. It wouldn't be half of what it is today without the enormous effort you've put into all these plot ideas, CAC's, and merely listening to my rants. Seriously, I honestly don't think I could possibly repay you for this. Plus, you're still reviewing with your usual zeal and enthusiasm. I'm hoping to have some twists up my sleeve that could still dazzle you though, I'm quite sure I can think of one that could really send you into a tizzy… ********. Anyway, thanks a lot for reviewing, mate. Hope you enjoy the chapter.**

**KageNoNeko: I am so glad you liked it. Thanks a lot for reviewing this fic, I am eternally grateful to you.**

**Candyman123: Half the credit goes to Metal Overlord 2.0, without him those characters wouldn't exist at all ********. But thanks anyway.**

Sarah leaned back in her chair and sighed. This was far worse than she could have possibly imagined. The laptop sat on the desk in front of her, and it looked like it was literally taunting her. Who would have known that information about Jason Becker's past was _so _elusive?

Despite having the claim to being Jason's best friend, perhaps his only friend, along with Brian and maybe Drake, Sarah didn't know more about him then anyone else. The story went that he was the son of an extremely good friend of Eizan's, and went mad with grief when his parents died, leading to the formation of his second personality. After spending perhaps a decade in grueling therapy, he was finally let out into the real world. Even then, he was constantly monitored, until it seemed like he had finally been cured, and was allowed to enter Eagle, going from strength to strength until he finally settled into deputy Head of Field Ops.

She remembered the first time she had met him. Her father was a middle-ranking employee in Eagle. She was ten years old at the time, two years younger than Jason. Eizan had a soft spot for her father, and chatted casually to him often. At the mention of his ten year old daughter, Eizan immediatley requested if she could come to Jason's private quarters and perhaps spend time with him, maybe get him to open up.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Ten year old Sarah Taylor walked through the large entrance to Eagle's Las Vegas headquarters, looking around in awe. One of her tiny hands clutched that of her father, while he slowly led her through the stream of slick suited men and women, walking around in all directions. She squealed in excitement as they entered the capsule elevator, much to her father's amusement. _

_Her exuberance slowly disappeared as the elevator began to move up. Within moments, the ground was a long way down. She began to tremble slightly, holding on to her father's hand even tighter. She never liked heights._

"_Don't worry, honey, we're almost there," assured Mr. Taylor, turning her away from the glass windows so that she couldn't see how long the way down was. There was a ping-like sound, and the door opened. The pair quickly shuffled out into a corridor. They continued on until they reached a receptionist, who nodded to them._

"_Mr. Nakamura will see you now."_

_They entered the door behind her, to reveal a large, plush, well-furnished room. In one corner was a desk with a leather chair behind it. Three phones sat upon the mahogany, along with a laptop. Further in the corner was an armchair, a sofa across from it, and a coffee table in the middle._

_A small, smiling Japanese man walked into view. Sarah liked him immediatley. He seemed to give out warmness and a sense of command and likability. "Ah… Mr. Taylor! Thanks for agreeing, once more_."

_He bent down, so that he was at eye-level with Sarah._

"_So… You must be Sarah. Your father has told me all about you. Are you excited to make a new friend_?"

_Sarah nodded vigorously. "Yes, Mr. Naka-…Nakama-…"_

_Eizan gave a light chuckle. "You're not the only one who has trouble there. Just call me Eizan for now."_

"_Yes, Mr. Eizan, sir!" said Sarah enthusiastically, inciting another chuckle from the elderly man._

"_Well, I'm thankful for this as always, Mr. Taylor. Why don't you join me in taking Sarah to the boy's quarters? We'll just stay for a little while, get them settled and all, and leave the children to themselves. There's another little child coming to join us, he's Sam Palmer's son. I think that two little ones should be enough companionship to get him started up a bit, wouldn't you agree_?"

_With that, he led the pair back into the corridor. They entered a different elevator this time, with only one button in it. They began to descend, and after a certain amount of time she knew they had descended below the ground floor. _

"_Daddy, where are we going?" she said in a stiff voice._

_Her father patted her back. "Don't worry, honey. We'll be there any moment."_

"_Tell me where we're going, daddy." Eizan cast a sad glance in her direction._

"_We're going to your new friend's home, Sarah."_

_Before she could argue any more, the elevator came to a grinding halt. The door opened, exposing a dark corridor, one much less attractive then the one outside Eizan's office. Waiting there was a tall, dark man, dressed in a jacket and jeans, with a young boy next to him. He was no smaller himself, already standing maybe six feet tall, and he was probably not much older than twelve or thirteen himself._

"_Thanks for this, Sam," muttered Eizan. "We'll have someone keeping an eye on them, just in case. You have no idea how much I appreciate this, it's obviously difficult for you after how much he's been through…"_

_Sam shook his head. "No problem, sir. Brian'll have fun. Ain't that right, son?" The boy nodded enthusiastically. _

"_Shall we?" Mr. Taylor directed Sarah in the direction in which Eizan was walking forward. There were guards surrounding them at all places. Sarah looked disconcerted, but her father once again patted her shoulder. "It's nothing, honey, nothing at all, just keep walking…_"

_They came to a door, which Eizan opened. Inside was a room that seemed the honeymoon suite of the Waldorf-Astoria. It had a large, double bed, with a canopy on top of it, opposite a 52-inch plasma screen television, which had a Playstation One and a DVD player attached to it. All looked like they had gained enough dust to look like they had not been touched in years._

_There was a large closet opposite the bed, presumably with the inhabitants clothes. A shelf of books was lined up neatly on a further wall, right next to an opening which led to another part of the room, with had expensive furniture consisting of a pair of sofas, a dining-table surrounded by chairs, and another entrance which led into a bathroom._

_Seated on one of the sofas, with a mop of thick, long hair coming down over his eyes while his head was bent forward, was a twelve-year old boy. He wore a simply, black T-Shirt with spotless blue jeans. Nothing seemed out of place about him, not his raven-like hair, his lean build, or his brown eyes. No, it was his blank expression that seemed very strange._

_Sarah looked cautiously at Eizan, who forced a smile and nodded. She tip-toed towards him, being watched by the others all the time._

"_Hi," she said, rather breathlessly. "I'm Sarah."_

_The boy did not break his staring match with the floor. "Sarah," she repeated. "Sarah Taylor. What's your name?"_

_A barely audible, emotionless voice left the boy's mouth. "Jason."_

_The level of blankness in the syllables he had just enunciated caused the adults to flinch. But the innocence of childhood had not left Sarah, and she didn't seem to notice. She sat herself on the couch next to him._

"_So… How old are you?"_

"_Twelve." Again, there was no sign of humanity or any feelings in his voice._

"_That's cool, man!" started up Brian enthusiastically, walking up to the pair. Sam started forward, perhaps worried that his son's advances, however well-meaning, would not fall well on Jason. But Eizan stopped him, a small smile creeping up to his face._

"_I'm thirteen! We're nearly the same age, man!"_

"_I'm ten!" put in Sarah. Brian grinned. "Nah, you a kid, girl. We're the men here!"_

"_I am _not _a kid," said Sarah indignantly. "I'm tallest in my class."_

"_I'm tallest in my school," retorted Brian. "AND, I'm captain of my basketball team."_

_That made Sarah pause, while Brian guffawed at her silence. "I'm just playing with you, girl." She started laughing as well. The adults started to relax. "We'll be back in a little while," called out Eizan. "Try and get to know each other!"_

"_So, man, you like basketball?" said Brian, turning to Jason, who didn't answer._

"_Naw, come on man! How can you not like basketball? C'mon, there's a great game going on today! I'll turn it on!"_

_He ran towards the TV, quickly followed by Sarah. He found ESPN, and pumped up the volume. It was a regular season game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Chicago Bulls, two teams that many thought would be in the Finals together that year, with Lakers fans hoping for the baptism of a new dynasty for their team, while the Bulls-faithful prayed that the aging Michael Jordan still had one last championship left in him._

_The underlying sub-plot to the drama was the match-up between the legend of Jordan against the insanity of the sophomore wonder, Kobe Bryant, dubbed as his successor. The second half was just getting underway, and the Bulls had been dominating, already owning a fifty-seven to forty-one lead, despite some breathtaking dunks by Bryant._

_With the Staples Center crowd shouting for a rally, it seemed like Bryant was set to be a miracle man. He received the inbound pass from Derek Fisher, cutting to the three-point line where he was met by the towering Luc Longley. A dunk was out of the question. Fine, he pulled up for a incredible, twenty-five foot three-pointer. Longley attempted a block but it wasn't even close, the flash of orange though the white net drew a roar from the crowd, and Bryant high-fived Fisher on his way back._

_But fifty-seven to forty-four just didn't cut it. As much as the Lakers tried, the absence of Shaquille O'Neal was too much, and there was no one to stop Jordan from rushing into the paint and dazzling the crowd with a series of acrobatic maneuvers. But the duel between Bryant and Jordan was still on, and the crowd seemed to forget that they wanted the Lakers to win, instead merely urging on Bryant to one-up Jordan on every position._

_And so he did. When Jordan reverse-dunked on Rick Fox, Bryant flung the ball against the backboard before rocketing forward, catching it in the air and stuffing it comprehensively in the net. Jordan seemed peeved, and responded by blocking Bryant on the next possession, before throwing an alley-oop pass to Ron Harper from beyond three-point territory._

_The young sensation dribbled the ball through Longley's legs, but landed up too far behind the basket to do anything, instead passing to a trailing Rick Fox who put it away nicely with a well-timed three pointer. Perhaps the most uproarious moment was when Bryant was charging forward on fast-break, and only Jordan stood between him and the basket. Jumping over the bulky, six foot six legend would be a task for anyone, but Bryant's athleticism and genius never seemed to fail him, as he seemed to defy the laws of gravity while his toes passed barely an inch over Jordan's head, before ramming it home._

_But the acrobatics didn't matter. The Bulls won one hundred and four to eighty-three. But the crowd seemed angry about something else: Jordan outscored Bryant thirty-six to thirty-three. Boos echoed through the arena as the Lakers walked off, disappointed with only their sixth loss of the season._

"_What a game!" roared Brian, pumping his fist. "Did you see my man Mike? He was like, here on minute, there another… The Lakers could barely see him! I'm a Lakers fan myself, but heck, you can't help but love Jordan's moves!"_

_Brian's enthusiastic banter did not cease. He didn't seem to realize that neither Sarah nor Jason were paying attention, the former choosing to fiddle with her thumbs while Jason instead stared out into space._

"_So, how 'bout it, man?" said Brian breathlessly. "Next time I show up, I'll ask my dad if we can go to a court. I'll show you game!"_

_Jason simply nodded. He didn't say another word. Sarah consulted her watch, and realized it was almost time to leave. The door cracked open, and Eizan entered. "I hope you had a good time!"_

_Brian nodded energetically. "That game was incredible! Jordan was like, fake-left, breakaway to the right, dunk in his face! Man, did you see that three? It was like, _half-court!_ But that fadeaway was sweet, it was like he rolled the ball before letting it rip, the look on Jones' face when he missed the block was so priceless…"_

_Eizan laughed good-naturedly. "How about I get you tickets to a basketball game next week at Staples Center?"_

_Brian's eyes widened. "Really? That would be sweet! You're really the man, Mr. Nakamura!"_

"_I appreciate that, Brian," chuckled the Japanese man. "Now, Jason, say goodbye to your new friends."_

"_Bye." That was all the twelve-year old would say before Eizan ushered them out of the room. Even if he muttered anything else, Brian's voice would have easily drowned it out._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sarah smiled at the memory. They had come a long way. Serena had started visiting soon as well, and slowly, Brian's enthusiasm, her own boldness, and Serena's softness had gotten him to slowly open up. Brian had once called the group the biggest bunch of misfits he had ever seen. That was still probably the truth, but whatever happened, they had each other.

But did they have Jason, and did Jason have them?

That was the question she was trying to answer.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Both the titans of Necropolis still had eight thousand life-points remaining. While Angel had Uruk-Hai, Spawn of Saruman, whose effect allowed it to survive all battles at the cost of reducing his attack points by the difference between his attacker's strength and his own, and his Orc, which negated the effects of the monsters it destroyed, Belial possessed his Legion Warrior and Legion Spawn Carrier, the latter of which had four Spawn counters.

"I now move to my Main Phase 2, in which I will activate the effect of my Legion Spawn Carrier. By removing any number of Spawn counters that are active on him, I can special summon from my deck one Legion monster whose level is equal to the number of Spawn counters removed. I remove three, to call upon Legion Surveillance Craft (1000/600)!"

A long, thin fighter ship appeared on his field, made of advanced alien machinery. It had a pair of gun turrets sticking out from the back end, with a green stone nestled between them. It had large, dome-like structures on each wing, and was surrounded by a semi-invisible energy field.

"Now, I will set my final card, and end my turn."

Angel drew, while the audience collectively held their breath. "I sacrifice my Orc to summon Mumakil, the Underworld Crusher (2400/1700)!"

The growling field disappeared, and a hulking, stampeding form appeared from within the shadows, roaring at the Legion monsters present on Belial's field. It resembled an elephant to some extent, except for the fact that while an elephant never stood more than thirteen feet high, Angel's newest monster would have towered over a block of apartments. Its tusks are much larger, coming all the way down to its ankles, while its snake-like trunk extended out perhaps thirty-feet. Its skin was also much darker.

"Now, my Mumakil can show you what true power means as he obliterates your pathetic Legion Surveillance Craft!"

The demonic pachyderm roared and stampeded forward, bowing its head. The massive tusks would have ripped through the small fighter, had the energy fields not blocked it. The massive animal struggled to penetrate through the shields, but for some reason found it impossible. The King glared up at Belial. "Explain yourself, you fool!"

"That would merely be the effect of my 'pathetic Legion Surveillance Craft', as you so eloquently put it. He cannot be attacked while I possess other Legion monsters in play. I happen to have my Legion Spawn Carrier, as well as Legion Warrior. So, you can only choose to attack Legion Warrior at this point, whose destruction would result in the death of your newly summoned Mumakil."

Angel considered. "_The fool is unaware of my Mumakil's effect… As of now, he is confident that when he summons his final Legion Warrior, then he will eliminate it. Let us see if his plans are able to succeed…"_

"Fine. I will target your Legion Warrior instead!" The Mumakil roared again, and ripped its tusks from the force field of the Surveillance Craft. It charged towards the smaller warrior instead, who growled back a challenge and raised his arms in defense. He was able to catch one tusk in defense, but the other one plowed on and ripped off one of his arms. With only one functional limb to use to save himself, the Legion Warrior had no hope, and was immediatley trampled over by the Mumakil, leaving nothing but a splash of green sludge in his place, which also evaporated immediatley.

(Belial: 7500, Angel: 8000)

"_So, it is the King who draws first blood_," thought Jason dispassionately. "_It matters not, for Belial has been dueling far more intelligently. As of now, the King has been relying mainly on brute force, while his opponent has pulled off some rather intriguing card combinations. I highly doubt, however, that the winner will be able to achieve victory easily. This will be a hard-fought duel_."

"Fool!" roared the Marquis. "I can now special summon from my deck my third and final Legion Warrior (2500/1400), who will send your pathetic Mumakil to the graveyard come my turn!"

Another one of the humanoid mutants summoned earlier in the duel appeared on Belial's field, except this one was a lot larger and bulkier, and had electricity crackling all over it.

"Since a Legion monster was sent to my graveyard, Spawn Carrier gains another counter. The other effect of my Surveillance Craft comes into play now, allowing me to draw a card every time a Legion monster is special summoned."

He sneered inwardly as he picked the top card off his deck. "_Exactly what I needed_….."

Angel frowned. "Very well. I end my turn by setting one facedown card."

Belial drew. It was clear that despite the fact that he was unable to get going offensively, so far he was at a clear advantage in the duel, especially considering the fact that he now had a source for free draws as well as an easy way to special summon more Legion monsters. Not to mention, he also had his now far stronger Legion Warrior…

"It is time for your Mumakil to meet his end," he growled. "Legion Warrior, attack!"

The strange creature roared, and the green stone in his chest glowed even brighter. He charged forwards, arms spread out, and leapt up against the large creature, which attempted to use it's tusks in defense, by slashing through its attacker's armor. But it didn't work, and one of the tusks was snapped off without resistance. The elephant-like beast roared, and it seemed like it was going to succumb to the pain as the Legion Warrior grasped its second tusk, preparing to rip it off as well, when it suddenly lashed out with a massive foot, throwing the smaller, extraterrestrial creature back onto Belial's field.

"The Mumakil allows me to pay five hundred life-points to negate one attack against him!" sneered Angel. He tapped a button on his Duel Disk to reveal his facedown card. "Which will pave the way for this next card: Forces of Mordor! When I pay life-points for a card effect, I can immediatley special summon a second copy of one dark fiend, or beast-warrior monster in play. I choose to call upon a second Mumakil, the Underworld Crusher (2400/1700)!"

Appearing next to the Uruk-Hai and the large, demonic elephant, was another one of the latter. It stomped its paws and trumpeted loudly, while the Legion Warrior gnashed its teeth in reply.

(Belial: 7500, Angel: 7500)

"_It is still impossible to tell who has the advantage here_," analyzed Yugi silently. "_Belial's deck seems to be more focused on swarm and resource replenishment, while Angel's is more of a heavy beatdown deck. He already has two monsters as strong as a Red-Eyes Black Dragon, and another one with nineteen hundred attack points. None of them can be destroyed in battle, although at this point, they can't harm Belial either._"

Meanwhile Ryu was thinking exactly the same thing. "_Both duelists have been relatively restrained up until now. I sense that both of them have barely scratched the surface in terms of their sheer dueling ability and cards. It's very possible that they were merely testing the waters before this. After all, it took eight turns for both duelists to lose life-points_."

"I will end my turn," muttered Belial nastily.

Angel drew. "Now, face the wrath of the Mumakil! I activate Shrink, which will reduce the attack points of your Legion Warrior in half!"

The hulking beast groaned in shock, as its attack points took a sudden dip (1250/1400). The aura of electricity around it began to fade.

"Mumakil, obliterate his pathetic creature!" The titanic beast trumpeted out loud again, and lowered its head before charging. Its tusks slammed into the armor of the weaker Legion Warrior, who was unable to stop the attack this time. As the tusks pierced through its chest, it began to tense up, and quickly went into spasms. With a flick of its powerful neck muscles, the Mumakil rendered its thrashing victim limp, before it disappeared.

"You may have destroyed my Legion Warrior," muttered Belial, "but you were foolish to forget my facedown card. I activate Might of the Swarm, which will allow me to double the battle damage I take to special summon as many Legion Clone Tokens as possible whose stats, and effect are identical to the monster destroyed. I choose to summon them in defense mode."

As he spoke, three creatures identical to the Legion Warrior that had just been destroyed appeared on his field (1250/1400) (x3). At that moment, he gasped out in pain, as a flash of red electricity danced around his body. It nearly dropped him to his knees, but he maintained his composure. It was evident, however, that the pain was not something an ordinary man would be able to bear.

(Belial: 5200, Angel: 7500)

The King growled in anger. "_This fool's persistence irks me… Normally, this deck would have won me the duel by now. His cowardly stall tactics will not work forever._"

"Fine. Mumakil, and Uruk-Hai, dispose of his pathetic tokens!"

The second elephant-like beast trumpeted and charged one of the defending tokens. Its tusks ripped through it even more easily than the first one, while the demonic Uruk-Hai rumbled forward, and with a single slash of his daemon-blade he had beheaded the gorilla-like creature. The two corpses vanished, leaving only one of their brethren, along with the Surveillance Craft and strange Legion Spawn Carrier.

"_In the long run, the loss of life-points was worth it_," mused Jason. "_Now, his Legion Spawn Carrier will gain three more counters, giving it six. Also, he can draw three more cards due to the effect of his Legion Surveillance Craft._"

"Of course, you know what that means," sneered Belial, as the embryos inside the Legion Spawn Carrier glowed again. The Marquis quickly drew three more cards, giving him a total of five.

Angel's face was disfigured by a vicious snarl. "You will pay for delaying me to this extent! I end my turn. Very soon, Belial, very soon, the shadows will claim your soul."

Belial drew. He now held a full six cards in his hand. He gave a chilling laugh. "I remove all six Spawn Counters on my Legion Spawn Carrier in order to call upon the level six Legion Bombardier Beast (1800/2400)!"

Materializing on Belial's field was a hulking bipedal creature resembling a huge alien ox with two organic laser cannons sprouting from its back. A Legion Shocktrooper is perched between the cannons energy blasts pouring from both cannons like anti aircraft guns. It had greenish-black skin, as well as two horns extended from its head. Its mouth was a thin and cruel slit, with sadistic eyes glowing out at the King.

"First, I draw a card thanks to Legion Surveillance Craft's effect. Then, by discarding a Legion monster from my hand, Bombardier Beast will destroy a monster on your field. Not to mention the fact that since a Legion monster was sent to the graveyard, my Spawn Carrier regains another counter!"

Even as he spoke, the freakish-ox gave a strange shriek, and the Alien Shocktrooper on its back set to work, pushing a few buttons and turning a few dials. The cannons began to glow, and within seconds had spat out a pair of glowing, emerald globules of some strange sludge. They slammed straight into one of the Mumakil, which roared as the strange substance began to sink into its skin, melting the skin right off the bone. Within moments, all that was left was the eerie skeleton of the once proud creature: quite a relic for any museum. But it disintegrated within moments.

Angel did not seem too perturbed however, but Belial did not seem to notice this. "I will use my normal summon for the turn to call out Legion Attack Craft (1200/800)!"

The monster that now filled another spot on Belial's field was a much simpler version of the Legion Surveillance Craft. It merely had two gun turrets, and no energy shields on its wings. It was, however, slightly longer and sleeker. The metal that plated its body glinted in the darkness of the Shadow Realm.

"Legion Attack Craft allows me to sacrifice any number of Legion monsters on my field to destroy an equal number of your cards. I only choose to send my final Legion Clone Token away, and will destroy your second Mumakil in return!"

The mimic of the original Legion Warrior vanished into a ball of green energy, which was absorbed by the stone nestled in between the two gun turrets of the Legion Attack Craft. Its cannons began to glow, and expelled out a pair of emerald laser beams, which cut right through the final Mumakil. It roared in pain, but this was cut short quickly by the laser, which literally decapitated it. Soon, nothing was left on his field but the lone Uruk-Hai.

"Fool! You should have destroyed my Uruk-Hai!" spat Angel. "While it is still on the field, you can do nothing to damage my life-points!"

"Oh, but I know that," replied Belial coolly. "You see, Legion Spawn Carrier now has two Spawn counters on it. I remove both of them to special summon Legion Grey (300/200) from my deck!"

A tall, thin mutant appeared on Belial's field, filling it up. It was roughly humanoid, and was thin enough to make Victoria Beckham jealous. It had long limbs, blood red eyes, and a large green stone settled in its chest. From its hands spread out numerous, tentacle-like fingers. It's body seemed to be made of pieces of some jet-black material as it bent over at an unnatural angle, leering at Angel.

"I will send Legion Grey to my graveyard immediatley to activate Legion Attack Craft's effect once more, finally destroying your Uruk-Hai!"

The newest monster vanished just as soon as he had appeared, once again empowering the Attack Craft to decimate one of Angel's monsters. Another sphere of green energy was fired out, and even though the demonic soldier attempted bravely to deflect it with his blade, he was reduced to ashes within moments.

"Finally, I would mention that when Legion Grey is sent to my graveyard, I draw one card," chuckled Belial.

He now held six cards again, not to mention four thousand attack points worth of monsters. "It's time for you to pay…" he murmured. "Legion Bombardier Beast, Legion Attack Craft, and Legion Surveillance Craft will attack directly!"

At once, the large, ox-like beast, and the pair of fighters each fired out spheres of green energy. The six spheres began to combine as they raced across the field towards Angel, forming one, gigantic one. The King stared impassively into it as it continued on. If he did not react in time, it was possible that it would vaporize him in moments. Fortunately for his own health, he did.

"Dark Wall of Air activates," he retorted. A series of black winds sprang up around him, and the sphere of green energy slammed into it. The winds tensed, and fluttered even more. It seemed like the ball was going to break through, when it suddenly faded, leaving Angel unharmed.

"Dark Wall of Air reduces all damage due to direct attacks to zero, as I'm sure you know," said the King in a snide voice.

Belial frowned. He had lost an incredible chance to swing the duel imperceptibly in his favor, but it didn't matter. Now that he had gone as far as pretty much clearing the traitor's field, the chances of him being able to come back soon enough to prevent another all-out attack were slim.

"Fine. I set two cards and end my turn."

Angel drew. "_It seems I will have to begin from scratch… No matter, Belial has no idea what powers my deck holds_."

"Very well. It seems I will be forced to take you more seriously than I originally intended. I call upon Gollum, Slave of the Ring (1500/1400)!"

There was a flutter as some of the dark fog faded away from Angel's field, leaving a small, almost helpless looking creature left on his field. It seemed to look like a human child, with pale, scarred skin, and a small tuft of hair on its otherwise empty head. It wore a loin-cloth, and its eyes looked wide and beady. It opened its mouth, to reveal only three or four teeth, the rest of which seemed to have been long worn away due to the fact that this creature was chewing on a bone that it held in its long, spider-like hands.

Tea jerked involuntary. Gollum was a sorry enough sight to invoke pity in the hearts of even the most hardened warriors.

His eyes glowed like lanterns in the darkness of the Shadow Realm as a slow hiss echoed out. "_My precious_…."

"A carefree hobbit once named Sméagol, this sorry fool had his mind consumed, replacing all he cared for with an immortal aberration of what we call life, always to serve his 'precious'…." A dark laugh echoed throughout the cavernous depths of the shadows, and Tea felt the hair on her neck stand on end.

"Yet with but fifteen hundred attack points, the only one of my monsters he can destroy is Legion Attack Craft," replied Belial sharply.

"Oh, but Gollum seeks not to destroy his most hated… No, he will strike at the heart of his foe, unseen, unheard, at the cost of his own soul. Watch, as I equip him with the magic card that will be your doom. I play The One Ring!"

Nothing happened at that moment. "Err… Isn't that card going to do anything?" put in Brian quietly.

At his words, it did. There was an eruption of flames around the field, an anomaly for the Shadow Realm, which was usually associated with darkness and the absence of light. The flames burned brighter, surrounding all of them. Strangely enough, they were not burned. Gollum reacted the most strongly. His pathetic, silent demeanor was gone. He stood on two legs shakily, raising his hands and hopping about wildly. "_Precious, precious… Sméagol wants the precious. Come, my precious_!"

For descending from within the flames was a single, ordinary looking, golden ring. The moment it touched the fire, glowing red letters in an unknown language appeared on it. Gollum whooped wildly as it landed on his hand. "_The precious! We have the precious_!"

As the flames began to disappear, Angel's dark voice echoed through the shadows.

"_Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul, ash nazg thrakatulûk, agh burzum-ishi krimpatul._"

The change in his voice was astounding. It had gone from scornful and scathing to hard, menacing, and cold.

"_One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them, one ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them_."

There was silence. Only Gollum's repetitions of, "_my precious…_" seemed to break the quiet.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Seto Kaiba yawned. It was not something he did often, and never in public. Luckily, he was alone in his private quarters at the moment, having just awoken from a much needed nap. He never slept much anyway, but his head had not touched a pillow for over two days now. Five hours was all he needed to recharge his batteries.

Right now, his main priority was to work on researching the Joker's rather shady employers at Paradias. He knew that in the long run, there was not much they could do against Apocalypse, for his sheer power meant that it was almost impossible for anyone other than Yami and Rikuo to stand up to him. While one group was left gallivanting through the City of the Dead searching for the Seal of Immortality, it meant, of course, that the remainder would have nothing to do.

And Seto Kaiba always had something to do. And this time, it was a little more important than hostile takeovers and corporate downsizing.

To begin with, he knew for a fact that Paradias was involved. He himself didn't know much about the company, except for the fact that it was started up by Dartz in the mid-seventies as an efficient and quick way to get his dirty work done. No matter how much magical power you had, it always helped to have a billion dollar business behind you, teaming with employees who would do anything for you.

Other then it's involvement with the Orichalcos, he had never heard much about it on the global market. At least, on the legal side. Gozaburo Kaiba had been involved in many shady deals, and Seto had gleaned valuable information about the dark side of the world's economy while listening to his hated stepfather talking about his dealings.

To begin with, as inactive as Paradias seemed on the outside, the amount of power it exercised over the criminal underworld was ridiculous. Dartz was not involved in that, mostly, its business sector was handled by a man who liked to call himself Reflect. No one knew anything else about him, he didn't even go by any other name. Except that he had initiated more hostile takeovers then any other individual on the planet, making Dartz so much money that he was elevated to Vice President.

Now, the possibility that Dartz had gone back to Paradias and taken over the reins again was slim. But Kaiba doubted it, for two reasons.

To begin with, he was weak without the Orichalcos. Secondly, Eagle was not afraid so much of the puppet organization that Dartz used to further his purpose as the company that seemingly had links to every kind of organized crime in the world. The fact that Eagle had begun to raise its game just after Dartz had been defeated meant that realistically, Paradias was far more dangerous without Dartz at the head than with him. After all, what would be more scary: a group of men led by a fanatic who wanted to bring back an ancient snake, or a smoothly flowing company who were not bound by the superstitions and foolishness of the Atlantian prince, and whose aim was now to make as much as money as possible, no matter what the cost?

The fact that the Joker had been employed by them showed that Dartz was no longer calling the shots. The New York police force had searched the city for him, as they considered him a suspect in the alleged murder of all the people in the Empire State Building. He was nowhere to be found, however. It was unlikely that he had simply returned to Atlantis, and even less likely that he was back at Paradias. No, someone had finished the Atlantian off. Who had done it, was another question. Not that Kaiba cared.

What mattered was finding out exactly what Paradias was up to now, so that he could make them pay for what they had done to Serenity.

There was, in fact, only one flaw with _that_ particular plan. He had absolutely no idea where to begin with this ambitious endeavor, other than directly speaking to the Chairman of Eagle's Board of Directors.

At that very moment, while he was pondering his next move, the intercom on his desk rang. "What?!" he snapped into the receiver.

It was Roland. "Mr. Kaiba…" said the man cautiously. "Are you having a good day?"

"What kind of ridiculous question is that, Roland?" fired back the young CEO. "If you keep up with this rubbish, you can go find yourself a new job! But fine, I was having a good day."

"Well, down the toilet it goes," mumbled his subordinate into the phone, before connecting him to another line. Kaiba had a screen at the other end of the room for video calls, and it blinked alive. He groaned upon seeing the face staring back at him from it. Roland could not have been more correct.

"I'm hurt," mumbled Maximillion Pegasus behind his mane of silvery hair. "I thought you'd be glad to see me after so long, Kaiba-boy."

"I have a number of better things to do then exchange pleasantries with a bored old man, Pegasus," snapped Kaiba. "I happen to be the CEO of an _active_ company, and have been dealing with insane freaks for the past seven years, only to come upon the most powerful, _and_ the most insane one yet."

"I thought that Yugi-boy dealt with that spoilsport Marik?" replied the creator of Duel Monsters. "He was definitely not a nice man, especially not with the way he forced me to make him all those horrible cards.... Nothing at all like my wonderful Toons!"

"For your information, yes, Yugi did defeat him," said Kaiba through gritted teeth. "Now, if you only made this call to continue with this annoying banter, I am going to disconnect right now."

"Oh, but there's more, Kaiba-boy," continued Pegasus in his sing-song voice. "First of all, I'd like to congratulate you. You found yourself a beau! I must admit I didn't expect you to lighten up to that extent, and that too little Joey's sister! Do take good care of her, Kaiba-boy, heaven knows' she'll need it."

"I don't see how my personal life is _any_ of your business!" roared Kaiba, although a touch of red seemed to be creeping up to his features.

Pegasus turned serious. "It isn't, but let me offer you this, Kaiba-boy. I'm an old man, as you mentioned. I've had my ups and downs in life, and as much as I hated the downs, I enjoyed the ups. And you can never get higher than when you can share your life with someone else. I enjoyed that fleetingly. But when it's taken from you, Kaiba-boy, it turns you into a monster. You know what I did. I'm not going to stay under any _illusion_ that what I did was not my fault. It was all me, Kaiba-boy. The death of Cecilia sliced away a part of my heart, and I never got it back. Don't make the same mistake that I did, Kaiba-boy. Don't take what you have for granted. You never know when it can be taken from you."

Kaiba was silent for a moment. "If that philosophical nonsense was all you wanted to tell me, then-…"

"No, no, as a matter of fact there's more," replied Pegasus calmly, reclining in the chair of his personal study and studying Kaiba's impassive features.

"I'd also like to offer you my sympathies on that rather sordid affair you were engaged in down by the beach with those Paradias agents. I understand Ms. Wheeler was a little more than a touch shaken-up after that. I do wish her a speedy recovery, but at the moment I also know that your primary aim will be finding out more about the perpetrators of this incident."

"You know something?" said Kaiba, quirking an eyebrow.

"As a matter of fact, I do. Based on the deal we signed all those years ago on the release of the Duel Disk Two, any information concerning the series would be freely available to Industrial Illusions. I accessed the duel records of the cards played during your duel with that lunatic, and found something interesting."

He reached over, and produced a laptop, with its screen displaying something similar to a duel mat. It was showing the situation of the field on the final move of Kaiba's duel with the Joker.

"Nice use of the Blue Eyes Shining Dragon, Kaiba-boy," commented Pegasus. "It almost seems like yesterday when you took that card from me, and then of course fell pray to Anubis, and had your posterior handed up to you on a silver platter by Yugi-boy yet _again_…."

"I'm waiting," growled Kaiba.

"Ah yes. The cards played by the Joker in this duel are one-of-a-kind. Kom Edi, the Howling Laughter, Pandemonium Circus, Tyrant Emperor… I never planned to release these cards to the public. After all, Duel Monsters is considered a children's card game, and we wouldn't want such grizzly creatures terrifying all those poor kids, would we?"

He enjoyed a short laugh.

"I didn't put much security around them, I merely kept them with my Toon cards. Eventually, however, I decided to gift them to a dear friend of mine for his twentieth wedding anniversary. But unfortunately, he died of a heart attack soon later, and there was no designation as to who would receive them in his will. His son agreed to return them to me, and I was to meet him for a meal in a Swedish resort before taking them back. However, I received a call from him on my way there, saying that the cards had been stolen. As they were extremely valuable, and to some extent, dangerous, in the wrong hands, I used my connections to make sure the case reached some higher officials at Interpol. They worked on it for a while, and came up with a name. However, he was too respected a businessman to do much against him without hard evidence linking him to the crime.

"Understand, the name is based on mere suspicion. In no way can I initiate legal proceedings against him. But I have no doubt in my mind he is responsible for the theft of those particular cards. His name is Klaus Schweinstigger. He was known to have had shady dealings with Paradias. He seems to have disappeared off the face of the Earth, however, a few days after he was accused of that theft."

Kaiba spoke up in a hard voice.

"How long ago was this?"

"Five months, perhaps."

Kaiba frowned. "And you have no idea of what his whereabouts are?"

"There _are_ vague rumors," replied Pegasus. "He's vanished from the public eye. However, I pulled a few strings and found out that he's run up enormous debts with Paradias, and he is participating in a poker tournament in a casino in Switzerland to pay them off. Considering the competition there, he will be lucky if he survives."

Kaiba raised an eyebrow. "What's he involved in?"

"Oh, the usual stuff, Kaiba-boy. From what I heard, he's rumored to have borrowed upwards of a hundred million dollars from Paradias and attempting to short-sell successful companies by engineering fake controversies to make the share prices drop. He tried to do it to Industrial Illusions a year ago, but I was not only able to foil his plan, but revealed his charade to the press, making him lose fifty million dollars in the process."

Kaiba raised his eyebrows. "Not lost the vindictive touch, I see."

"Oh Kaiba-boy, you flatter me!" chuckled Pegasus. "Now, I assume you want the location of the casino. I'm sending you the co-ordinates as we speak. It's quite in the middle of a Swiss forest. Unfortunately, the tournament is due to begin in the next two days."

Kaiba glared at him, and half stood up. "Why didn't you tell me this before?!"

"I only found out myself two hours ago, Kaiba-boy, when I decided to look at the duel records. I was going to call you then, but your subordinate told me you were having a little nap!" He broke off into his sing-song, high laughter.

Kaiba shook his head. "Fine. Even if the tournament is over, I'll be able to intercept him before he leaves. I doubt even Eagle could tell me exactly where I could find Paradias, and from what I can tell, they're not interested in working with us. It doesn't matter, I'll do this myself."

"Not even a thank-you, Kaiba-boy?" said Pegasus, faking a teary voice.

The CEO glared at him. "You can consider us even now, for the crap you pulled all those years in Duelist Kingdom." With that, he disconnected the line, and quickly picked up another one.

"Roland, prepare my plane. I need to leave this city by noon." With that, he slammed down the receiver, and left the office. Only one thing was on his mind.

"_I will make these people pay for what they did to us, Serenity. They will not forget the name Seto Kaiba_."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"So, Kaiba's taken the bait?" inquired James.

"Yes, I'm quite sure he has," replied Reflect, not looking at his subordinate. He instead chose to stare out into the sky, which was slowly brightening. It was about five a.m., but it was not as if the President ever slept much at all.

"Very convenient, that was, feeding that information to Pegasus. I'm surprised he didn't even realize it was too good to be true."

"Well, now you have your chance," replied Reflect. "I want you and Kevin in Zurich. From there, go to the casino and lie in wait. Kill Schweinstigger as soon as the tournament ends. If Kaiba brings anyone else, then remember, _he_ is your priority. With the Pharaoh in Necropolis, he is the most dangerous of the Infinity Council's task force at the moment. Even the Demon Lords can wait."

"Kevin?" whined James. "Why do you keep making me team up with that whiny loser?"

"It's evident that he's a little more powerful than you would assume at the moment," snapped Reflect.

"He dueled the Archangel Zerato to a draw, which is more than a number of my agents have been able to accomplish. I would send Sigma instead, but he just lost to a demon of the Council. He's escaped right now, and will need to erase some of his tracks. I cannot afford for Eagle to come knocking on my door tomorrow morning. No, I can't afford to be able to let him be careless about this. Take Kevin with you, and have a word with my receptionist about tickets and a room at the adjoining hotel to the casino."

James nodded and turned around. He began watching towards the door. Without stopping, he intoned, "By the way, if Kaiba chooses to bring Kyle along…"

Reflect's eyes glinted. "Yes. I think that if those _are_ the circumstances, then it may be time now to stop placing limits on our methods. You can start using those cards again."

James didn't stop, but anyone who was facing him could see a smile on his face that was dark enough to have graced the face of Marik Ishtar. "_I'm coming Kyle... Let's see if you haven't lost your touch_."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I fail to see how a single piece of jewelry will derail my plans in this duel," retorted Belial, although he kept his eyes fixed on the ring held in Gollum's hands. The disgusting creature had lost all semblance of fright and humility, and was now jumping up and down, crooning his favorite phrase over and over and over again.

"_My precious! We have the precious_!"

"I have invoked the Ruling Ring," murmured Angel. "The Ring will join its master, and when the Lord of the Rings acquires his most powerful servant… It is said the Creator himself will be unable to stop them. It is only a matter of time now, Belial, until the Dark Lord of Mordor rises up and takes back his prize.

"Until then, however, Sméagol will provide it with enough entertainment. Attack."

Suddenly, Gollum slipped the Ring onto the index finger of his right hand. As he did so, he vanished. Just like that, he vanished into thin air. Belial swore, looking from side to side, trying to find a blur in the air, but could see nothing. The invisibility that Gollum had gained was incredible.

Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his stomach. It felt like someone had scratched him wildly, leaving three red streaks on his torso. Before he could react, he felt a knobbly fist sink into his face. He growled in anger, and lashed out wildly. He felt his fist impact into a boney frame, but the pain did not cease. It was only when a set of razor-like teeth sunk into his shoulder that he lost his temper completely, and reached out with his right hand, grabbing onto his invisible attacker's bony neck and flinging him bodily across the field.

Gollum pulled off the ring even while flying through the air, and seemed to appear in mid-air right before crashing down onto Angel's field. He grinned wildly at Belial, his eyes shining like green lanterns.

"The One Ring was created by the Dark Lord of Mordor himself, and therefore affords certain… powers, to its minions, at the cost of their own life force. When The One Ring is equipped to a monster, that monster can attack you directly, while losing five hundred attack-points every turn. However, if Gollum was the monster equipped, then he does not only retain his original strength, but is also immune to destruction by battle."

(Belial: 3700, Angel: 7500)

Belial glared at the opposing monster, curling his free hand into a fist.

"I will then set two cards and end my turn."

The Marquis drew angrily. "Foolish of you. It seems that Legion Attack Craft was all but forgotten by you… A careless mistake. Now, all I have to do is sacrifice a Legion monster, and your pathetic creature will be history. I will dispose of Legion Surveillance Craft, and then annihilate Gollum!"

The Surveillance Craft evaporated into a sphere of green energy, and was once again absorbed by the stone inset between the twin cannons of the Attack Craft. As it began to charge up its energy, Angel reacted. "I activate Blessings of the Dark Lord! This continuous trap card will act as an equip card to one of your monsters, and will negate its effect permanently. Plus, it will then lose five hundred life-points during each of your standby-phases. When it touches zero, it is destroyed and you lose life-points equal to its original attack points."

A wraith-like shadow formed of particles of dust floating around the Shadow Realm. It hissed out aloud, and began to encase the Legion Attack Craft. It fired off its green laser attack, but it bounced back off the wraith's body, and slammed right back into its source, further damaging the fighter. Soon, it seemed like the entire jet was wrapped in shadow-like chains, unable to move an inch. Materializing back next to it was the Legion Surveillance Craft, as its sacrifice was a part of the effect that had just been negated.

Belial frowned and plucked Legion Attack Craft off his Duel Disk, slamming down another card instead. "I sacrifice Legion Attack Craft to instead call upon one of the more powerful monsters in my deck, Legion Overlord (2200/1600)!"

The beast that had just materialized looked like a genetically mutated dinosaur, with orange skin and a reptilian head similar to a Tyrannosaurus rex. However, it was dressed in heavy metal armor with more sapphires, and had six arms, each one about ten inches in width. It had a longer and thinner snout, with a wide frill spread out behind its head. In the middle of its chest was a triple-barreled laser cannon.

"Legion Overlord is as feared by his own kind as his enemies, and while he boosts the morale of his soldiers by displaying uncharacteristic confidence for the situation, he also governs them strictly, and would consume any who would consider retreat. You see, when Legion Overlord is in play, all other Legion monsters on the field gain four hundred attack points for every Legion monster on the field. I have three besides the Overlord, so each of my monsters now gains twelve hundred attack points!"

The large, freakish body of the Spawn Carrier, the sleek form of the Surveillance Craft, and the gigantic, ox-like silhouette of the Bombardier Beast were all hit by streams of green energy from the guns on the chest of their Overlord. Soon, there power began to increase, sending two of them to decent levels, and the third to a different league of power (1200/2500) (2200/600) (3000/2400).

"Now, it doesn't matter whether or not Gollum can be destroyed, for I have here the potential to deal you twenty-nine hundred points of damage. Surveillance Craft, Bombardier Beast and Overlord will now target your Slave of the Ring and send him to the next world!"

The three monsters fired off a combined seven rays of green energy from the gun turrets mounted at various points on their body. These did not combine into a single sphere, however, but merely continued on and struck Gollum all at once. He howled in pain, falling to his knees as the laser cut further into his body.

"_Precious! Precious! They are hurting Sméagol! Precious, help Sméagol!_"

Angel merely gave a hollow laugh.

(Belial: 3700, Angel: 4600)

"Such exquisite agony! The mere feeling of watching one so pathetic writhe and scream in pain… It is indescribable!"

Belial did not answer, and met his opponent's scornful stare with a cold, hard one of his own.

"Soon, I will feed you to your own servants, and then we will see whether you find this pain so delightful."

"Incidentally, I had a similar exchange with your old friend Ha Des. Where is he now?"

Belial's face twisted into a scowl. "I will set a card and end my turn."

Angel drew. "Now, I activate my facedown trap card Sacrifice of Retribution. Now, I must discard one dark attribute monster from my hand in order to draw cards equal to the level of that monster divided by two. I discard a level eight monster, whose name I will not reveal to you, and draw four cards."

Soon, his hand was nearly full again. An odd glint entered his eyes. "_It's time to initiate the beginning of his end_…"

"Now, the minutes during which you will breath the foul air of Necropolis are numbered. I activate the last field magic card you will ever see…. **Black Tower of Mordor**."

At that moment, the Shadow Realm began to tremble. The spectators glanced wildly around them, as strange shapes plunged out of the darkness beneath them. An influx of fire exploded outwards from Angel's field, throwing everyone in far directions. Even Belial was forced to his knees as the flames began to grow, while the shadows continued convulsing.

The area around them was changing. The darkness remained, but solid, barren ground was now visible. In all directions that one looked, an empty wasteland was visible, with sparks of fire appearing and disappearing randomly through the air. A gigantic form was rising on Angel's field. It looked like a mountain. Just before it was a smaller form, though no less intimidating. As the flames began to die down, Belial was finally able to get an idea of how horrific a place they had now found themselves in.

They were in a large, treeless, barren plain, that stretched as far as the eye could see. It was a completely devastated wasteland, with ponds of poisonous liquids littering the ground at irregular points, and mounds of scorched earth rising up to six feet at some points. But the thing that really stood out was a gigantic volcano that rose far into the smoke-filled skies. It seemed dormant at first, but began to belch out lava at irregular intervals.

Right in front of it was a fortress, rising black, darker than the vast shades amid which it stood. It seemed to simply go on forever and ever, it was immeasurably large, and the cruel spires of iron and stone which formed the pinnacle of its topmost tower seemed to be lit up by a gigantic, flame-like aberration. As Belial looked up, perhaps hundreds of feet away from him, he could see what looked like a fiery eye floating on the topmost tower, shifting its angle slowly, and casting its terrible gaze over the infinite wasteland as it went.

"Witness it, mortal fool," whispered Angel.

"Wall upon wall, battlement upon battlement, black, immeasurably strong, mountain of iron, gate of steel, tower of adamant...Barad-dûr, Fortress of Sauron."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**There you have it… Kudos to Metal Overlord 2.0 for making a badass Mordor deck, as well as the Legion deck. Sorry if the chapter was bad, I'm just in such a good mood that exams are over, that I simply can't right these dark scenes properly.**

**Anyway, are there any Lakers fans out there who read this fic? Just curious, I don't even know why I'm asking this question ********.**

**However, I am curious to know where my other readers are. I know you guys must be busy, but do leave a review, it doesn't take much time.**

**Thanks a lot in any case. An early Happy April Fools to all you clowns out there, if I can't update in time. Why so serious?!**


	20. Burning Soul

CHAPTER NINETEEN: Burning Soul

**Wow! I can't believe I was able to update this fast! A bit of a warning before this chapter begins, this contains the death of a canon character in the first scene. For those of you who are angry with it, I can only say that in the near future the relevant reasons for it will be revealed in the story.**

**Three reviews a chapter is acceptable, but I'd like it if we could go back to the golden days of six to seven a chapter. It doesn't take long, people, just a few words can go a long way.**

**KageNoNeko: I thought I made the fact that he was using a Mordor deck pretty clear from the beginning, lol.**

**Candyman123: Well, the entire deck belongs to Metal Overlord 2.0, so you can thank him for creating it.**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: Gollum is always exceedingly fun to depict, whatever the fandom. Just the way he was portrayed in those movies was brilliant. That point of the Kaiba-Pegasus discussion was basically meant to show how Pegasus has changed. He has accepted that Cecilia is dead, and nothing can be done. He only hopes that others do not suffer the same fate.**

Duke Devlin was an irritated man.

It was quite ridiculous, at least according to him, that he was being forced to pay an extra _three_ _million _dollars a quarter as maintenance for his new flagship game shop in Los Angeles. One would think that as probably one of the most influential figures in the gaming industry besides Seto Kaiba himself, he would be free of such irritating rules.

Unfortunately, it was not to be so, he rued. "_Forget about it_," he told himself. "_Let's see if the guys over at the tech sector were able to improve on those holograms_." He decided almost immediatley not to do so. It had been a long day, he would prefer to simply go home, kick back and watch a movie, and maybe call it an early night.

It was a short ride back to his penthouse in downtown Chicago. He yawned as he made his way towards the front door, brandishing a key from his coat pocket. To his surprise, the door was open on her way out. "_That's odd_," he mused. "_Maybe Marissa left it open_."

He decided to strongly reprimand the housekeeper for her carelessness. But right now, all he wanted was a tall whisky from his butler Geoffrey. He sleepily made his way through the corridor that led from the front door to the major sitting room, shutting the door behind him.

"Geoffrey!" he hollered, throwing his coat onto the sofa. There was no answer.

"Hey, Geoffrey!" he bellowed again, sounding more like a petulant child than a spoiled businessman. He collapsed onto an armchair. "I want a damn' drink!"

"_Blasted butler_," he fumed. "_I'm the one writing out the freakin' paychecks, and I have to do everything myself around here. Unbelievable._"

"It really is quite difficult to find good help these days," said a voice in the doorway. Duke whirled around in shock. A slim, dark figure stood there, shrouded in the shadows of the darkening winter night.

"Who, who the hell are you?!"

"It might not be too difficult for you to remember." The man's voice was cold, and seemed to be dripping with venom. It sent a shiver down Duke's spine; he had never heard a voice with so much hatred in it. Ever. This was a voice that had lost all faith in humanity, one that did not believe in the kindness of human beings.

"Look, if you want money…"

"MONEY!" The man echoed this as a scream. He took a step forward. He moved so fast that it seemed to Duke like he had not moved at all. He felt a searing pain across his cheek, coupled with the feeling of being hit by a sledgehammer. It through him full across the room, and into a glass paned door. The glass shattered; he could feel the pinpricks of agony in the various places that the shards penetrated his skin.

He screamed out loud in agony, but somehow staggered upward.

"HOW DARE YOU CONSIDER THAT I WANT MONEY! WHAT WAS DONE TO ME CAN NEVER BE REPAID! **EVER**!"

Duke was not listening. He was slowly judging his escape routes, oblivious to this insane man's rants. He _could_ try and make it to the fire escape. If he made it to the ground floor, then perhaps security would be able to take care of this psychotic freak. The question was, of course, how he got up here in the first place, but thinking about that at the moment was not conducive to good health.

He made a break for it. His assailant snarled, and at that moment, a small hiss was heard. Duke felt a projectile hurtle through the air and latch onto his arm. He thought it was merely a shard of glass, or something of the sort, when he looked down in horror to see that it was a snake.

He screamed in shock, and pulled the reptile off. It thrashed about in his hand, hissing and spitting venom at him. He flung it right back at the freakish man, who raised a slim hand and caught it. The hand was wearing a brown glove, which only came up to his knuckles.

"Please," Duke pleaded. He didn't know what else to do. "Take anything you want. There's a girl. I love her, man. Don't you know what it's like to want to give everything you want to the woman you love? Don't do this to her. Please, just let me live, man."

It seemed to be the wrong thing for him to have said. The scream of anguish that penetrated the empty, musty air of his apartment would have shattered glass had it been any louder. "YOU KNOW NOTHING OF LOVE!"

With that, Duke heard another hiss from beneath him. To his horror, another snake had wrapped itself around its neck. This was a common garden-snake, seemingly. He kicked it away in horror and disgust, and slowly seemed to lose his patience.

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?"

Now that, he decided just two seconds later, was _really_ a wrong thing to say. He felt two more forms slither up his back, both of them definitely more dangerous than the one on his foot. He tried to shake them off, one of them fell to his feet while the other clung on. He groped his back in shock, only to see another one crawling up his leg.

When he attempted to kick that off, a chill passed down his spine at the feeling of the tongue of a cobra vibrated against his neck, from a shelf just in level with his head. He screamed in shock. There were too many. All varieties of serpents were clambering all over him. Adders, cobras, small anacondas, boas…. How they had gotten there, he had no idea. He would have normally been praying at this point, but he had no chance, as all his concentration was diverted towards getting rid of the snakes.

As an especially heavy boa wrapped itself around his ankles, his legs gave way, and he collapsed into what was a living mass of snakes. His cries of agony were muffled by the sudden wave of snakes that swarmed over him. They began to bite him, some of them inciting immediate agony, while others left two tiny pinpricks which would later cause him more pain than he could ever imagine.

He could barely see the face of the murderer as he stepped forward into the light. On another occasion, he would have had the opportunity to be shocked, and perhaps even scream out his name in recognition. But this time, all he could do was hear the other man mouthing, "I am Sylar," before he was taken by the swarm of reptilian beasts of death.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"No!"

The sound of Serenity's voice echoing her distress almost made Seto change his mind then and there. "Don't Seto, please! You don't need to go! You saved me, that's the important thing. You could get yourself killed."

Seto attempted to act unphased. "It won't be long," he said in a blank voice. "I'll be back in less than two or three days. I'm just going to investigate a little, and find out exactly what Paradias is up to."

"But that organization that Zerato mentioned, Eagle, they're already fighting Paradias," she said in a pained voice. She placed a hand on his cheek.

"I need you here, Seto. And if you won't do it for me, do it for Mokuba." There eyes locked.

"_Mokuba_…" Serenity felt almost guilty mentioning his name. She knew that despite what she had with Seto, it could never, _ever_ compare to the brotherly bond he shared with Mokuba. She could not bare the thought of interfering with what they shared. She felt ashamed to resort to bringing up his brother, but she knew that she had to convince Seto to stay put.

"Mokuba will be fine," he managed. "Two days, Serenity. Two days." He leaned forward, and they shared a kiss. When they broke apart, he could see the tears glistening in her eyes. She knew, that whatever happened, he was Seto Kaiba. When he wanted to do something, no one could stop him.

Her hand dropped from his face. He didn't say a word before turning around and slowly walking away from the bed. He didn't hear her mouth, "Be safe, Seto."

He didn't care now. All he wanted was to make them pay. He had informed Roland to tell the rest of the group that he had gone, as most of them would still be asleep, considering it was still five a.m. He walked restlessly through the corridors of his building, only one thing on his mind.

"_I will make these people pay. I don't need Eagle, I don't need anyone._"

He didn't need to pack anything. He had a ready wardrobe on his plane, more than enough for a week's change of clothes. All he needed was his Duel Disk. He was headed towards the elevator, his focus still not shifting from what lay ahead of him when he was interrupted by a slightly sarcastic voice.

"Kaiba…" It was Rikuo.

He turned to look at the Wolf Demon Lord, who met his hard glare unmovingly. "You're being a fool about this, Kaiba. There is nothing for you in Switzerland. Only death lies there. If you go to that tournament alone, then neither your brother, your girlfriend, or our entire group will benefit from this."

"SHUT UP!" he bellowed. "This is none of your business! It wasn't the woman you loved who was kidnapped by that freak and nearly killed, was it? It isn't your brother whose lying in that infirmary in an indefinite coma, is he? I want revenge, and I will take it MYSELF! I don't need the help of these time-wasting idiots, you demons, and most of all, Yugi!"

"You will only get yourself killed there!" said Rikuo, his temper rising.

"At least, take someone with you," said the voice of Kyle Gardner from a doorway in the corridor. He seemed to have overheard the entire conversation.

Kaiba turned to glare at him. "You can't do this alone, Kaiba," said the teenager. "I learned it a long time ago. You fight the world yourself, and there _can_ only be one victor. We've all learned this at some point or another: some of us just need to be reminded of it more often."

"Give me one good reason why I should continue standing here listening to your crap when I should be on a plane to Zurich by now," snapped Kaiba.

"Well, having someone else with you, especially me, would be helpful," pointed out Kyle. "Not to sound patronizing, but you seem to have forgotten at whose hands Dartz met his end."

Those words were like a pin in Kaiba's balloon. He seemed to grow even more enraged for a moment, but then fell silent. He didn't seem to have an argument for that. The trio remained quiet for a couple of minutes, before it was finally broken by the CEO himself.

"Fine. Gardner, I want you ready in five minutes. If not, you're staying in New York." He turned to Rikuo.

"Amero, if anything happens while I'm away, it's on you. I'm trusting you with this. I have my brother and Serenity both in bad condition lying in that infirmary. I want you to make sure that no one touches them while I'm away. Jaden Yuki was lost because of a breach in security. I don't want anyone else meeting a similar fate."

"You have my word on that one," nodded Rikuo. With that, the CEO turned on heel and marched away.

"_Kaiba… Don't die_."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Angel stood at the base of the towering fortress that seemed to occupy almost all of Mordor, while Mount Doom blazed above him. Belial did not seem in the least bit intimidated, however, and simply remained tight-lipped and quiet, staring at the tower, as if examining it for weaknesses.

"Your confidence is groundless," said the Marquis through gritted teeth. "Even with this elaborate tower of yours, you will be unable to stop me swarming the field and overwhelming your pathetic excuse for a strategy."

"In the land of Mordor, anything is possible," replied Angel. "Now, perhaps I should once again demonstrate to you why the One Ring was so feared. Gollum, attack his life-points directly."

Once again, the former hobbit vanished. Even though he could not see it, Belial could almost here the demented creature's heart pulsating as he made his way towards his pray, watching Belial's movements with morbid fascination.

He was, however, ready this time. He blinked once, and just as he felt a small force impact his torso, he reacted before it could grow in momentum.

"I activate Sakuretsu Armor, which will instantly destroy the attacking monster."

Gollum reappeared suddenly, and for a moment, seemed to be staring into a reflection of his own, hideous visage. This was because Belial had been covered by armor plates all of a sudden. His gaping scowl widened, and the glowing armor fired back out a sphere of energy which slammed into him, throwing him far back into the dark sky of Mordor. A drop of lava from Mount Doom splashed over him, reducing his body to ashes in so many seconds. But, strangely enough, the glowing form of the One Ring was unaffected, and fell to the ground, right next to the Legion Overlord. Belial's armor vanished.

"What's this?" snapped Belial. "Your equip card should have been sent to the graveyard when Gollum was destroyed."

The Spawn Carrier and the Bombardier Beast all moved towards the ring, looking at it curiously. The Overlord suddenly let out a frightening roar, forcing them back. He picked up the ring in his strange hands, holding it up to the dim light of the region, and examined it. After a moment, a throaty laugh echoed from his mouth, and he slid it onto his finger.

"Explain yourself!" growled the Marquis.

"The One Ring cannot be sent to the graveyard by any means, neither when the monster it is equipped to is destroyed, _or_ by a card effect. In the former case, I can then choose one monster on the field and equip the One Ring to it. The effect of the card works as normal. Unlike Gollum, however, your Overlord will not be immune to the weakening effect of the One Ring, and will also be very vulnerable to being destroyed in battle. And since I don't even have a monster in play, it can attack me directly anyway. Technically, I am unaffected."

"Perhaps, but the loss of Gollum means that the game may end now," replied Belial. "Make what pathetic moves you wish to, so that I may end this."

"Indeed I shall," chuckled Angel. "First, I will explain the use of the One Ring in conjunction with the Black Tower of Mordor. Every time a monster equipped with the One Ring is sent to the graveyard, the Black Tower of Mordor gains one 'Lord's Shadow' counter. I will explain the use of these to you in good time. Right now, I think I will simply set two facedown cards. My turn is over; I turn the board over to you."

Belial drew.

"Wait!" intoned Angel. "Now, during each standby phase, your Legion Overlord will lose five hundred life-points."

The reptilian leader of Belial's monsters suddenly clutched his head in pain. The ring on his finger seemed to give off golden waves of energy as the beast that wore it let out screams of agony. The other Legion monsters simply looked on impassively as the Overlord slowly staggered upwards, a shadow of his former self (1700/1600).

"Fine. I call upon another Legion Grey (300/200)!"

The tall, thin mutant appeared on Belial's field, with long limbs, blood red eyes, and a large green stone settled in its chest. It leered at Angel. The presence of yet another Legion monster went on to benefit the remainder of his creatures due to the effect of the Legion Overlord (1600/2500) (1900/200) (3400/2400) (2600/600).

"Tell me something, Your Majesty…" said Belial, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Living under a rock for so long, have you heard of a new dueling mechanic known as Synchro Summoning?"

Angel frowned. "Of course. But you will require a Tuner monster to summon a Synchro-type monster."

"Incidentally, Legion Grey fits that category perfectly," said Belial smugly. "I tune the level two Legion Grey with the level four Legion Surveillance Craft to Synchro Summon the level six Legion Avatar – Titan Core (2500/2400)!"

Legion Gray's body started breaking up, transforming into two bright, spherical stars, rapidly spinning around the Surveillance Craft, which itself transformed into a sphere of light.

Soon, the three spheres formed a triangle, which began to expand and fill the field with blue light. When the light died down, a large starship. It was larger than either the Surveillance Craft or the Attack Craft, and was shaped like a hexagon, with an extended cockpit sticking out at one end. It was jet-black in color, with bristling with laser cannons and other exotic weapons a huge glowing green energy cannon jutting from the nose of the vessel leading straight from the core. Floating in the empty space in the middle of the hexagon was a large sphere of green energy.

"An impressive monster," muttered Angel. "But as it would seem, its presence would not affect the outcome of the duel, considering you supposedly had an opportunity to crush me right here and now in any case."

Belial ignored him. "First, Spawn Carrier gains two Spawn counters since two Legion monsters were sent to the graveyard. Then, I can draw a card since Legion Grey was sent to the graveyard. "

Even as he continued to increase his hand size, he pointed to Legion Overlord. "While the rest of my monsters will lose four hundred attack points, Legion Avatar – Titan Core, gains an additional twelve hundred attack points, not to mention yet another eight hundred due to the effect of Legion Grey. The monster who was Synchro Summoned with Legion Grey as the Tuner monster gains four hundred attack points for every copy of Legion Grey in my graveyard."

The starship was receiving streams of energy from all over the field, as well as a smaller pair from Belial's graveyard. The floating sphere of green energy was literally rippling with power now. The Titan Core was undoubtedly the strongest monster that had been summoned in the duel, easily powerful enough to go toe to toe with the legendary Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon (4500/2400).

"So it is merely an effect-less Synchro monster with twenty-five hundred attack points?"

"Not really," replied Belial with a dark smile. "Once per turn, I can double its attack points until my end phase."

Even Angel seemed shocked at this latest relevation. The ship seemed to double in size, and the sphere of green energy was vibrating even more than usual. The gigantic cannon seemed to have a tiny dot of similar energy at the tip of its bore, and it seemed to be growing larger with the second (9000/2400).

"You made a mistake by challenging me," hissed Belial. "Now, you will pay! Legion Avatar – Titan Core, attack his life-points directly and give me my rightful possession of the Seal of Immortality!"

The gigantic starship's largest gun-turret had been charging up a blast of green energy all this time. Now, it was time to release it. And it did so in a spectacular fashion, with a wave of emerald power stretching out across the field. It seemed to blank out the darkness of Mordor momentarily, and gleaming green energy was all that could be seen.

It grew even brighter, and for a second, nothing could be seen at all. Slowly, as the light began to dim, the group of spectators glanced at the towering fortress of Barad-dûr, expecting to see a pile of cinders in Angel's place. But, as some of them had learned to expect, he seemed to always have a trick up his sleeve. He had his finger pressed down on a button on his Duel Disk, and a rather nasty leer on his face.

"I activate the facedown continuous trap card, Black Gate of Mordor, which can only be activated when the Black Tower of Mordor is active."

Some distance behind Mount Doom materialized a giant wall. Perhaps it did not stand as high as either the Tower or the mountain, but it was definitely an imposing structure. Jet-black in color, it was tipped with a large number of spikes which would serve as an effective defense against intruders. Right in the middle of it was a huge gate, which was probably heard miles away every time it opened. The wall as a whole seemed to go on as far as the eye could see, until it disappeared into the dark mist.

"The Black Gate of Mordor will reduce all battle damage during the turn to zero, but I must pay one thousand life-points during each of my standby-phases to maintain this as a cost." The Gate seemed to have absorbed the energy of the Legion Avatar – Titan Core's attack. Belial frowned in anger. "I can do nothing else. I set a card and end my turn."

The Titan Core suddenly shrank back down to its normal size, and then became even smaller. Suddenly, it was perhaps only a little bigger than the Surveillance Craft (2250/2400). "The side-effect of Titan Core's power-up effect is that after the turn during which its power is doubled, its attack points are halved for the next three turns."

Angel drew. "First, I pay a thousand life-point as the upkeep for The Black Gate of Mordor." He grimaced in pain as bolts of electricity ran up over his body. He seemed a little more pale than usual after they disappeared, but said nothing.

(Belial: 3700, Angel: 3600)

"Then, of course, your Legion Overlord loses another five hundred life-points." The frilled humanoid alien fell to his knees again. This time, however, he did not roar or scream in pain. He merely caressed the ring on his finger with a pained look on his face, giving an occasional whimper of pain (1200/1600). It was a pathetic sight.

"How the mighty have fallen," jeered Angel. "Au-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! I now activate my facedown Call of the Haunted, in order to special summon from my graveyard my Orc, Soldier of Mordor (1900/800)!"

Appearing on Angel's field was the vaguely humanoid beast that stood roughly six and a half feet tall, and was quite muscular. However, its skin was gray and clammy. Its facial features were badly disfigured, and its armor, though strong, was mouldy and covered in rust. It held a curved scimitar in its right hand. Pointed, almost goblin-like ears pointed out of the sides of its head.

"Then I will activate another effect of the Black Gate of Death. Once per turn, I can now remove from play one dark monster in my graveyard in order to special summon another: but the latter has to be level four or lower. So I will remove one of my Mumakil (2400/1700) from play in order to special summon Uruk-Hai, Spawn of Saruman (1900/800)!"

Joining the Orc was a similar creature, though it larger and more muscular. It was dressed in full battle armor, instead of the Orc's light mail, along with a heavy helmet. The armor was a pitch-black in color, and he held a long, crimson daemon-blade in one hand. There was a white hand painted onto his helm, and every time he roared it seemed to glow. He was at least eight feet tall.

"I still fail to see how summoning back those weak monsters will benefit you," growled Belial.

"There are a number of things that your primal brain cannot comprehend," said Angel smugly. "And I will not do you the favor of explaining them to you. At the moment, I will merely set a card and end my turn."

Belial drew. As he passed into his standby phase, the unfortunate Legion Overlord was weakened once more. The Marquis found himself fuming at the lamentable sight of his once powerful monster reduced to a whimpering wreck, as he crouched over the Ring, slowly caressing it and shaking his head in agony (700/1600).

Of course, attacking was pointless. He growled in anger and nodded to Angel as a signal to make his move.

He drew, and grimaced once again as the electricity wracked his body. But he said nothing, for the amazing level of protection that the Black Gate of Mordor provided him with was well worth it.

(Belial: 3600, Angel: 2700)

He glanced over at the card he had just drawn, and a dark look passed over his face. "It is time I introduced you to the next level of Mordor's power…. I sacrifice Orc, Soldier of Mordor, and Uruk-Hai, Spawn of Saruman, to call upon a beast who will inhabit the nightmares of those who witness it for an eternity!"

A tall, dark form seemed to appear from the shadows behind Angell. It was roughly humanoid, but a lot larger and more muscular. It stood at least twenty feet tall, maybe more, and had coal-black skin. Two gigantic wings spread out on either side, but neither seemed to have any real material composition to speak off. Two, curled horns flanked its large head, with a grim gash for a mouth. When it opened, serrated teeth were visible within it.

It heaved its skeletal form forward and stared at Belial through its slit-like eyes. It raised its gigantic arms, and flames erupted up over its entire body. The fire was only temporary, however, but when it disappeared, its coal-like body glowed a fiery-red. There was a crack-like sound, and a flaming whip appeared in its right fist.

"Fall prey to my Balrog, Master of the Eternal Nightmare (2600/2500), who can only enter play when the Black Tower of Mordor is active."

Belial simply stood back and watched as the gigantic creature took its place in front of Barad-dûr, roaring out loud at all its foes. The Legion monsters, though stronger, did not reply. They could tell from the mere visage of this horrendous beast that it would be wise not to anger it. Crushing them all with a mere thought was well within its capabilities.

"Now my Balrog will incinerate your Legion Overlord," declared Angel, pointing at the weakened leader of his opponent's monsters. The demonic aura exuded by the Balrog grew as it swung its flaming whip backward, before snapping it towards its target. The effect that it had on the creature was unbelievable. It curled around its torso, inciting a screech of agony. The loop tightened, and it exploded into dust. The One Ring landed on the barren ground where its bearer had once stood. Even as the Spawn Carrier went over to it and picked it up with one of its tentacles, Angel spoke.

"You see, the unfortunate part for you is that my Balrog can attack each and every one of your monsters! So as he destroys one, the Ring will be taken up by another, meaning that there is a constant source of Lord's Shadow counters for the Black Tower of Mordor! So now, this demon of the ancient world will reduce you and your field to dust. DEMONIC OBLITERATION!"

It cracked its whip again, and a rain of sparks fell down upon the field. Mordor's sky turned a shade of crimson, momentarily, before the lidless eye wreathed in fire that stood atop Barad-dûr turned to witness the slaughter that would take place. The Balrog roared and a sword appeared in his other hand. It seemed to be made completely of light and energy, and with a roar he charged towards the now weakened Spawn Carrier. His blade descended on them one by one, like a blade of lightning from the hellish sky, send by the Devil himself to sap their spirits. They fell effortlessly to it, their very atoms disappearing the moment the unholy blade came in contact with them.

First the Spawn Carrier was killed, reduced to dust by a single slash of the Balrog's blade. The Bombardier Beast walked over to the Ring, and the Shocktrooper dismounted, picking up the Ring with a glint in his eyes. He was barely able to put in on before he too fell to the glowing blade of the Balrog. The Ring was thrown far into the deep, dusty sky, and for some reason seemed to fall right on the windscreen of the black spacecraft. A single, small humanoid dressed in a spacesuit exited the craft and snatched up the Ring, before his vehicle was merely split in half when the sword fell upon it, as compared to the utter destruction of the other two monsters. The Balrog roared in fury at being defied, and with a flick of its wrist, the whip had burned the remains of the once great starship to mere ashes.

"This duel is over," laughed Angel.

"I disagree," replied Belial through gritted teeth. An ethereal, golden barrier was surrounding him, and seemed to prevent the Balrog from moving forward and targeting him. Angel gnashed his teeth in anger. His assumed old age seemed to not be a factor here, and he stamped down hard on the floor in rage. He seemed to be radiating dark energy at that point, and had left a sizeable burn mark on the ground.

"Spirit Barrier?!" he snarled.

"The very same," replied his opponent. "I thought Your Majesty would be intelligent enough to know that I would not take such risks when my monsters are inherently quite weak without the boost provided by Legion Overlord. So your attack did nothing except clear my field to provide me with more options on how to destroy you!"

He gave a scornful laugh. "I will also chain my facedown Dust Tornado to the activation of Spirit Barrier, and I will use it to destroy the Black Tower of Mordor!"

A brown, spinning tornado instantly appeared in play, and slammed into the gigantic fortress that stood before Mount Doom. Its winds, powerful enough to lift up so many debris, were powerless against Barad-dûr, however. As much as the tornado tried, the fortress didn't even move. Suddenly, the Eye of Sauron, which stood high atop the tower, suddenly turned its glare down onto the tornado that dared to disturb his sanctity. A thin ray of orangish-red light issued forth, and seemed to split the tornado in half right down the middle. The remaining wisps of air could do nothing, and merely disappeared.

"The Black Tower of Mordor cannot be destroyed by card effects once it has at least two Lord's Shadow counters," sneered Angel.

Belial frowned. He had not counted on this. His plan was to eliminate the threat posed by the counters before they accumulated to the point where they could be dangerous, whatever their purpose was. But now, it seemed that he would have to prepare to face whatever monstrosity the King planned to unleash upon him no matter what.

No matter, it was not as if he couldn't do it himself in any case. It was merely the fact that resorting to _that_ monster meant that this dimension would not remain stable. As it was, so many years of war, the mighty power struggles that had gone on for decades prior to this duel had left it teetering. If both duelists let lose their respective aces, then it would be the hammer needed to drive the nail completely in.

Essentially, if this duel was not finished early, it would spell the end of Necropolis.

Not that it mattered to him, or anybody, for that matter. The City was hardly a comfortable holiday spot, and none of the followers he had acquired here would be of any use to him in the long run. No, his only purpose for even coming to this godforsaken place was the Seal. And once he got it, he would be extremely glad to leave Necropolis burning to ashes for good.

"And sorry to cut your celebrations short, but the effect of the Balrog will not leave you safe. Every time it destroys a monster, it will deal you three hundred points of damage, and gain three hundred attack points!"

The Balrog roared again and snapped his whip towards Belial. The Marquis growled in anger as the whip curled around him, the flames burning into his skin. He ripped it off as the Balrog attempted to lift him up with the whip, and fired off a sphere of black energy at the demonic giant. The sphere was deflected into the sky with a flick of his blade. The damage, however, had been done. The Balrog (3800/2500) roared out loudly in triumph, while Belial felt a sharp pain in his side as his life-points dropped.

(Belial: 2400, Angel: 2700)

"As for the Ring, I have no choice but to bestow it upon my Balrog." The shadowy creature lumbered forward, and raised his palm above the Ring on the dusty ground. A column of light erupted from it, going straight down to the Ring, which began to hover upwards. It continued on until it reached the Balrog's fist, which closed immediatley. It remained there, unseen.

"My move ends here. Your end is nigh, au-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!"

Belial drew. "Your Balrog is weakened," he hissed. Angel frowned but nodded as the amazing creature that stood on his field roared in agony as the Ring began to glow within its fist. It seemed visibly weakened, and

"I summon Legion Spy Craft (800/800)."

His newest spacecraft was a very slim one, designed to house only one person. It was longer and sleeker than the previous two, and seemed to be covered by a shimmering cloak in the darkness of Mordor.

"Legion Spy Craft cannot attack, nor can he be attacked by your monsters. Under normal circumstances, it would allow you a direct attack, but you can deal me no battle damage as long as I have a monster on my field, thanks to the presence of my Spirit Barrier. I end my turn."

Angel snapped the top card off his deck, and paused, scowling, as the Balrog roared once more in agony, the fist that clutched the Ring shaking even more. He hated that he still could not use his Ring's power to its fullest. But that was the purpose of the Ring. It seemed to provide the bearer with unimaginable strength on the outside, but in truth, it reduced the greatest warrior to ruins (2300/2500).

"I choose not to pay one thousand life-points as an upkeep for the Black Gate of Mordor. It is, therefore, sent to the graveyard." The giant gate vanished in a flash behind him.

"I now summon my Cave-Troll, Beast of Destruction (1700/1000)!"

Appearing next to the Balrog was a smaller beast, roughly human in shape and stature. But the resemblance was as far as that went, for it began to further resemble an orc after that. It stood some twelve feet tall, and had gray, pebbly skin. Its face was snake-like and had a flat nose, with narrow, slit-like eyes peering out from within its ugly visage. It wore a single loin-cloth, and in one hand clutched a large, wooden club.

"Admittedly, he has seen better days," acknowledged Angel upon Belial's look of disgust. "But he will continue to serve me in other ways. You see, by sacrificing my battle phase, my Cave-Troll allows me to destroy one magic or trap card on the field. Obviously, I choose Spirit Barrier."

The troll roared and hefted his club up. Belial watched, not disconcerted at all, as he swung it with incredible zeal, in the direction of the glowing, golden barrier. Nothing happened. The troll swung again, and a crack appeared in the energy shield. On the final swing, the shield shattered into nothingness, leaving Belial completely unprotected.

"I end my turn," hissed Angel.

Belial drew, almost lazily. He did not seem perturbed by the destruction of his Spirit Barrier, and it was with deliberate carefulness and presicion that he seemed to calculate his next move.

"I summon Legion Telepath (1600/1000) in attack mode."

Belial's newest creature looked like a gigantic caterpillar. It was roughly the size of a buffalo, with pairs of green spheres lining its chest all the way down to its large tail. A head bizarrely like that of a human was precariously attached to its thick body, with two disproportionately large eyes settled in the middle, a pair of feelers hanging over them. It wore heavy, bronze-like armor, and had a large green stone inset in its chest, larger than the others on its body.

"When Legion Telepath is summoned, then I can special summon one more Legion monster from my hand, although it must be level three or lower. I choose Legion Hunter (1600/800)!"

Flanked by the Telepath on one side, and the Surveillance Craft on the other, was a bipedal, almost amphibian-like creature. Its hands almost resembled fins, but had long, white claws as well. It clutched a bronze trident in both hands, with a green stone embedded at the bottom. It wore black armor in a number of places on its body, with a plate covering its upper jaw, chest, arms and legs. It had more green spheres in the above places, with a long, spike-tipped tail resting on the ground. Its eyes were a primal yellow, and looked like a pair of small slits in the black armor.

"So now you have three weaklings," growled Angel. "And how are they supposed to help you against my Cave-Troll, and my Balrog?"

Belial ignored him. "I set a card and end my turn."

Angel drew, and almost immediatley, the Balrog roared out again in pain. It was being seriously weakened, and at this rate, it would be reduced to a pathetic level of strength very soon (1800/2500). But it was still stronger than any of Belial's monsters.

"Balrog, use your power to destroy each and every one of his monsters!"

This time, the demon did not go after them one-by-one. He merely swung his whip around in a wide arc, leaving a trail of sparks in its wake as it cut through the Legion Telepath and the Legion Hunter. They did not have time to react: they were just mowed down with ridiculous ease, leaving only specks of golden dust as a sign that they had ever been there at all.

"Now, my strengthened Balrog will deal you more damage!"

The whip cracked again, hitting Belial in the chest, as his life-points dropped even further (2400/2500).

(Belial: 1400, Angel: 2700)

"Cave-Troll, bypass his pathetic Legion Spy Craft and attack his life-points directly!" The large creature lumbered forward, clumsily, and was about to raise its club in an attempt to end the duel, when Belial reacted.

"I activate the effect of Legion Hunter!" boomed Belial. "When he's destroyed, your turn will end immediatley!"

A bolt of green energy suddenly shot out of Belial's graveyard, and struck the troll in the face. It fell to its knees, roaring in pain and clutching its face with large, inelegant fingers, in an attempt to ease the pain. But it did nothing but aggravate it as Angel grimly acknowledged that his turn was over.

"And now to render your efforts useless, I activate the powerful trap card Mirage Ruler," declared Belial. "I can return all the monsters that you just destroyed to my field, as well as return my life points to what I had when the turn started."

Through ripples of heat in the poisonous air above Belial's field, the Telepath and Hunter reappeared. "And since Telepath was summoned again, I can special summon another level three or lower Legion monster from my hand. I choose the third and final Legion Gray (300/200)!"

The slim, leering, insect-like creature joined the other beasts on his field.

(Belial: 2400, Angel: 2700)

He drew with a sense of direction and ferociousness that had been absent from his manner prior to this, even as the Balrog was again weakened (1900/2500).

"Yes… I will hasten your end by revealing to you my true power! I sacrifice Legion Hunter and Legion Spy Craft to call upon my physical avatar, Belial - Marquis of Darkness (2800/2400)!"

The two Legion monsters dissipated from play, making room for the tall, daunting figure of Belial. He was nearly identical to the duelist Belial, outfitted in his dark-blue robe and cape, flapping his demonic wings, whose feathers were also of the same shade. His long, random, white hair dropped down from his paper-thin, disc-like head wear. His pale, right hand grasped onto the enormous, ultramarine buster sword, which reflected the light of the blazing eye in the far distance. Probably the only difference was that he did not look as tired as the real Belial.

"So, you have resorted to summoning yourself," murmured Angel.

"_This is a monster that should turn the duel around for Belial_," thought Yugi. "_We know we can't trust Angel, and it's very likely Belial is up to no good either. But right now, we'd be better off sticking with the latter. We can at least find the Seal together, and if a confrontation is necessary then, so be it."_

"I am far from finished there," muttered Belial. "When Belial – Marquis of Darkness is in play, you cannot select any other monster on my field as an attack target, nor as a target of your magic and trap cards. Now Belial will obliterate your Balrog!"

The white-haired demon drew his blade, and in the back of his mind Angel could remember Belial himself drawing his own sword, just before their duel. The Balrog noticed this, and cracked his whip in rage. It seemed like Belial was going to be reduced to dust, when a sphere of silver energy appeared around him. The whip bounced off, and it was then that Belial struck.

His blade blazed through the dark sky, and he dealt the Balrog a strong blow to the chest. The demon staggered backwards, throwing its arms up as it howled in pain. Belial's eyes flashed, and he placed his palm on the flat of his blade, twirling it around. He jumped forward, landing cleanly on the Balrog's chest. His blade was now facing down.

Angel grimaced as the sword descended. The roar of hatred and disbelief that left the Balrog's maw was something he would prefer to forget, even as the giant demon shattered into nothingness, leaving the One Ring lying behind in the dust.

(Belial: 2400, Angel: 1800)

"My troll…" whispered Angel maliciously, as the revolting beast lumbered over to the One Ring, picking it up cautiously. It was rather difficult for the beast to do so, as its fingers were so thick and long that getting a grip on the Ring was a challenge. When it finally did so, it cradled the Ring in its free hand gently. In its deep, raspy voice, words from its native language rolled of its tongue.

"I will set a card and end my turn."

The troll howled in mental agony as his master drew, falling to his knees and clutching his head (1200/1000). Not very powerful to begin with, the Ring would soon reduce him to ruins.

"I now attack you directly with my Cave-Troll!" hissed Angel. Somehow, the troll was able to slide the Ring onto one of his sausage-like fingers. Perhaps the Ring expanded by magic, perhaps it was simply squeezed on, one could not tell. And then, of course, the troll fell victim to the Ring's power, like so many before him, and vanished.

Belial was able to follow the creature's path by noting the direction in which its massive footsteps appeared. He ducked just in time to avoid being bludgeoned by its club; he could feel the swish of air above him. But he was not ready for a devastating kick in the torso, which knocked him off his feet. He twisted around in mid-air, and landed on his hands, before pushing to flip back onto his feet.

(Belial: 1200, Angel: 1800)

The troll had retreated to Angel's field, and had somehow gotten the Ring off. It was holding it up to its face in its palm, crooning softly in some strange tongue.

"I well set a card. After that, my turn comes to an end," intoned the King.

Belial ripped the top card off his deck, ignoring the troll's whimpers of pain (700/1000). "I will sacrifice Legion Telepath to summon Legion Destroyer Craft (2400/2000)!"

The fat, insectoid monster vanished, and in its place materialized a black starship, perhaps even bigger than the Titan Core, if not far more impressive. It consisted of a long, slim body that had streaks of red on it, with a small cockpit in the front. Wings extended out from both sides, travelling perpendicular to the body and then bending ninety degrees so that they were pointing in the same direction as the cockpit. There were green spheres embedded in at the base of the wings, as well as in the middle of the body. Long guns were present at the tips of the wings, as well as larger ones that glowed green below the cockpit.

"Legion Destroyer Craft allows me to forfeit his attack for the turn in exchange for the destruction of one monster on your field. At the same time, I may add one Legion monster to my hand whose level is equal to or less than that of the monster that was destroyed. I will, of course, target your Cave-Troll."

The energy began to build up in the cannons of the spacecraft. Soon, a jet of emerald fire blazed out towards the doomed troll. It looked up in shock, wide-eyed, before it was completely consumed by the flames. Its pathetic cries of agony and hatred echoed out throughout Mordor as it was soon reduced to nothing but ashes.

"Fool!" chuckled Angel. "Now the Ring is a burden on you! Since no other monster can be targeted, the one creature closest to your soul will have to take the fall, and be reduced to ruins as the bearer of the One Ring!"

Belial said nothing as his copy on the field stalked over to the Ring. A malicious glint was visible in his eyes as he slowly picked it up. It still glowed bright from being exposed to the flames generated by the Legion Destroyer Craft. He did not put it on, but instead produced a small, thread-like chain. He looped it around the Ring before putting it around his neck. An faint, arrogant smirk was visible on his face.

"Even the creature that is supposed to represent you best cannot resist the Ring," bragged Angel. "It is a tool of destruction, and though it will destroy the enemies of its bearer, it will first destroy its bearer ten times over!"

As he spoke, the flaming eye upon Barad-dûr turned its gaze to the Marquis. A wide ray of orangish-red light illuminated the duel.

Belial ignored him. "I will tune the level two Legion Grey with the level six Legion Destroyer Craft to call upon the level eight Legion Avatar – Brood Mother (2600 + 1200 3800/2000)!"

The thin tuner monster once again evaporated into spheres of light, surrounding the large spacecraft which itself had turned into a glowing star. The trio began to spin around, disappearing into a large vortex of light, from which emerged a tall, screeching female fiend, covered in a black, armor like-hide, with a number of green stones set into the armor like lavish jewels. She had four, clawed arms, which were slashing wildly at thin air, which were attached to frilly spines on her shoulder, with a similar one framing her head.

"Now, Belial and the Legion Avatar – Brood Mother will attack you directly, ending this duel!"

With a combined sixty-six hundred attack points, no amount of life-point gain cards could have helped Angel. Even the destruction of one wouldn't have been enough to save him.

"I activate Negate Attack!" he hissed triumphantly. The pair of monsters that had been charging towards him were suddenly stopped in their tracks by a spinning vortex of chaotic energy. Had they gone any closer, the two would have been sucked right in. Evidently, it was safer to retreat back to their master's field.

"Fine," said Belial through gritted teeth. "I end my turn."

Angel drew slowly. Meanwhile, the monster Belial closed his eyes as a wave of pain went through his body. He placed a hand on the Ring around his neck, and took a short breath before another, agonized look crossed his face. The sheer amount of mental determination he was using to not put on the Ring then and there was sapping him (2300/2400).

"I activate Renewal of Triplets, to special summon from my graveyard all three Mumakil, the Underworld Crushers (2400/1700) (x3)!"

Three hulking, stampeding forms appeared from within the shadows. They would have towered over a block of apartments, but they seemed to resemble elephants. They had tusks that were much larger, coming all the way down to its ankles, while snake-like trunks extended out perhaps thirty-feet. Also, their skin was also much darker.

"They may be stronger than Belial, but the Legion Avatar – Brood Mother, could crush all three," taunted Belial. "And I have yet to use her effect."

"No, the Mumakil were never a part of the core of Mordor's forces," replied Angel. "They will serve as a means to bring about your doom, by unleashing perhaps the greatest power Mordor has to offer, other than the Dark Lord himself. He will spread fear….He will spread dissent, dread among the ranks…. He is the greatest of the Nine, and the lieutenant of the Dark Lord himself. Arise from your lair in Minas Morgul, Witch-King, Lord of the Nazgul (2900/2400)!"

Two of the Mumakil vanished, and Belial suddenly began to feel the air going cold. He frowned. Mordor was normally scorching, what with the volcanic Mount Doom spitting lava overhead most of the time. A strange mist began to spread over the land, thicker than usual. Even the Legion Avatar – Brood Mother, seemed to be uneasy. Both versions of Belial said nothing, although deep within his mind, the duelist could feel something he thought he had long since banished from himself: fear.

Appearing from within the mist was a monster that looked so human that it was almost bizarre. His size and build was no different from that of a normal man, perhaps a bit taller and bulkier, but by no means so much so as an Orc, let alone the Uruk-Hai. But the aura that was exuded from him was far more terrifying than either. He was wreathed in black robes, with silver mail strapped onto his shoulders as well. His face was invisible behind a metallic, mask-like helmet which was worn under his hood. He used silver gauntlets, with a slim, iron sword in one hand, and a colossal mace in the other. The latter consisted of a handle attached to a long, iron chain, with a spiked ball at the other end.

But the weapons were by no means able to distract one from the mere gaze of the man, if he could even be called so. Indeed, it was an accomplishment to remain standing when his crimson eyes, visible only fleetingly behind the hood.

Yugi had more than seen his fair share of powerful monsters. The Egyptian Gods, their dark counterparts, Kaiba's dragons, the list went on and on… While this newest monster might not even make it into the top twenty in terms of power, there was something about it that inspired more fear and terror among those watching it than anything Yugi had ever seen. It seemed like its greatest ability was the power to simply cause its foes to panic for no apparent reason. It would, perhaps, have no great physical ability against the fearless, but those who would have the courage to stand up to it would be far and few between.

"The Nazgul…" murmured Tea to herself.

"The Witch-King of Angmar is the second in command and greatest servant of the Dark Lord of Mordor. He leads the most terrifying warriors in battle, the Nazgul. They were nine, mortal kings of men who were overcome by greed and lust for power, and accepted nine Rings of Power from the Dark Lord. He took control of their minds by using his mastery over the Ruling Ring, and eroded their consciousness. The nine kings of men were dead, and the Nazgul were born."

Angel's explanation brought back to the spectator's minds the words he had uttered earlier in the duel, when the card One Ring had first been played.

"_One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them, one ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them_."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"The developments in Necropolis are quite intriguing, Master," pointed out Blight.

"**Indeed. It is not of our concern, however. The battles occurring there will serve to eliminate even more of my foes, thereby making the process of re-acquiring the first Seal all the more easier**."

There was silence in the darkness of Apocalypse's throne-room, as Blight pondered the words of his master.

The quiet was broken, unusually, by Apocalypse himself.

"**What of Sylar**?"

Blight allowed himself a faint smile. "All proceeds as you predicted, Master. Sylar may have passed onto death, and returned, but his human emotions have returned with him. His foolish concepts of love and revenge have persisted, and he is rampaging towards our greatest foes as we speak. Already, one of their weakest friends has fallen. Soon, he will have eliminated one of the greatest threats to our aim, and once his thirst for blood has been sated, he will be a valuable asset to us."

"**Haou and Sylar are strikingly similar**," noted Apocalypse. "**Yet extremely different. Haou's primary focus is his own empowerment. He will do nothing if it does not benefit him. Sylar cares not for himself, and will stop at nothing to extract vengeance. There is a small possibility that he will die once more in his attempt. Even though his targets are humans, they are surrounded by entities perhaps even comparable to you, Blight**."

He paused for an afterthought, and continued. "**However, his hatred allowed me to provide him with unique skills. You know how he disposed of his victims; you understand what I speak off**."

Blight nodded. "I will find it interesting to witness the mortal's reactions when they realize who Sylar truly is."

There was another pause in the conversation.

"If I may, Master, what about the Fourth-…"

"**The Fourth Horseman will be inducted soon, Blight. It is not your concern. At this moment, you will prepare to take the first Seal from whomever is able to escape the City of the Dead with it. Servants are expendable, but my immortality is not. If all five Seals of Immortality are not returned to me in time, the Council will be at a great advantage**."

Blight bowed, and retreated into the shadows.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Zeruge Mitsunashi said down heavily on a chair in one of the lobbies in Eagle's headquarters, his breath coming in short bursts. Opposite him was Eizan Nakamura.

"Do you… Do you have any idea where Sigma could have gone?" questioned Zeruge.

"Unfortunately, no. Finding even a trace of him will be difficult. After all, he is Paradias' most experienced and intelligent agent." Eizan paused.

"Although we do owe you a great deal. Had you not been here, Sigma could have easily killed Li, and perhaps even me, before leaving. It was quite a shame that he was able to survive your final attack, evidently he's a lot stronger than the parking lot," snorted Eizan.

The sarcastic attempt at humor did not serve to lighten the mood at all.

"What is your next move? You should know that this building is now compromised. If Li has indeed betrayed Eagle to Paradias, it is very possible that they now have the entire layout as well as security details of this place."

Eizan frowned, but nodded.

"Yes, I have considered that. However, for certain reasons, I believe that Reflect's vendetta against Eagle will be the last thing on his mind right now. Or have you not noticed the sky?"

Zeruge narrowed his eyes momentarily. It was still three a.m. on the West coast of the United States. Almost immediatley, he turned around to face the inky black sky through one of the large, grandiose windows that ran along the length of the lobby's wall.

He gasped. "Im-… Impossible! How could I have never noticed it before?" His eyes were fixed on the emerald, glowing dot that seemed extremely out of place in the Las Vegas night. It was far brighter than the other stars around it.

"The Jade Star…" he murmured.

"This, of course, changes everything," said Eizan. "This will be in the news tomorrow, but an extremely small number of people across the world actually understand its relevance. Even within Eagle, I have told no one about the threat posed by the Star. I only noticed it myself tonight, and I will have a group of scientists plot its path over the next few weeks. It is almost a guarantee that it will pass through our Solar System, and quite probable that it will be targeting one of the inner planets. If it indeed does arrive at Earth, we need to be prepared."

Zeruge nodded, and stood. "I will need to report back to the Council and ask for instructions on our next step. What will you be doing?"

"I am going to New York," said Eizan heavily. "If the Jade Star is indeed coming, then I cannot afford for a rift to occur within Eagle. Li will be planning on turning Jason Becker and his team against us. I have not been entirely honest with Jason about certain things, and I have only myself to blame for that. I need to know who I can trust my agents, and that my agents know who to trust."

"I can speak for the Council when I say that it is advisable for you to clear up issues like these as quickly as possible," put in Zeruge. "Very soon, there will be three enemies for us to face on different fronts. We can be confident that they will all be against each other as well, but we can rely on no one but ourselves. Drake Manning was an example of how dissent among the ranks can lead to a collapse of the entire army. Whatever you do, Mr. Nakamura, Li must be stopped if his plan is to continue to spread misinformation about Eagle."

Eizan closed his eyes and rested his forehead on his hand as Zeruge walked away.

"_Misinformation…_" He chuckled ruefully. "_Using that term to describe Li's accusations could not have been further from the truth_."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"The Witch-King…" Belial murmured to himself, a frown spread across his face.

"Now, watch as he feeds of the fear of your pathetic Legion Avatar- Brood Mother!" The otherwise shrieking creature suddenly quietened down as a hiss echoed from within the hood of the Witch-King. She began to whimper in fear, stepping back as the Lord of the Nazgul began to glow. Suddenly, a black aura erupted around him (4800/2400), while the Brood Mother suddenly seemed a whole lot smaller (1900/2000).

"That is the effect of the Witch-King. Once per turn I can select one face up monster on the field and reduce its attack by half, and the attack of this card is then increased by an equal amount until the end of the battle phase. Since your Legion Avatar had thirty-eight hundred attack points, the Witch-King gained nineteen hundred. Now, he is more than powerful enough to eliminate Belial and end your involvement in this duel!"

"Command Silencer, activate!" commanded Belial. The screeching, totem pole materialized into existence right in front of the Marquis. The Witch-King had swung his giant mace around, and the spiked ball would have easily torn Belial apart before it was stopped in its tracks by the sound waves being given off by the large cross.

"You can't play hide-and-seek forever," snarled Angel. "I will set two cards and end my turn."

As Belial drew, the monster version of him on the field groaned out loud, placing his free hand on his head as his power fell even further (1800/2400). He keeled over in mental agony, but the duelist ignored him.

"It is time now, for your Witch-King to meet his end. Now my Legion Avatar is back to her original strength of thirty-eight hundred, and is far stronger than the apparent supposed of the Nine. But you foolishly granted me the power of the One Ring, and I can now end this duel anyway."

Angel suddenly perked up. "_He has not used the power of the Ring prior to this… It seems to me that he is giving in to temptation at last_."

"Belial – Marquis of Darkness will attack you directly."

With a faint smirk, the Marquis pulled the One Ring off the chain around his neck, and held it up so that it was in level with the finger of his other hand. Keeping his eyes on the ring, he slowly slid it onto his finger, and immediatley disappeared. Angel kept his eyes fixed on the imprints left in the dust soil by the Marquis' feet, and intently followed them with his eyes as they neared him.

He reacted with almost unbelievable reflexes, dodging an invisible slash from Belial's sword. He immediatley pressed a button on his Duel Disk.

"Those who use the might of the Ring run the risk of alienating their allies, you fool! I activate Dark Temptation, which only activates when a monster equipped with the One Ring attacks me. That attack is negated, and all other monsters on your field are instantly destroyed! Not only that, you are dealt one thousand points of damage for every monster destroyed in this manner."

At his words, the invisible form of Belial was thrown back by an invisible force. He reappeared again on his master's field, lying on his back with the Ring cradled in one hand. He looked on in shock as the towering form of the Legion Avatar – Brood Mother let out a howl of agony and suddenly just crumbled down into dust. The duelist Belial gasped in pain, suddenly, as his life-points took a sharp dip.

(Belial: 200, Angel: 1800)

"Will there be anything else?" sneered Angel.

His opponent staggered to a steady posture, and looked at the two remaining cards in his hand slowly. "I set one card and end my turn."

Angel snapped the top card off his deck, and paused for a moment to enjoy the groans of agony coming from the now severely weakened Belial (1300/2400). "This duel ends now. The Witch-King, Lord of the Nazgul will attack Belial – Marquis of Darkness!"

The terrifying gaze of the commander of Mordor's armies fell upon Belial. A touch of hatred that had not been visible in his eyes before was now present. Evidently, he did not take kindly to Belial being able to protect his master's other monsters from being targeted.

"_You fool… Do not come between the Nazgul and his prey_." An icy voice echoed from deep within the recesses of the metallic helmet.

Without pausing for another moment, the Witch-King swung his gigantic mace around. Belial was able to duck the first blow. The spiked-ball returned to its wielder, but almost immediatley the second pass began. This one would have torn Belial in half had it come into contact with him, and it was by sheer luck that he was able to raise his sword to deflect it.

To his horror, he noticed that the sword had been shattered. The Witch-King had abandoned his weapons, and was slowly making his way towards his opponent by foot, decreasing the temperature across the arena as he did so. With grim deliberation, he knocked aside a desperate punch from his victim, and a gauntleted hand wrapped around the demon's neck. Belial was lifted off his feet, and the force of the squeeze increased. His air was fast being cut off.

Within moments, it was over. The corpse of the gray-skinned fiend simply hung in the Witch-King's grasp, and evaporated into nothingness.

"Au-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!" boomed Angel. "This is over!" Suddenly, he noticed that Belial's life-points were still intact.

"WHAT?!"

"I activated my quick-play magic card, Damage Polarizer. Neither of us can take life-point damage during this turn." That was all Belial would offer. Meanwhile, the Witch-King silently retrieved the Ring from Belial's field.

Angel was fuming as he set a card to end his turn.

"You are only delaying the inevitable! But perhaps that is what you do best, as it is not within your capabilities to do anything definite about your problems! You were always hiding behind Ha Des' back, waiting for _him_ to do all the real work. As pathetic as he was, you redefined the word!"

Belial looked up to meet his gaze. His eyes were cold, hard and blank.

"To think that for so long you sat by Ha Des' side, enjoying the fruits of his revolution, and it was all swept away so easily when I returned and killed him! Your little resistance had no value in the big picture: you know that! What did you achieve by coming here to Necropolis, and struggling against me for fifteen years? And what was the point of coming to face me here, in this duel? Only to lose again?"

He loomed over Belial's silence with a hard, unrelenting tone.

"And if you somehow defeat me, what will you do with the Seal? Let alone that, how would you find the Seal? The Dark Ruler Ha Des possessed the Seal of Immortality for over fifty years, and was unable to uncover even one of its secrets. What make you think that if you acquire it, you will be able to do the same? He bequeathed it to you, even though I am the rightful owner. By some pure coincidence and strange stroke of luck you were able to survive thus far. Had you left it at that and stopped pursuing me, maybe you would have lived on longer. You should have been buried in the rubble of Ha Des' palace all those years ago. It did not happen, but now, you fool, I will bury you now."

Dead silence was torn to shreds, as Belial threw his arms in the air and roared out at the top of his lungs. The entire Shadow Realm shook, as green shockwaves burst out from his body, causing tendrils of darkness to seemingly evaporate around him. Nearly everyone was taken off their feet. His hair spiked straight up, as the shadows began to rumble further, causing everyone else to back away from the duel. The aura glowed brighter, soon matching the blinding, lime eyes of the raging duelist.

"DRAW!" he bellowed. "You think I'm pathetic? That I'm weak? I have discovered a power more great and terrible than you can possibly _imagine_! The Seal of Immortality means nothing to what I possess now! I was the one who deserved to have the Seal, and it was wrongfully taken by you, a man who represents the lowest of the low! You have somehow managed to crawl out of the gutters and take what belongs to deserving individuals! You may have kept the Seal all these years, but no longer shall you hold claim to that which is rightfully mine! With my new power, I will take the Seal of Immortality and punish all those like you for the nonsense that they have put me and the world through!"

"_The power that's coming off him_…." gasped Yugi mentally. "_It's incredible! I've never felt anything like it!_"

Even the other demons, Daniel, Ryu, and CJ were completely and utterly shocked. Belial had seemingly activated a source of energy within him that was so great, Necropolis itself would begin to crumble at this rate. Even the Shadow Realm seemed to be dissolving under the influence of his sudden power.

The ordinary humans of the group, Jason, Brian, and Tea, had no particular way to measure Belial's might against that of others, but it was evident from the sheer way in which the energy had exploded around him that he was in another league of power.

"Now, what shall I use to bring your life to an end?! Why don't I take a page out of your book, by using my facedown Magical Trick Mirror to replicate the effect of your Renewal of Triplets!"

Appearing on Belial's field were the three Legion Gray's (300/200) (x3). Their thin forms seemed dwarfed by the Witch-King.

"It is said no living man can kill the Witch-King of Angmar," sneered Belial derisively. The three Legion Grays disappeared.

"What about a god?"

All the spectators gaped at each other in shock. Yugi was almost tempted to look into his deck and confirm that the three Egyptian Gods were still present. Marik had used the three dark Egyptian Gods; the existence of those creatures had been quite a shocker. But now this strange Duel Spirit who was merely a revolutionary in the City of the Dead had yet another god?

Even Angel had been struck dumb by this latest development. He could do nothing but watch as Belial's field erupted in a tornado of green and black energy. The darkness of the Shadow Realm had now almost completely disappeared, and thunderous storm clouds had formed above them.

"_What kind of power can dissolve a Shadow Game_?" thought Daniel worriedly. From within the eruption of energy on Belial's field erupted a giant form. It could have easily measured up to the King's castle in size. The monster was a pitch-black, scaley dragon with vicious, yellow eyes. It was almost skeletal in nature, with thick, armored skin and huge, thin wings, which seemed to cast a shadow upon the field when they spread open. This brought the unbearable sound of the cracking of an innumerable number of bones within the wings. It impatiently breathed in and out, occasionally growling in an ominous manner. It had an almost mechanical look to it, if one considered the thick armor that covered its skin, but its eyes had a very, hungry, very vicious look. Deep within its armored chest was a green stone about the size of a large car. The entire creature was giving of an aura of green energy.

"Come!" Belial commanded.

"Legion God – Behemoth!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Well, that's that. I hope no one is too angry about the Duke's death (yes, he's dead as dead can be). I normally don't like killing canon characters, but this one was quite necessary to the story.**

**I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter though, I had a lot of fun writing it. Belial vs. Angel is really going to heat up in the next chapter, and we will be seeing some exciting developments in Zurich, where Kaiba and Kyle realize that everything about this strange poker tournament is not as it seems. Read all this and more on the next chapter of Nightrise!**

**And P.S. I WANT A LOT OF REVIEWS!**


	21. The Abyss

CHAPTER TWENTY: The Abyss

**This was a really interesting chapter to right, I must say. It's chapter 21, which happens to be my favorite number, so I made it extra interesting. Lots of twists and turns here. Plus, Nightrise has officially crossed 400 pages. It's on 424, to be precise.**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: I liked writing the duel as well, but I felt it was more of drama and symbolism then just plain, drag-out dueling action. Duke's death serves a greater significance than that, but I'm glad no one really minded the death of a canon character like that.**

**Starlight AT: Sorry about Duke's death. I know that it smacks of arrogance towards Kazuki's work to kill a canon character, but there is a very big reason for it, one quite shocking, yet delightful to canon lovers. Just wait for it. **

**KageNoNeko: Go ahead and reread all you want, I like it! ******

**Candyman123: Thanks. I hope you like this one as well.**

Kyle stared out of the window of the first-class compartment in the train which was taking him and Kaiba from Zurich to Klaus Schweinstigger's poker tournament. It was an enjoyable view, and he had to agree that Switzerland _was_ undoubtedly one of the most breathtaking countries in the world. The scenic beauty of the snow covered mountains was amazing, and he only wished he had the opportunity to enjoy it under other circumstances.

The flight in on Kaiba's private jet had been extremely comfortable, and Kyle had slept through most of it. But even when he was awake, Kaiba had been extremely moody and distant, answering the young man's questions in a curt monotone.

"What's up with you, Kaiba?" he asked suddenly, looking across the compartment at the CEO. Kaiba glared back.

"I'm serious. You've barely spoken since we've left. What's bugging you?"

"That's none of your business," he replied sharply.

Kyle rolled his eyes. "Honestly, dude, I think we've been through enough together for you to be able to open up a bit. We're not exactly going to have sleepovers and swap iPhone aps, but you're stuck with the rest of us until this is over, and you can't blame it on anyone but yourself, especially since we're living in _your_ building."

He chuckled at this.

Kaiba glared at him once more and looked away.

The younger man lost the smirk and spoke again. "I'm not joking here, man. If there's something that's bothering you, you've got to share it with someone. Is it your brother?"

Kaiba was silent for a moment, and then spoke bruskly. "Fine. I'll tell you."

There was a pause, and he continued.

"I don't suppose you've been following the news much."

"What's the news got to do with it?" shot back Kyle.

"I thought so. On the plane, I received an update from one of my insiders in law enforcement. A prominent figure in the gaming industry was found dead in his apartment in Chicago. The autopsy was inconclusive, but it's suspected that he was killed by poison. Specifically, natural poison that you would normally find from a snake."

"So, what's this got to do with anything?"

"I'm getting to that," snapped Kaiba. "This has all been hushed up, and no official statement is being released until they have some idea of how it happened. Plus, they're withholding this information from the press because if it's made public that this man is dead, his company's stock will crash, and millions will be lost. My friend told me about this so that I could get rid of any shares that I have, and prepare myself for the meltdown.

"I'll get back to this later. What I'm about to talk about is actually you may be familiar with. A madman had gone on a killing spree in New York just yesterday. He left no trace, except for the method of murder, which was, again, a snake's venom. Strangely enough, every single one of his victims were married, between the ages of twenty and thirty, and involved in extra-marital affairs."

Kyle quirked an eyebrow. "I don't get it…"

"What, too many big words?" sneered Kaiba. It was meant as an insult, but it just didn't seem like one anymore, at least between these two. Both were too thick-skinned, and they had, even if Kaiba would deny it, been through a lot together.

Kyle gave a derisive laugh. "That was a really, really bad joke, okay? What I don't understand is what you're getting at… Are you saying that just because his means of murder are the same, the man who killed those people and that businessman was the same?"

"It goes further than that," replied Kaiba, glancing back out of the window. He then looked back at Kyle.

"Every single one of the murdered people, at least in the second case, were not very financially stable. And the people whom they had been cheating on their spouses with were all extremely rich. This has been the case in every single one of those victims. Is it possible that this man has suffered a similar situation in the past, and unable to take out his anger on the people who did it to him, he's attacking other people in the same situation, just because in his warped mind it's some sort of strange substitute for the real thing?"

"Okay, I get it, you're an amazing psychologist, but what the hell does it have to do with you?" growled Kyle.

"I am _getting_ there," he replied icily. His laptop was on the table between the two seats, switched on. Kaiba tapped a few keys, and turned it around so that the screen was facing Kyle. On it was a picture of a young man, about twenty-two years old, with spiky black hair. He had a darkish skin tone, with a headband with a diamond pattern. He wore a dice-shaped earring in his right ear.

"Know who he is?"

"Someone pretty obsessed with dice, that I can tell," grunted Kyle. Kaiba glared at him.

"His name is Duke Devlin. He's the owner of a large gaming company, as well as the inventor of Dungeon Dice Monsters. He's also reasonably friendly with Yugi and the rest of them. He's not a patch on the likes of me or Yugi as a duelist, but he'd decent. The important part is that he was found dead in his apartment at about three o'clock this morning. They're withholding the news for as long as possible, to prolong the meltdown that will hit the industry when they find out he's dead.

"He was killed by venom found normally only in a swamp adder, one of the deadliest snakes in the world, although there were multiple puncture marks on his skin, not to mention that his legs were broken, possibly by the constricting effect of a python, or maybe a boa constrictor."

There was silence again.

"So, there's a madman running around the United States killing people who've cheated on their spouses, and you're trying to figure out why he'd kill Devlin?"

"A crude, yet effective way to summarize it," concluded Seto.

"And they say I'm crazy," muttered Kyle.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

They got into the hotel about a couple of hours later. It was a typical Swiss luxury resort, located high up in the snowy Alps. It had a grand entrance, which opened into a luxurious lobby. It was peppered with leather arm chairs and small, round tables in between them. Men dressed in expensive suits and women in cocktail dresses enjoyed all kinds of beverages from beers to tea, while five, mechanical looking receptionists waited at the check-in desk with plastic smiles.

"Mr. Kaiba," welcomed one of them. "Excellent to see you!"

Of course it was excellent, thought Kaiba. He was paying them five thousand dollars a night for the presidential suite, which was the only room in the hotel with two bedrooms. There was no way he was sharing a bedroom with Gardner, and it was far too risky for the two to be separated.

For a man as rich and influential as Kaiba, it was a short and quick matter to check-in and have their bags taken up to the suite. Kyle followed Kaiba through the lobby, looking around at the decorations in the lobby in awe. Kaiba didn't blame him. After all, for a kid who'd spent most of his life either with his abusive uncle or in the back alleys of Domino, this was a dream.

Kyle almost reminded Kaiba of himself as a young man. Both were haughty, reserved people, and both suffered harsh childhoods. Kaiba had to admit that Kyle's dueling skills, though not on par with his own, were nonetheless incredible. Of course, both of them were extremely protective of their siblings.

They were on the fifth floor, so the elevator ride was relatively short. Within moments they were in their suite. Their bags had already been placed on stands in their respective bedrooms. Kyle collapsed on the sofa in the sitting room with a whoop. He looked over at Kaiba with a faint smile.

"I gotta tell you this, Kaiba, I owe you one. Someone like me would've never been able to make it to a place like this before. You may not admit it, but you don't seem to be the cold-hearted bugger you try to portray yourself as."

Kaiba only smirked back. "You won't be spending too much time here if you go down looking like that. Shower and change into a decent pair of clothes. I'm going to do the same and then I'm going to make some enquiries about this tournament."

They were both done within twenty minutes, with Kyle dressed in a white shirt and black pants, covered by a black jacket. Kaiba was wearing his typical trench coat with a black bodysuit inside.

"Are you hungry?" muttered the CEO as he slipped on his shoes. It was ten p.m. in Switzerland, as Kaiba's jet had been able to make the transatlantic journey in just under five hours, flying at Mach 1.2. But if the time difference was factored in, then it felt like only five p.m. for the pair, and both didn't seem ready to call it a night any time soon.

"Eh, I ate on the train," replied Kyle.

"Fine. Wait here, I'll be back in an hour."

"Are you kidding?" shot back Kyle. "I think the reason I came with you was because I'd be actively helping you with this situation. I'm not going to sit around in this room, as good as it is, and do nothing. We had a deal, Kaiba."

The CEO gave him an irritated look. "Fine. Come down with me. But don't embarrass me, or there'll be hell to pay. If anyone asks, you're a friend of my younger brother who accompanied me on his insistence. He's sick upstairs. Got that?"

"Yes, sir!" said Kyle with a mocking salute. Kaiba rolled his eyes. "C'mon then."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"So, they've taken the bait," muttered James, from his seat in the restraunt, five meters from the casino. He was speaking into an almost invisible ear-piece. Kevin had the corresponding one, and was standing near the check-in counter. He had placed himself behind one of the many decorative trees that peppered the lobby, so that he had a clear view of the elevators, without being seen by the people who exited them.

"Where's Schweinstigger?" muttered Kevin.

"He's in the casino, waiting for his pals to arrive so he can begin his little game. He has no idea that we're here, not one," replied James. "What a way to go, without an inkling…."

He gave a dark laugh. Kevin shifted uncomfortably but said nothing.

"So, have you got the plan correct?" continued James conversationally. Kevin nodded.

"We wait until the tournament ends. Kaiba will go after Schweinstigger, and try and question him, obviously. You take care of Schweinstigger, and then we isolate the two of them, and finish them off, one by one."

"And make sure you don't do something stupid, like challenging Kaiba to a duel," put in James. "You were lucky against Zerato, that's all. I don't care what Reflect says, you can have all the scary monsters you like but against an opponent of the caliber of Seto Kaiba you wouldn't last three turns."

Kevin's fist tightened in anger, but he said nothing. One day, when this was all over, he would find James and make him pay. Right now, he would concentrate on another, much sweeter revenge. "_Seto Kaiba… This is the time when you will truly realize what my father felt when you stole his rightful place at the top of the dueling world. You will know when I steal yours_!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Klaus Schweinstigger fiddled nervously with the chips in front of him. He wore an expensive Armani suit, but he wore it like a mannequin would in a store-window. He looked extremely ordinary and forgettable despite his attire, especially since the stress of the last few months had begun to get to him. He was very pale, and had dark circles underneath his eyes. He was physically unimposing, and had a blank voice.

He spoke loudly to the group of scowling men surrounding him.

"Good evening, gentlemen." His thick, East-European accent made him pronounce the word like 'chintlemen'.

"I am extremely glad you could make it to this tournament. None of us needs any introduction, of course. The opening bet, as you know, will be ten thousand dollars. I have spoken with the casino manager, and we will be able to continue until we are completely exhausted. Let us begin now, my friends."

He sat down, and looked across the table. He was sitting at the head, opposite to the dealer, who was now flicking two cards to each player with amazing dexterity. None of them were people whom he would call his friends, in truth.

The game was fast-paced. Schweinstigger seemed to be playing an all-or-nothing strategy, constantly raising his opponents by mind-blowing amounts. Luck seemed to be on his side as well, for two hours in, he staked twelve million dollars on a seventeen point four percent chance of a full-house, and strangely enough, won the round, even though two of his opponents had two pair.

It was about one a.m. when the game seemed to come to its conclusion. Only Schweinstigger and a Brazilian businessman remained. The latter had fixed the German with a hard look as he slowly turned over his opportunities in his head.

"All in," he finally mumbled, moving the stack of red and orange coins into the middle. Seventy-two million dollars. A large sum by any standards.

"Raise, all-in," echoed the dealer.

The communal cards were a king of diamonds, a five of hearts, and a ten, queen and king of spades.

The tension in the casino was almost frightening. Schweinstigger had an easy smile on his face. He took one more look at his two cards in the hole.

"All in," he replied. There was a shudder around the room as he pushed chip after chip into the pile in the middle of the table. This really was all or nothing.

"Showdown, please, gentlemen."

The Brazilian smirked and flipped his cards up. A king of clubs and a king of hearts. "Four of a kind," intoned the dealer.

All eyes were on Schweinstigger. He flipped over his own pair of cards. On top was a jack of spades. The Brazilian's heart nearly seemed to stop for a moment, when he realized that his opponent had not yet revealed his other card.

With that, he separated the two with his index and middle finger. "Oops."

An ace of spades.

Slowly, a small pattering of applause broke out around the room. "A royal flush. Monsieur Schweinstigger wins."

The Brazilian looked at him with a stony-faced glare, and got up. Along with the man's seventy-two million, Schweinstigger had bet forty-three million. One hundred and fifteen million in the pot. And it all belonged to him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"He'll try to leave now," muttered Kaiba. "$115,000,000…. He can disappear. He won't need to pay Paradias back."

"He was playing a risky game," pointed out Kyle. "Very risky. Especially in the final phase, he just kept raising. Until the final card was revealed, he had nothing. He was bluffing all along, and won on blind luck. You can't build your strategy around a royal flush, he just won on a whim."

"His opponents will think he cheated somehow," agreed Kaiba, keeping his eye on the German from across the bar. "He knows that his life is actually in danger now. We'll need to be quick if we are to make sure he doesn't escape."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Across the room, James shared his sentiments exactly. "That was extremely lucky… A little too lucky if you ask me. The odds of him winning on that last card were astronomical. He's bound to have been involved in some trickery here. I think it'd be best for us to get to him and take the money before his opponents begin to lose their temper."

Kevin nodded. He, too, had been amazed by Schweinstigger's win. It almost seemed like divine intervention. He grimaced to himself at the thought of what had to be done next. First, they would threaten him enough and force him to give up the pass code for access to the bank account to which his winnings were wired. Then, of course, he would have to die.

"_You don't need to do this_," a voice said in his head.

He shook his head angrily, clearing it of the irritating thoughts. He had made the right decision in joining Paradias, and he knew it. He had abandoned the weakness of his past, and would soon live a life of comfort and relaxation when this entire ordeal ended, and he would be able to finally settle his debt with Kaiba and move on.

And he would do it. Armed with the deck of Marik Ishtar, it would be an aberration if he was unable to. He scoffed at the thoughts of hesitation that had plagued him prior to this. "_It's over, Kaiba. This is the day when you come face to face with destiny._"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Schweinstigger hurried out of the front door of the hotel. It was two a.m., and admittedly, he did feel uncomfortable escaping in the dark. But he had no choice, otherwise the Brazilian man would come knocking on his suite door in a bad mood, with a variety of weapons. Not something he could risk, of course.

"What's your hurry?" snapped a voice behind him. He quickened his pace, ignoring the man. He had no luggage except a small suitcase full of bare essentials. He placed a hand on his chest, feeling the revolver he kept hidden in his jacket.

He felt a hand on his shoulder. Immediatley, he drew the revolver in one fluid motion, but at the same time, he was twisted around, and the gun knocked out of his hand. Wildly, he swung his suitcase in a wide arc. It hit something soft, drawing a grunt. He noticed a touch of crimson on it, and seemed satisfied with his effort. He turned around, ready to make a dash to the tram, which operated 24/7 between the station and the hotel, but the man grabbed his leg, causing him to fall over.

Looking up, he recognized the face staggering over him as one he would have rather have never seen at all. It was Seto Kaiba, one of the richest men in the world and easily the most powerful person in the gaming industry, along with Maximillion Pegasus.

"You…" he gasped. Before Kaiba could answer, he kicked upwards. Kaiba threw himself backward to avoid it, avoiding the brunt of the blow. However, it was enough to make him stumble backwards into the snow. Schweinstigger was on his feet again, scrabbling for the gun, but Kaiba's iron fist caught him in the gut. He staggered backwards, but felt another sharp blow in the chin. He groaned and lurched backwards, bleeding from his chin.

He tried to mount a feeble resistance, but he had not even run fifty meters since high school, which was in the seventies. No, he had no chance against a man as deadly as Kaiba. Within moments, the CEO had picked him up by his hair and dragged him further away from the hotel, near the woods. Throwing him against a rock, Kaiba spat and nodded to a shadow behind a tree. He was joined by a blonde teenager.

"What do you want, Kaiba?" groaned Schweinstigger.

"You know _bloody _well what I want!" growled Kaiba. "Kom Edi, the Howling Laughter. Pandemonium Circus. YOU stole those cards from Pegasus, and sold them to Paradias."

"I don't have any idea what you're talking about!"

He was cut off by another punch from Kaiba. "Don't give me that crap!" he roared. "I want everything! Names, figures, covers…. How did they get in touch with you, what was their cover, what have they been doing with you since then?"

"I don't know-…."

"LISTEN TO ME!" bellowed Kaiba, picking Schweinstigger up by his collar and slamming him into a tree. "The woman I love nearly _died_ because of how you helped your sick friends. The last people to mess with my personal life were the Rare Hunters, and they kidnapped my brother. After the Battle City tournament, I hunted down each and every one of them and made sure they were sent to places where even the _President_ couldn't get them back from."

Kyle stood by silently.

"If you think I'm going to let this slide, you are very mistaken. I can make you disappear. I can make a phone call right now, and by morning no one will know that you ever existed. I can wipe you off the map, Schweinstigger. Your assets will be frozen and no one will bother to ever legalize them. Even if I don't do that, I'll feed you to Paradias, and they're going to cut you up into tiny pieces and make you scream louder than-…."

"All right, all right!" he groaned. Kaiba dropped him.

He took a deep breath. When Seto Kaiba spoke about things like this, he was not joking. Frankly, Schweinstigger was even surprised he _had_ a personal life. But only a fool would not take Kaiba seriously in this kind of situation, and Schweinstigger was no fool.

"The first thing you should know is that I'm not in as deep with Paradias as you think. I am a businessman, Mr. Kaiba, and when I have an opportunity to make money I take it. Punish me for that if you wish, but you and I both know that in a case like this, I have done nothing wrong. All I am doing is making money. I may have stolen those cards, but I am not a murderer, Kaiba. Today I was going to sever all ties with Paradias and use my money to disappear forever."

Kaiba frowned. "I'm not here to listen to your pitiful justifications. I told you what I want: information. Give it to me."

"Fine!" snapped Schweinstigger. "It began one day when a man contacted me, and stated that he knew that I was attending the funeral of a man who held some extremely valuable cards. I was first going to his mansion along with quite a few other guests for a drink and a meal, before proceeding to the cemetery. He provided me with the location of those cards, and offered me two hundred thousand dollars to steal them for him. He paid me half in advance, and half after I had stolen them. The late man's son did not suspect me, but Pegasus did. They could never prove anything, however, and still can't. He paid me, and I was able to use this money in a number of successful financial ventures.

"I found out that he was from Paradias, and slowly began to take more loans from them. I paid them back handsomely from the profits of these ventures, but one day my luck ran out. Thanks to that creep Pegasus my stock plummeted, and I was facing bankruptcy. I used this tournament as a face to pay Paradias back, but all the while I was planning to double-cross them and escape."

"And who is this man who approached you?" sneered Kaiba.

Schweinstigger opened his mouth to speak, but suddenly, his body seized up. He gasped, and Kaiba looked around frantically. The only sound he had heard was a short, soft crack. It was a silenced gun. He turned back to see a rapidly growing red patch on Schweinstigger's jacket.

"This is not safe!" growled Kaiba, ripping off the man's jacket. He needed to know what the German knew. He pressed his hands down on his chest, pumping several times, attempting to keep him alive for as long as possible.

"Damn it, don't die on me!" roared Kaiba. He looked at Kyle.

"Go back to the hotel and get help. Stay on the main path, or you'll be dead before you get there."

"What about you?" questioned the teenager.

"I can handle myself. Plus, I have to keep this man alive." With that, he began to scoop up snow in his hands and pile it over the dying man. Kyle nodded. It made sense. Lowering the body temperature so that the lack of oxygen wouldn't cause the tissue to rot was the first step in trying to save a dying person. Only Seto Kaiba could've improvised like this on such a short term.

"What if they take another crack at it?"

"It's the only way," growled Kaiba over Schweinstigger's gasps. "GO!"

Kyle nodded and tore off into the darkness.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

James flung the empty gun aside. He knew Reflect would not be too happy with the fact that they had been unable to get the money, but allowing Schweinstigger to reveal such sensitive information to Kaiba would've had far worse consequences.

The best part was that he had sent Kyle off to get help alone, while he himself no doubt engaged in some hopeless attempt to revive the man for long enough to find out more details about Paradias. It was just another eye-opener about the narrow-mindedness of the Infinity Council as well as Eagle. They considered Apocalypse to be such a great threat that they did not even think Paradias merited a mention to their group of duelists.

And they would pay dearly for that. Up until that point, what advancements had Apocalypse made besides the resurrection of his Third Horseman? It was Paradias who did all the dirty work, the kidnapping, the murders, the extortion… They were the ones who were causing the two-headed beast of Eagle and the Council the most trouble.

"Now, Kyle, it's time you took a little detour…. To hell," he chortled to himself as he pulled his deck out of his belt and held it up to the bleak moonlight.

"_It's been five years since I last met you, Kyle. Five long years during which I've been dreaming of this moment every single night. It's time for you to meet your maker_."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kyle tore across the path frantically. He knew that Kaiba's ploy would only buy them some time, and then there was the risk that the gunman might return to finish the job. He could only hope that the shot had attracted some of the hotel guards. It was quite a hike back to the hotel, and he was already tired, for the jet-lag seemed to be setting in.

A figure was blocking his path. He gasped out in relief. "Hey, there's a man back there! I need your help, he's been shot!"

He jerked a thumb back in the direction of the small area where Kaiba was desperately trying to keep Schweinstigger alive.

"I know," drawled the person. Kyle narrowed his eyes. What was it about that voice that made it seem familiar? "I shot him."

"_It can't be_…." But it was true. He would recognize that voice anywhere, and at any time. The person stepped out into his view, and his eyes widened. The bright red hair, the piercing green eyes, the ever-present sarcasm in his smirk…

He fell to his knees. "_I… I can't believe it_."

"Well, you'd better believe this," sneered James, as if reading Kyle's mind. Kyle didn't answer, and simply continued to stare out into space.

"Do you know how long I've waited for this opportunity, Kyle? How many sleepless nights I've spent thinking about this moment? How many times I've killed people, all the while picturing you as my victim? It drove me crazy, it did, Kyle. I can't say I'll be sad when it's over."

With a snarl, he rushed forward and punched him full across the face. It drew blood, and Kyle was thrown onto his back. He staggered upwards, but James was in another league. He spun around on his heel, driving his foot into Kyle's stomach. The teenager groaned and keeled over, but was dealt another punch to his torso, throwing him backwards.

"Pathetic," whispered James. "Absolutely pathetic. You can't even fight back, can you, Kyle? I was hoping for more of a challenge when I finally got my due, but it looks like I came looking in the wrong place." With another snarl, he lashed out with a brutal roundhouse kick to the face.

Something clicked in Kyle's mind, and he caught his opponent's foot. He twisted, and James fell over. Kyle staggered upwards, a large cut on his face. He knew that defeating James was out of the question. He _had_ to get help, otherwise Schweinstigger was as good as dead.

James was up in a moment, seemingly unaffected. "Going somewhere, are we, Kyle?" he sneered. "No. I've waited too long for this to be such a short meeting." He aimed a punch for his opponent's stomach, but Kyle threw himself out of the way.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" he bellowed, ducking under another punch. "Why did you shoot that man?"

James snickered. "You really haven't changed a bit, have you, Kyle? The same, obnoxious, stuck-up kid who thought that he was always in charge of the bloody situation. Always asking the questions, demanding information, being so straight-up and frank about it… Me, on the other hand… I'm different. I've changed, mate. What I was before was a shadow of what I am now."

"Let me guess…. Paradias?" said Kyle sarcastically.

"Good guess," nodded James.

"Look, whatever you have against me, I don't give a damn. Let me go. I need to get help for that man, it's the only way…"

"Are you deaf?" inquired James. "If I shot the man, I'm not very likely to allow you to save him, am I? If you wish to save a life, then you will have to take one. Namely, mine. And it wouldn't be the first, now, would it, Kyle?"

The younger man's fist was clenched. "_Shut up_."

"Hmm, that's what I'm talking about. You'll always be more of a challenge when you're angry. Now, why don't we make this a little more satisfying?"

He pulled a Chaos Duel Disk out of his jacket and put it on.

"_This is the only way… I can't beat him in a physical fight and he knows it. But even if I beat him like this, then it might still be too late_." But he knew it was the only way. Grimly, he slid his deck into his own Duel Disk and fired off the holo projectors.

"Believe me, Kyle, this is not going to be as easy as you think," cackled James, as he drew his first five cards.

(Kyle: 8000, James: 8000)

"LET'S DUEL!"

"This is it, James," growled Kyle as he lifted up a card. "Once we're done with this duel you'll be gone and I'll never have to deal with you again."

"I was just thinking the same thing about you," replied James. "But hurry up and make your damn move."

"I summon Breaker the Magical Warrior (1600/1000)!" A maroon robed mage with a sword, shield, a strange mage's hat, a maroon cape, and maroon armor appeared onto the field. His body was completely covered, except for from his nose down, which showed blue skin.

"When he's summoned, he gets a Spell Counter, and 300 attack points with it (1900/1000)!" The monster flaunted its weapon, as it ignited with a type of fiery energy. "Then I set a card. That'll do for now; I'll keep things real simple for you."

James drew.

"I, on the other hand, will not be doing you a similar favor… I summon Ruin, Princess of Destruction (1800/600) in attack mode."

A female warrior with ebony black hair appeared. She was dressed in red satin robes, and carried an evil looking dagger.

"She may be weaker than Breaker, but I won't be using her for an attack right now. Instead, I activate the ritual magic card End of the World, and I will sacrifice my Princess of Destruction to call upon one of my favorite monsters, and one that you may remember quite well… Ruin, Queen of Oblivion (2300/2000)!"

With a smirk rivaling James' a tall and extremely slender woman walked out onto the field. She had dull white hair which hung down to her ankles in the back while a few scattered locks up front reached down to her mid torso. Two large crimson fins arched up from her head, being attached to a small cap of the same material placed over the back half of her head. A top of the same deep red was what was used to cover her top, but barely. It was sleeveless and a large diamond shaped opening exposed her stomach (which was actually very well toned and muscular when compared to the rest of her thin body) while a long black cloth hung from the girdle over the front and back of her legs. Finally, elbow-length gloves covered each arm, and in her right hand she held a red weapon reminiscent of a spear, only the head was extremely wide and split like a double-bladed axe.

Kyle swore. "How the hell did you summon a level eight ritual monster by sacrificing one level four monster?"

"That would be the effect of Ruin, Princess of Destruction. When she is sacrificed to End of the World from my _field_, then she is counted as a level eight monster. Not only that, Ruin will gain seven hundred attack points."

Kyle watched in horror as Ruin, Queen of Oblivion (3000/2000) raised her weapon with a light screech.

"Now, Ruin will destroy your pathetic excuse for a monster!" Hefting her weapon without any trouble the woman gave it a few experimental slashes at the air before grinning with satisfaction. Turning her attention to the other spellcaster, she lifted it over her head, preparing his attack. Breaker didn't react in the slightest.

"I activate Damage Polarizer, which will make it impossible for either of us to take battle damage or effect damage this turn!" replied Kyle.

A flash of light enveloped the entire field. Kyle could see the dim outline of Ruin taking off across the field for an attack. But the light got even brighter then, blinding the both of them. When it finally disappeared, Breaker was unharmed, and Ruin was back on James' field. No visible damage had been done.

"Fine. I set a card and end my turn."

Kyle snapped the top card off his deck. "_I need to end this fast. As it is, Schweinstigger may already be dead._"

"I summon Skilled Chaos Magician (1900/1700) in attack mode." Appearing next to Breaker was a tall, thin man dressed all in white robes. In one hand he held a black book covered with scrawls of arcane symbols. His face was covered by a hood, and he held a short staff in one hand. The staff was topped with a glowing ruby.

"Now, I'll remove Breaker's counter in order to destroy your facedown card!"

Breaker slashed forward, letting lose a crescent of rainbow colored energy (1600/1000). It slammed into the facedown card, but James seemed to react in no time at all.

"I will activate my quick-play spell card, Calling of the End, before you can destroy it. It allows me to add one 'End of the World' ritual magic card from my graveyard to my hand." He almost immediatley found the necessary card, and slid it back into his hand, just as Breaker shattered the card.

Kyle was unperturbed. "Fine. But since you activated a magic card, Skilled Chaos Magician gains one magic counter." A glowing orb of rainbow-colored energy appeared next to Kyle's newest monster.

"Then, I will also activate Magical Dimension, which will only activate when I have one spellcaster on the field!"

Rising up from the ground was a strange statue held up by a box like structure with chains holding it in mid air. The statue soon opened the top half up, sucking in Breaker, causing the ruby energy to immediately vanish in mid-flight. Once the doors to the statue closed, it lightly glowed before opening up once more.

Coming out in the dragon's place was a mage with long flowing purple hair, a black pair of leather pants, a short sleeved cloak with black flowing cloak, an odd black hat, two black finger cut off gloves, a staff with bird like claws whit a small orb clutched within it, and nine different colored spheres formed an arch around him.

"When I successfully activate this card, I can sacrifice one monster on my field in order to special summon a spellcaster from my hand. I think Rapid-Fire Magician (1600/1200) makes a good choice, especially since I can now use the second part of Magical Dimension's effect to destroy your Queen of Oblivion!"

The coffin, which had not yet disappeared, released a blast of crimson energy in the direction of the gaudily-dressed woman on James' field. However, she snarled and lashed out with her weapon, deflecting the blast back towards the Rapid-Fire Magician, who looked on in shock as he was atomized by the energy within seconds.

"What the hell…" growled Kyle.

"I activated the quick-play magic card, Bounce, which will instead make one monster on your field that was summoned during this turn the target of Magical Dimension's effect."

"Don't forget, Skilled Chaos Magician now has three counters," warned Kyle. It was true. Now, three rainbow colored spheres were floating before the white-clad magician.

"And now, I can sacrifice him and his three counters to summon _my_ favorite monster… Arise, Dark Magician of Chaos (2800/2600)!"

The Skilled Chaos Magician vanished, and was replaced by a magician wearing a large blue and purple hat that pointed out in both directions behind it soaring out of it. The magician wore dark, blue clothes in entirety, and it also had blue skin. It had sharp, staring eyes, and black hair. It held a very long, thin, blue staff with three purple rings at both ends of it. On one end, the staff was pointed as a spear. On the other, it was the end of a normal staff, with a dark, blue sphere inside it.

"And as I'm sure you know that Dark Magician of Chaos allows me to add a magic card from my hand to my graveyard. I choose Magical Dimension, but I won't activate it just yet. Instead I set a card and end my turn."

James drew. "This will end soon, Kyle, I've had enough of you. Ruin, Queen of Oblivion, eliminate his Dark Magician of Chaos!"

The white-haired woman smirked at the blue-skinned mage, and charged forward, drawing her axe upwards against the snow. Despite this, sparks were beginning to flicker, and soon, flames erupted around the blade. She slammed it downwards on the magician, but Kyle seemed ready. "I activate Command Silencer, negating your attack and allowing me to draw a card!"

The familiar, large, totem pole appeared between the two monsters, releasing a wave of sonic sound energy. Ruin howled in agony, clapping her hands over her ears as she retreated back to James' field.

"You fool, Ruin can attack twice in one turn…!"

Kyle, who had been examining the card he just drew, gasped and looked up in shock as the Queen cackled and rushed forward again, swinging her axe sideways in a slashing movement. It cleaved the Dark Magician of Chaos in half, and Kyle had to watch in shock as the two pieces of his favorite monster vanished into an infinite number of tiny pixels.

He could've activated Magical Dimension, sacrificing Dark Magician of Chaos to destroy Ruin as well, but he hadn't even drawn a spellcaster to summon. He didn't want to take the risk of not being able to use the card later on in the duel, in a more beneficial situation.

(Kyle: 7800, James: 8000)

"Don't you understand that my monsters are greater than yours, Kyle?" sneered James. "I have extensive details about your dueling history. Most recently you've allowed your deck to grow into one focused on the Chaos monsters. But as I'm sure you know, Ruin has been created as the re-incarnation to the infamous Black Luster Soldier-Envoy of the Beginning. You continue to use redundant strategies, Kyle, and that is going to be the reason for your defeat. I, on the other hand, have moved onto the future, and that is why I will prevail over you once and for all."

"Have you finished with your lecture?" said Kyle impatiently. "Just finish your move."

"I will do nothing more, in that case. It's your move."

Kyle had three cards in his hand, not enough to begin planning Ruin's destruction. "I set a monster facedown, as well as a facedown card. I end my turn."

James drew, giving him three cards to begin the turn as well. "I activate Graceful Charity, allowing me to discard two cards from my hand while drawing three." Quickly, he did so, before picking up again. "Since I discarded Beiige, Vanguard of the Dark World (1600/1300), I can use his own effect to special summon him!"

A tinted, blue-skinned warrior holding a long, twisted, beige staff spear with a sword-like blade extending at the end of it rose onto the field. It had sinister-looking and rusted, light-beige armor on its upper-body, with spikes on the shoulders. It had a skull-like helmet across its face, flashing its dirty, yellow teeth from the inside. The top-center of the skull helmet appeared as though it could have been made from a slain enemy's spine. Similar kneepads were worn on it, with more sharp points sticking out.

"I'm not finished yet, however, as I also normal summon Shining Angel (1400/700) in attack mode!" Also appearing on his field was a blonde haired young man with large golden wings sticking out his back and a white tunic and shorts.

"Now, Shining Angel will destroy your facedown monster!" commanded James.

The blonde man raised his hand, firing off a sphere of white energy at Kyle's monster. The card image soon vanished to reveal a young mage in a kneeling position. The mage had blonde hair that stood up somewhat, a red bandanna that was somewhat long in the back, purple body armor that covered its body, except for its arms, and had a green staff positioned defensively in front of itself. The sphere struck the mage, causing it to shatter almost immediatley.

"Since you destroyed Apprentice Magician (400/800), I can now special summon one level two or lower spellcaster monster from my deck in facedown defense mode!"

As he found the card and placed it on his Duel Disk horizontally, James declared, "Beiige, exterminate it!"

It raised its sword-like staff, and rushed forward. It struck the facedown card with a terrible blow from its blade, shattering it almost instantly. It was, predictably, another Apprentice Magician, allowing Kyle to summon yet another one from his deck.

"Ruin, attack with Strike of Despair!" Once again, the white haired woman swept forward, and slammed her axe down onto the facedown card, revealing the third and final Apprentice Magician, which let out a cry of agony as he was shattered by the blow, leaving a dark, unpleasant stain on Kyle's field.

"My final monster!" retorted Kyle, sliding into play on his Duel Disk. Ruin's eyes flashed as she once again attacked on James' command.

Her strike instantly destroyed the facedown card image, instantly revealing a young female mage with long pink hair up in a pony tail, wearing purple and pink robes with a yellow cord belt, holding a long golden staff with a crescent moon at the top of the staff. Ruin struck her again with her axe, this time destroying her.

"You flipped Magician of Faith (300/400). I can now add one magic card from my graveyard, so I choose my quick-play spell card Damage Polarizer."

James shrugged. "Soon, Kyle, this duel will be at an end. You are only delaying the inevitable. I end my turn."

Kyle drew. "Now you're in serious trouble. I remove from play my light attribute Magician of Faith and dark attribute Rapid-Fire Magician to summon Chaos Sorcerer (2300/2000)."

Slowly materializing onto the field was a creature with purple skin, two large ivory white horns on the side of his head, and yellow eyes. On his chest were a few straps that crisscrossed his body. His shoulders were covered by a set of shoulder pads made up of leather. He had armbands that went from his elbow to his wrists that were black as well, and finally wore a pair of black leather pants and a battle skirt as well.

"Another Chaos monster…" murmured James.

"As I'm sure you know, Chaos Sorcerer's effect allows me to sacrifice his attack to remove one monster on the field from play. I choose to permanently banish Ruin from this duel!"

Raising his left arm above his head, and lowering his left to his stomach, the purple skinned mage sent power coursing into his palms. A black glow appeared in his left hand, while a white glow appeared in his left. Widening his golden eyes, he shot a beam of energy from each hand at Ruin, who let out a small scream as she slowly began to fade away as the attack came in contact with her. Within seconds she had disappeared.

James quirked an eyebrow. "Admittedly I didn't expect you to deal with Ruin so quickly. Don't get ahead of yourself, though. But it doesn't matter, I have far more in my deck where that came from."

"I'm going to make sure you don't last long enough in this duel to reveal it!" snapped Kyle. "I will end my turn."

James drew. "I switch Beiige and Shining Angel to defense mode. That will do for now."

Kyle immediatley placed the card he had drawn onto his monster card zone. "I summon Magician's Valkyrie (1600/1800) in attack mode."

A young female mage with long chestnut colored hair that reached her mid-back that wore a mostly light blue with some light purple like dress and an odd looking light blue mage's hat appeared onto the field. She held a scepter in her right hand that looked like a ram's horn on the end of a stick that had three green jewels on each side. The scepter itself was a light grey.

"Now, I attack Beiige with Valkyrie!"

The female mage fired out a sphere of green energy from her staff. It slammed into the unfortunate fiend, whose jaw dropped stupidly as he was reduced to nothingness almost immediatley.

"Of course, I know your Shining Angel's effect, which will allow you to summon a light monster with fifteen hundred or less attack points when he's destroyed in battle. So I'll instead remove him from play using Chaos Sorcerer's effect!" The purple-skinned mage raised his hand and a sphere of black energy appeared on it. However, it seemed to be giving of a strange light as well. The muscles in his hand tensed slightly, and the sphere erupted outwards toward the blonde man, who merely stared into it sadly before it completely consumed him, reducing him to nothingness.

"My turn ends now. Your stalling is at an end, James."

James casually snapped the top card off his deck.

"I activate Orb of Chaotic Resurrection, allowing me to send three dark fiend type monster from my deck to special summon one light angel type monster from my hand, or vice-versa. I choose to send three light-fairy type monsters from my deck to my graveyard, in order to summon forth Newdoria (1200/800)!"

A hideous, demonic beast materialized onto James' field. It had red skin, and was clad in black armor, with numerous spikes erupting from various points on the armor. It wore green trousers, with spiky gray hair sticking out from the sides of its head. Most of its head was covered by a black band, but its open mouth dripped saliva.

"Now, I sacrifice him to summon another intricate part of my deck's strategy… Sky Scourge Invicil (2200/1600)!"

A haunting, sheep-skinned-white-haired being slowly slithered up from belowground, its long, skinny arms dragging up with it. The upper arms were black-striped, and the forearms were pale-white, with golden rings wrapped around the wrists. It had sharp, pointed wings on the sides of it, with the tip-top being white, shading down slowly until pitch-black at the bottom. Its body had a flat, thin form, with the upper body covered in gray and black stripes, and the bottom covered in black-lined stripes, with small white trenches in-between; in-between the two bodies was a rusted and faded gold streak. The face was hidden behind the hair, except for the sadistic and horrifying smile.

"What the hell is that thing?!" snapped Kyle.

"You will find out in due time. Meanwhile, I will remove from play three light, angel-type monsters, namely the pair of Shining Angels (1400/700) (x2), that reached the graveyard thanks to Orb of Chaotic Resurrection, and Nova Summoner (1400/800), as well as the dark, fiend-type Beiige, Vanguard of the Dark World, to call upon Sky Scourge Enrise (2400/1500)!"

A violet-shaded black hole appeared on the field, shrinking in size, revealing a being from it. It had long, almost crescent-shaped, black and white wings. The being's upper arms were covered in some black-leather material, with its forearms being white-skinned. The hands were covered in dark, leather gloves. The black hole sank low enough to only cover the lower-upper body of the being, the upper-upper body being the white skin. It had dark, leather trousers, with belt straps wrapped around the waist and each kneecap. It leered at Kyle, its white hair wafting backwards in the breeze.

"What on Earth are Sky Scourges?!" growled Kyle.

"Yes, perhaps a brief explanation is in order." James smiled inwardly at this. Even though Kyle had absolutely no chance of beating him if he didn't even have the faintest idea of what James' deck was about, it would be useful to make the duel longer, making sure that the job could be finished and Schweinstigger eliminated for good.

"The Sky Scourges are a relatively new set of cards, released by Industrial Illusions because fans were clamoring for more copies of the fabled Chaos monsters. They had grown so rare and powerful, that it was nearly impossible to find them. You, of course, typically acquired them at the grace of Yugi Moto."

Kyle scowled but said nothing.

"Just like Ruin, they are reincarnations of the original Chaos monsters. Perhaps a little less broken, but nonetheless deadly, especially when used in combination with each other."

"So you're using some kind of… Neo-Chaos deck?" groaned Kyle.

"No, I wouldn't put it like that," said James, his eyes flashing.

"The two facets of my deck have an identity of their own. Many have considered them to be the poor man's versions of the Chaos monsters, but I have proved them wrong time and again. You have won duels merely by harnessing the unfair power of the likes of Chaos Emperor Dragon-Envoy of the End, and Black Luster Soldier-Envoy of the Beginning, while I have depended on the balanced might of my deck as well as my own skill. But deep within the recesses of my deck awaits power that you shall wish you had never seen, Kyle. Very few people have even _heard_ about some of the cards I possess. You should be happy if my ordinary strength is enough to crush you, and I do not have to resort to more extreme means."

Kyle shrugged. "Whatever. Just make your move."

"Gladly. You see, depending on what kind of monster I sacrifice, Invicil gains an effect. If I sacrificed a light, angel-type monster, he negates all spell cards. But since I sacrificed a dark, fiend-type monster, all trap cards are now negated instead!"

Kyle frowned, but heaved a mental sigh of relief. It helped that Damage Polarizer was a quick-play magic card.

"Now, I will activate the effect of Sky Scourge Enrise, allowing me to once per turn remove a face-up monster on your field from play at the cost of sacrificing his attack for the turn."

"_Crap! That effect is almost identical to Chaos Sorcerer!_"

"Enrise!" Enrise complied with the request, the violet black hole drawing Chaos Sorcerer in. The purple skinned magician was shrunken down to a microscopic size, being absorbed into the black hole, which then ceased its pulling powers.

"_Damn it_!" thought Kyle wildly. "_I would have easily been able to remove Enrise from play next turn and then switch Valkyrie to defense mode! Now even if I use Damage Polarizer, I'll have one monster to use at best_."

"Invicil, obliterate Magician's Valkyrie," commanded James. The freakish beast raised its long, thin arms, and a wave of gray energy issued forth. It continued on until it struck the Valkyrie. Kyle's head hung dejected momentarily before he snapped his head upwards.

"Damage Polarizer activates!" he bellowed. Once again, the field was enveloped in a flash of light, leaving the magician unharmed when it vanished.

"You have impressed me, Kyle," mused James. "Your defensives strategies may be passable, but I still have to say that on offense you are pathetic."

"I didn't ask for your opinion," growled Kyle.

"You should be thrilled that I took time out to give it to a pitiful worm like you anyway," sneered James.

"Why do you hate me so much?!" roared Kyle, throwing his arms up. "One incident in the detention center, and you throw away your entire damn life to get revenge. I was a kid, all right, a stupid kid! I made a mistake. If you can't get over that, you didn't deserve to leave an early release at all!"

James' eyes flashed. "Perhaps you have forgotten, but I remember it all to well Kyle. What was 'one incident' to you was a whole lot more to me. Maybe I should refresh your memory…."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Flashback_

_Kyle sourly walked past the dustbin at the end of the cafeteria silently, dumping his tray into it before walking off in the direction of his dorm. After lunch, all the guys there had an hour of free time, and were allowed to use the recreation room or the library during that period. Kyle chose to catch up on his sleeping instead._

_After all, he was the youngest inmate at the Domino Juvenile Detention Center, _ever. _At just eleven years old, he would normally be prone to being bullied. But Kyle Gardner was not one whom bullies would normally go after. The oldest inmates there were sixteen years old, and one of them had tried to push him around on his first day. Kyle had broken his jaw. For that, he had been restricted to solitary confinement for a day. It had been hell._

_But he had sent a message, and that was that he was not someone to be tangled with. Kyle was the only inmate there for murder, first, second, or third degree. Even the most notorious inmates were guilty of assault, or perhaps burglary. But a murderer was unheard of, especially in these parts. _

_The judge had made some allowances, however. The man whom he had killed, his uncle, had been abusive, and if alive, would have been guilty of attempted murder. Kyle had killed the man in self-defense. It was very possible that he would have lived if he had been given proper medical attention. In fact, theoretically, Kyle could not be blamed. If he had not acted, his sister might have died, and he would have been left at the mercy of a drunk madman._

_But there was an uproar in the community. If preteens were guilty of killing people, then where was the community going? Someone had to take the blame for it. Many people thought that Kyle's aunt was guilty, for not preventing her boyfriend from getting abusive in the first place. But eventually, it was Kyle who had to take it. Tea had tried desperately to bail him out, working double shifts at the restraunt, and borrowing money from her friends on the pretence of trying to buy a house. But it didn't work, and he had to spend three months in the local juvenile detention center._

_He had already finished two months, and was looking forward to getting out of there. Some of the more sick-minded inmates actually appreciated what Kyle had done, joking with him about 'starting young'. He had ignored them, however, instead choosing to stay as isolated as possible so that he left there the same person he was when he came in._

_As he walked by a corridor, he heard a grunt coming from it. He peeked in to see a single, red-haired, twelve-year old, surrounded by three, larger fifteen year-olds. They were attacking him three-on-one, and he was obviously losing. Kyle strode in without thinking and bellowed, "What the hell d'you think you're doing?"_

_One of the older guys turned around. "Gardner," he grunted. "I didn't know murderers hung around in this part."_

_Kyle lost it at that one. Despite being physically smaller and weaker than the other three, he had deadly skill. Hanging out on the mean streets of Domino's less civilized areas had equipped him with fighting skills many of the kids here could only dream of. He didn't look it, but he was one inmate no one in their right mind would pick a fight with._

_He dealt the first offender a powerful punch to the face. He smiled as he heard him groan. The redhead just needed that distraction to break out of a headlock and deal another of his attackers a powerful kick to the groin. He groaned, and Kyle took the opporunity to deal him a roundhouse kick to the face, drawing blood._

_Suddenly, there was a roar, and all five combatants were pushed to the ground by a group of new arrivals. The wardens had arrived._

_Later, they were spoken to separately. "This is your second altercation of your term!" boomed Kyle's questioner. "The judge may even extend it!"_

_Kyle knew that it was stupid of him to get involved. Looking back now, it was an idiotic mistake he had made in the heat of the moment. _

"_The four of them attacked me," he lied. "I had to defend myself." The warden gave him a hard look._

_For some reason, one of the fifteen year-olds actually agreed with him, but kept insisting that it was James, the redhead, who was responsible for it. It was learnt later that he was schizophrenic, and had actually developed some kind of warped fear of Kyle. But they had believed him, at least temporarily, and James was put in solitary confinement for a week._

_The truth came out eventually, though. The schizophrenic broke down and answered their questions truthfully. James, who had not been involved in any altercations prior to this, ended up with an early release on parole, and only after he had spent a full week in solitary. No inmate had seen him after that, but it was rumored that he had truly lost his mind._

_Kyle himself had his sentence extended by ten days. But he knew that it was nothing compared to what James had to endure. One day in solitary was bad enough, but a week… It was surprising that James did not commit suicide. _

_By then, of course, Kyle had learned not to care. It was the law of nature: the strong live, and the weak perish. Kyle had done what was necessary to save himself. James was no angel either, having come to the detention center for grievous bodily harm. Admittedly, he had made the mistake of entering the fight in the first place, but he would not let himself be punished. Who cared what happened to James?_

_The selfishness persisted, and eventually Kyle left the center completely guiltless. James could go to hell for all he cared._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Legion… God?" croaked Angel, as he stared at the gigantic dragon that was hovering over Belial's field. His Shadow Game had been obliterated by the green storm of energy that Belial's newest monster was emanating. Even the Witch-King was silenced by this latest development, and simply watched the awe-inspiring beast on Belial's field as it flapped its wings, causing a wave of dust to pick up from the ground.

"Do you think that you can take things as and when it pleases you?" roared Belial. "Let's have a little fun now, shall we? I'm going to show you what you do to others. Behemoth, unleash your wrath upon my foe!"

The almost mechanical looking god flapped its wings once more, and took off into the sky. It was so large that it seemed to block out the sky. It let out a screech, one louder and more terrible than anything the Nazgul were capable of. Angel fell to his knees, roaring in pain as he clapped his hands over his ears.

Yugi's Puzzle was glowing furiously in an attempt to protect him from succumbing to the unearthly sound echoing through the vast nothingness of Necropolis. "_I've never seen anything like it… Where the hell could Belial get this kind of power from_?"

"When the Legion God – Behemoth, is summoned, all other monsters on the field are destroyed!"

Angel gasped in shock as the dragon flapped its gigantic wings so hard that it kicked up another wave of greenish-black energy, one larger then any of the previous ones. It erupted outwards around the field, slamming into the Witch-King. The Lord of the Nazgul had let out a hoarse cry and raised his weapons as it approached him, but it was like trying to stop a tsunami with a toothpick. He was literally ripped apart by the attack. First his head disintegrated. Then his limbs followed into nothingness. Soon, only its floating torso was left on Angel's field, and within seconds, it too erupted into dust.

The wave continued on and slammed into Angel, throwing him back against the ground. He tried to stagger upwards, but the incredible magical force behind Behemoth's attack was far too strong for even him to withstand. He roared in pain as the green wind caused cuts to erupt all over his exposed skin. He was unaware of the yells of the spectators, the triumphant roar of Belial, or the howl of the Legion God. All he was aware of was the excruciating pain that seared his body. It seemed like it had lasted forever, while in truth Behemoth had only launched its attack a few seconds ago.

He staggered upwards, gasping to himself. "_Impossible_…" he thought in agony. "_Belial… He cannot control this level of power_."

"How does it feel, Dark King of the Abyss?" sneered Belial. "What passes through your mind as you resign yourself to the fact that all your efforts over the past decade and a half have come to nothing?"

Angel ignored him, choosing to instead focus blearily on his Duel Disk. Suddenly, he noticed Behemoth's statistics.

"It has zero attack and defense points!" he gasped.

"Indeed," replied Belial nastily. The Legion God roared, as if to agree with him. "The might of Behemoth goes far beyond brute force."

Thoroughly confused, Angel instead pressed a button on his Duel Disk. "I activate my trap card, Replication of Brothers. It allows me to special summon three monsters from my graveyard, although each one must not have more than twenty-five hundred attack points. They cannot attack on the turn they are summoned, and are destroyed on my next end phase. Arise, my three Mumakil (2400/1700) (x3)!"

Once again, the three elephant-like demons appeared on his field. They trumpeted out loud, and one of them noticed the One Ring lying on the ground somewhere among the devastation. It slowly paced forward, and an armored man slid down its side, from a small seat upon the Mumakil's back where he had been controlling its movements. He picked up the Ring and with a smirk climbed back onto his steed.

"You fool…" hissed Belial. "You have just provided me with an opportunity to show you the might of Behemoth. Attack his Mumakil now!"

The terrible dragon opened its mouth, and green flames began to form in its maw. Angel looked on incredulously as the flames began to grow, until it looked like a volcano was going to erupt from within its jaws. The winds around it were picking up even more, throwing up dust and green sparks. Even the terrible, flaming eye on the top of Barad-dûr turned its gaze upon the divine beast.

Suddenly, it let lose its attack. It was in the form of an emerald sphere with tinges of black, with ripples of energy gracing its surface. It seemed to move at a speed greater than anything the spectators had ever seen before. It slammed into the elephant-like beast, enveloping the entire field. Belial gazed on as the sphere began to grow upon the point of collision, growing so large and bright that nothing could be seen.

Then it exploded. It felt like an earthquake had occurred beneath their feet, and only Belial simply gazed on at the sight of such destruction, his bottom jaw hanging slightly lower than normal, an almost hungry look on his face as his green aura continued to grow.

When the smoke cleared, all three Mumakil had disappeared.

(Belial: 200, Angel: 800)

"Behemoth cannot be destroyed in battle, and I cannot be dealt battle damage from battles involving it. When he attacks a monster on your field, all cards on your field are destroyed, and you are dealt one thousand points of damage. This, then, Angel, is the might of the Legion God."

The remaining tendrils of smoke were billowing ominously along Angel's field. The Eye was shining down even more brightly now, and Mordor's sky seemed to be growing darker.

"Fool…" said a voice from within the smoke. It finally cleared to reveal Angel, a crazed smile on his face. His eyes seemed to have a crimson touch to them, and black electricity was crackling along his finger-tips. He sneered inwardly to himself. For some reason, Barad-dûr as a whole seemed a lot more destructive and intimidating, with a large black aura coming off from it.

"When you destroyed the first Mumakil, I transferred the One Ring to the other, and as that one was destroyed, the last one acquired it. In the destruction of the final one, Black Tower of Mordor acquired its twelfth Lord's Shadow counter."

"Against Behemoth, nothing matters," growled Belial.

Angel ignored him, as he drew. "When the Black Tower of Mordor gains its twelfth Lord's Shadow counter, I can send it to the graveyard to special summon a monster from my deck that will bring about your ultimate demise."

Barad-dûr was breaking apart, and black lightning struck the barren ground of the plains of Gorgoroth. It seemed like a great and terrible force was pulling it inwards. The flaming eye on the top of the Tower was glowing far more intensely then before. A bolt of lighting struck it, triggering an explosion. It seemed to be enough for the entire tower to break apart, throwing gigantic pieces of debris outwards in all directions.

Yugi swore and ducked as a piece of stone the size of a car barely missed him. For a moment, everyone was too busy avoiding being killed to notice the true consequences of Angel's move. As an extra-large piece of stone, probably one large enough to make up an entire battlement sped towards Belial, Behemoth roared and it shattered in mid-air. Belial smirked to himself but froze upon looking at Angel's field.

On his field, a hulking, somewhat humanoid form was floating about fifty feet in the air. It seemed to exercise a strange control over the debris, because as it raised its hand, all the rubble stopped in mid-air. It was an eerie sight, for it looked like he was surrounded by a cage made of numerous pieces of stone, wood and iron, all floating in mid-air.

The monster was by no means as large as Behemoth, but nonetheless impressive. He wore fiendish-black armor, with a gigantic helmet fitted onto his head with innumerable spikes issuing forth from the top of it. Its shoulder-pads were similar, fitting onto him like cups, again with tipped with more spikes. The grille of his helmet came down over his face, so nothing could be discerned of his features. Meanwhile, he had a black cape hovering out behind him, with gauntlets covering his hands.

On the index finger of his right hand glowed the One Ring. All spectators knew who this was, even if Angel had not yet said so as of now.

"Sauron, The Dark Lord of the Rings (20000/23700)," he whispered.

Yugi placed a hand on Tea's shoulder. "We have to leave, now," he hissed. Sauron and Behemoth seemed to have locked gazes, neither one shifting away. Pieces of stone were floating upwards from the ground. The situation was so tense that the temperature actually seemed to be rising.

"His attack and defense points are equal to the combined attack and defense points of all the monsters destroyed when equipped with the One Ring," continued Angel, trailing his tongue across his lips. He actually looked hungry.

"If Behemoth and Sauron clash, the City will not survive," muttered Jason. "The Shadow Game is over, we can escape. Otherwise, we will die."

Belial and Angel seemed to have completely forgotten about their spectators. It was as if Belial was one with Behemoth. Sauron _was_ Angel. The link between the duelists and their monsters at this point was so intense at this point that the death of one could result in the demise of the other.

"Attack points mean nothing against Behemoth," said Belial hoarsely. The temperature must have crossed forty degrees Celsius now. Sweat was pouring down both their brows.

"Sacrificial Maneuver, activate. You draw two cards. I, just for this turn, can attack your life-points directly with one of my monsters. Sauron…"

Belial's stone-cold exterior did not vanish, but the green of his eyes seemed to glow even more intensely. A huge, axe-like mace appeared in his hand, as dark storm clouds gathered over him.

"It's over…" whispered Angel. "Sauron is unaffected by magic and trap cards… So there is no hope for you."

The hulking form of the Dark Lord of Mordor raised his axe, and swept it across the field in a horizontal motion. A wave of almost volcanic black energy erupted outwards, racing towards Behemoth and Belial, who in reply raced both the cards in his hand. As it swept across Mordor, it destroyed anything in its path. Every rock, every burnt tree, every pool of acid just vanished as Sauron's attack came in contact with it.

"Behemoth will not be defeated. First, activate Battle Fusion." Behemoth roared as his attack points suddenly began to increase (20000/0).

"Useless," sneered Angel.

Belial continued as if he hadn't spoken. "My final card… Surprise Assault. One monster on my field can attack during your turn. However, that monster has all its effects negated."

Behemoth roared, and opened its mouth. It seemed like it had been charging up green energy in its mouth all this time, and it proceeded to release it in the form of a wave, just as wide as that of Sauron. As the black and green waves raced towards each other, the duelists knew that this confrontation would have to be continued another time.

Technically, the duel could still continue, because Sauron and Behemoth would simply be destroyed, leaving their life-points completely untouched. But Necropolis would be another matter. For their own well-being, even entities of Belial and Angel's power would have escape as the first priority on their agenda.

Mordor began to crack all around them, lava spilling up from the ground beneath his feet. The magic of the field spell was disappearing as the attacks of the two entities clashed, causing the destruction of Necropolis to be revealed to the duelists before their very eyes.

The City of the Dead was dying. Yugi, Jason, Brian, CJ, Tea, Daniel and Ryu seemed to have escaped the area, at least. Of course, it would be unlikely for mortals like them to leave this place, mused Belial to himself. Necropolis was always an unstable place, and it seemed like the clash between the Dark Lord of the Rings and the Legion God was enough to send it teetering into oblivion. Lava spilled out of cracks in the ground, and the ground seemed to be shaking beneath them.

As lightning struck the barren ground on which they stood, Angel began to vanish into a shroud of darkness.

"Oh, Belial…" he murmured. The Marquis, who had been observing the manner in which the waves of energy exchanged between Sauron and Behemoth were growing, with fascination, turned to look at his foe.

In his hand was a black, crystal-like sphere. It was barely larger than a tennis ball, but it looked transparent. Within it, a strange flame seemed to crackle.

"All this time…. And it was right here with me." With a cackle, Angel vanished, leaving Belial alone in the devastation. The howling of the winds above him was growing louder. It was time to leave, he decided. The City would barely last a few more minutes at most. Behemoth seemed to be even stronger than he had intended.

"_The Seal, to me, is now useless. I command a far greater power. The King can continue in his attempts to discern its powers for as long as he pleases. I will find him and kill him one day. But this stint in Necropolis has served its purpose. Now, I will focus on my true target… Earth_."

If the world burned before the fury of the Legion, the sinners would finally be punished.

With that, he vanished.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Necropolis was truly in chaos. The clash between Belial's supposed revolutionaries and the King's army was intensifying. Death was present wherever one looked. Warriors hacked and slashed, magicians murdered with a syllable, and dragons unleashed a reign of fire upon their enemies.

But all this mattered little. Necropolis had reached its end, with the climax of the clash between Sauron, the Dark Lord of the Rings and the Legion God – Behemoth. Most fighters were fleeing in all directions, their energy sapped by the battle, their will to survive lost.

All, except, however, the group of seven duelists who had entered Necropolis on the request of the Infinity Council. Their purpose was to steal the Seal of Immortality from the King, but that was impossible now. Their fate was what mattered right now.

They were currently standing on the top of one of the hills where they had waited before joining Belial's army.

"There is only one way…" murmured Jason, his voice almost drowned out by the explosions behind him. The ground was becoming almost too hot to stand on.

They all knew it. This was their last hope. Staying meant death, plain and simple. Proceeding with this plan could also mean death, but at least that was not so certain.

The only way to escape the City alive and return to Earth was to enter the most dangerous and unpredictable dimension ever: the Abyss.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Well, that ends the unofficial Necropolis Arc. We will now move on to more, hopefully, more exciting duels and plot twists.**

**I hope James' return pleased you, this duel is again another great one in the making.**

**Finally, I'm glad that I got more reviews for this last chapter. All of you have my eternal gratefulness. Although I must say that I know my work is not perfect, it's far from it. If you guys could add some constructive criticism in your reviews, I may be able to take another step in that direction. Speak your mind, I won't be offended by anything. As long as I'm not directly flamed, I'll look into anything you say. After all, I'm writing this thing for not only my enjoyment, but that of my readers as well, so if you can think of any way in I can improve, however minor, do go ahead. If you think any of my characters are Stu-ish, or Sue-ish, then please inform me of that.**

**Anyway, thanks for reading everyone. I hope we all have a good summer!**


	22. Heart's Confrontation

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: Heart's Confrontation

**This is one chapter I've been waiting to right for more than a year. I won't say anything else.**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: I discussed the symbolism of the duel in my e-mail. But thanks for your compliments, they are appreciated, as always.**

**Candyman123: This one is even better. **

**Master of the Library: Thank you for your kind words. I hope you enjoy this one as well.**

**Dark Onyx: I'm glad you like the Kaiba-Kyle combo. But once you read the end of this chapter, all will be forgotten.**

**KageNoNeko: Thanks a lot, man.**

**Starlight AT: This is serious Atem obsession here… But thanks anyway.**

Eizan sat alone in the lone seat of his private jet. The meal in front of him lay long forgotten. His gaze was lost in the emptiness of the blue sky outside the window in front of him. His lips were pursed thoughtfully, as he rolled the events of the past few days over in his head. It was the first time in quite a while that he was able to actually relax and unwind, even if it was only for a few hours.

First on his mind, was, of course, that Paradias seemed far more daring than he had expected. Other than a few skirmishes here and there, never had they actually ordered a direct assault on Eagle's headquarters. The two obvious reasons were that it would essentially spell the death of an operative for them, and that it would force law enforcements agencies, which were largely silent on the apparent war between the two companies to finally act. They could dance out of reach for a while, but if someone decided to dig really deep and uncover just how serious the situation was, it would throw both Paradias and Eagle into the international spotlight, meaning neither one could act with the covertness and secrecy that they were used to.

Secondly, he was attempting to figure out how on Earth he would finally confess the truth to Jason when he came face to face with him. For nineteen years, ever since he unofficially became Jason's adoptive father and legal guardian, he knew this moment would come. Perhaps if he had truly attempted to get to know the boy on an emotional level, it would have been easier. But having spent the first ten years following his parent's death in a literal prison, opening up to a father-son relationship at the age of twelve was unlikely. The most Jason could ever have for Eizan was distant respect, nothing more.

It was, of course, his own fault, to some extent. He had been so focused on ridding Jason of his mental disorder that it was highly unlikely that he would ever get the opportunity to get to know the boy on a personal level. It was one thing to read about his latest activities in a file, but quite another to actually understand his thought processes. That credit could go to Sarah Taylor and Brian Palmer, both of whom diligently made up for Jason's lack of family in his early years.

Briefly, he had considered asking one of them to speak to Jason. But he dismissed the thought almost immediatley. With all the rumors floating around Eagle about the supposed secrets kept by its current chairman, giving the truth to people who didn't need to know it would spell disaster. As it was, the only reason he was telling Jason this was no moral obligation. He simply knew that he could not afford to lose one of his best duelists and most valuable operatives to the ravings of a madman.

If Li truly was going to New York in an attempt to find Jason and turn him against Eizan, then it was imperative to make sure that didn't happen. Truly, Eizan would admit that Li probably had the base facts correct. But there was no way anyone except Eizan would know how everything had concluded on that night. Everyone except _him_….

He scowled to himself. Jason was an intelligent young man. If presented with the pure truth, Eizan was confident that he would agree with him and move on. But this was all conditional to Li not meeting him first, because once he heard Li's version of events, it would be hard to convince him otherwise.

He was broken out of his reverie by a knock on his window. He started, shocked to see that a slim young man hovering alongside the jet, a pair of wings flapping furiously behind him. It was the Archangel Zerato.

He looked around flustered. Zerato shook his head, and motioned to the emergency escape right next to him. He motioned with his hands for Eizan to buckle himself in. Dazed, the Japanese man agreed. Zerato flew over to the door, and ripped it out.

The vacuum effect was almost immediate. Eizan swore as the table with his food on it flew right towards the door, as Zerato casually stepped in. He grabbed the table in one hand, and placed it on the floor. Holding it there with his left hand, he pulled the door back into its frame with the other. Surprisingly, it fitted perfectly. Evidently, Zerato's magic was up to the mark.

A flight attendant rushed in. "Mr. Nakamura! There was a sudden drop in cabin pressure! The pilot needs to land now!"

"What are you talking about?" scoffed Zerato. "If there was a drop in pressure, then wouldn't we be outside the plane by now? Tell the captain to recheck his instruments."

Dazed, the flight attendant nodded and left the room.

"Can you reduce the theatricality next time?" said Eizan weakly. Zerato shrugged and said down on one of the chairs facing Eizan, who gingerly looked at the table with what remained of his meal on it.

"I came because I have some disturbing news."

Eizan immediatley turned serious. "Yes?"

"A few days ago, Apocalypse attacked Death's realm." Eizan's eyes bulged. "Are you serious?"

"Not only that. Paradias sent a pair of operatives there as well, in order to spy on Apocalypse's activities. I dueled one of them, a Kevin Hunter. It seems his first two Horsemen accompanied him in his search for a Third. The First defeated and killed one of the other servants of the Infinity Council as well."

"So was he successful?"

"Unfortunately, yes. None of our comrades could reach the Supreme King in time to stop him. He performed the Ritual of the Fallen Angel, sacrificing the life of Aster Phoenix to resurrect Apocalypse's choice as his Third Horseman."

"Who is it?" asked Eizan quietly.

"I do not know yet. I have more news, however. Necropolis has been destroyed."

Eizan's breath caught in his chest. "Are you serious?"

"Completely. I don't know how it happened, but what I do know is that your agents as well as the other duelists chosen by the Council were forced to enter the Abyss in order to escape."

"The Abyss…!" gasped Eizan.

"We don't even know if they have the Seal. As I'm sure you know, the Abyss is the realm of Lord Chaos. It is impossible for him to grant them safe passage back to Earth, as I'm sure you understand. It goes against the reason he exists. None of the other Council members have asked him to do so, because it would be theoretically impossible for a being that personifies chaos to implement order in his realm."

"Yes, I'm quite aware of the Council's manner of operating by now," growled Eizan.

Zerato sighed. "I understand your frustration, Mr. Nakamura. But if the Council were to use their power in each and every situation to further their own purposes, it would amount to abuse of their power. Things will proceed for the group as if they never knew of the Council's existence."

Eizan rested his head in his palm. "What now?"

"There's nothing that can be done. We will have to count on the individual's own skill and luck to get them out safely. Don't forget, in a realm of pure chaos, good things can happen along with bad things. Anything is possible. I would suggest assembling a second group, so that preparations can be made for the journey to the second Seal. Myself or Zeruge will brief them of it in due time."

"I have two more questions," put in Eizan. "First, what do you make of Paradias' assassination attempt on me?"

"I can't be certain of anything as of yet," replied Zerato. "You must understand that the Council has to split its resources on two fronts, between Apocalypse and Paradias. I spoke with Zeruge after his duel with Sigma. He is not very badly injured, and will soon return to action. I can say this, however. It seems Paradias is growing more and more worried by the rapid approach of the Jade Star. Perhaps this explains their increased aggressiveness. Two assassination attempts in the same week, that too on major figures within Eagle. That is uncharacteristic openness of their intentions, which, I believe, shows that Reflect believes that the Jade Star will eliminate the need for secrecy."

"That was my second question."

"The Jade Star…" murmured Zerato. "It is indeed a chaotic time. From what I know, there is an extremely great chance that it _may_ collide with Earth."

"So what would the Council suggest I do? You're talking about stretching your own resources. You have all the power of the universe at your disposal, for heaven's sake! Eagle, on the other hand, is almost getting impossible to manage effectively. Even with the help of the Chosen Duelists, it has been next to impossible to combat both Apocalypse and Paradias, especially so covertly. If you consider the chaos that would erupt if the Jade Star actually arrives…."

"That is a hypothetical situation," retorted Zerato. "Even so, it is light-years away. I will report to one of the Council members and acquire their opinion on this, before returning to you with further advice. As of now, I can tell you this much. We cannot afford to have a divide in our ranks, if you consider the number of enemies we are facing. They may not be united on a single front, but it is no doubt difficult. From what Zeruge told me, there are some problems going on within Eagle, especially with Mr. Li Ching. I do not need to tell you that these are the sort of problems that need to take the highest precedence over all other matters. Do anything necessary to ensure that you can trust each and every one of your people. If not, then I am sorry to say that you may need to repeat the punishment meted out to Mr. Manning. You understate the power of your organization and you know it. The true strength of the Chosen Duelists has not been revealed as of now.

"Reflect will not attempt anything on a large scale for two reasons. Firstly, if he truly believes that the Jade Star is a threat, his focus will be on consolidating his own organization and filling all chinks in order to prepare for the eventual battle royale when Apocalypse decides to show his hand as well. And also, he has no answer to the Demon Lords. As long as the Pharaoh remains on our side, an outright victory for Paradias is impossible. Paradias, as I'm sure you would understand after spending so many years combating them, feeds of chaos and uncertainty. They would not dare initiate a full-scale battle unless they have the cover of another battle."

"This brings us back to the Jade Star," grunted Eizan, "as the only possible scenario which would provide Paradias with that kind of an advantage."

"You are correct," said Zerato, standing up. "I will speak to Lord Death or Lady Life. Right now, however, I suggest you focus on tying up all lose ends and making sure Eagle is watertight. Betrayals cannot be afforded at this point. Do all that is necessary to ready Eagle for what is to come. This is the calm before the storm, Eizan."

Eizan was still wearing his seatbelt. Zerato opened the emergency door, once again exposing the inside of the plane to the force of the vacuum that was formed. With a sad smile, he shoved the door back into its frame, his magic working to revert it to normal. Only one thought was passing through Eizan's mind, however.

"_If this is the calm, what will the storm be like_?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A dark table extended across most of the room. On its surface was inscribed a grid-like structure, with a number of images located in one square or another. The table itself seemed to continue on forever, but in the middle was an extra-large, red square.

Sitting at one end, on a chair was a cloaked figure. His face was covered by a hood, and one could not see his face. In one hand, he held a pair of dice.

His gaze was fixed on seven figures located at his end of the table. All of them were humans. Six were male, and one was female. Two of the males were dark. One of his hands flitted from one figure to the other. As this happened, his entire body seemed to morph into something else. Suddenly, he was now a minotaur, with furry hooves, deep brown skin, a head the size of a desk, and long, twisted horns.

He continued rattling the dice in his hand. As he let them go, falling onto the table, he changed to a tall, rake-thin man, dressed in green robes, with pale skin. He had whitish-yellow hair falling down his shoulder, and an almost skeletal frame.

The dice clattered down onto the table, and a dark smile crossed the man's face. "CJ Andersen… I think you and Schrodinger will have fun together."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

CJ shook his head, trying to clear his vision, as he staggered upwards. He could barely see a thing, and for a second, he thought that perhaps he was dying. They had, after all, dared to walk right into the Abyss. Or perhaps the explosion of Necropolis had killed them first….

He growled to himself, clearing his head of these thoughts. He _was_ alive, and he knew it. The question was, where was he?

He took in his surroundings for a moment, and he seemed to be in Death Valley, California. He was on a plateau surrounded by deep caverns on either side. The plateau was relatively small, and was connected to the rest of the valley by a wooden bridge.

He shook his head incredulously. What could he be doing here? Was this some trick of the Abyss?

Suddenly, a pair of axes slashed by his shoulders, and slammed into the ends of the bridge. He flinched as the axes sliced through the wood, causing the bridge to fall away, down into the darkness of the cavern.

He turned around to see a tall, blonde man standing there in a black trench coat. His features were hard and unforgiving, with cold, cerulean blue eyes. His hair was spiked upwards, framing his huge body perfectly. His muscular frame rippled underneath his clothes, and a Chaos Duel Disk was fixed onto one of his arms. He fixed CJ with a piercing look.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Raphael," said the man in a deep voice. He activated his Duel Disk.

"You will have to duel me in order to continue in your journey through the Abyss," he continued.

"And why would I do that?" said CJ, narrowing his eyes.

"You don't have a choice, demon. The Abyss is controlled by Chaos himself. If you wish to proceed forth, then you will have to obey what is set down before you by chance. You can choose not to duel me, and not move forward, if you wish."

"So… You really don't exist?"

At his word, Raphael was suddenly enveloped in a flash of light. When it cleared, he was replaced by a stunted man, dressed in tattered robes, bent over and hobbling forwards while grasping a stick. He looked up at CJ and a grin graced his pale features.

"Well, _I _technically do exist. It's Raphael who doesn't."

"Who the… Who the hell are you?" growled CJ.

"My name is Schrodinger," answered the man. "I am an extension of Lord Chaos himself. It is indeed rare for people to willingly enter the Abyss, and it is my duty to challenge any who do so. The purpose of the challenge can be anything, after all this realm is chaos personified. Perhaps if you win, you will merely be able to proceed forward as and when Chaos himself decides. It may be the same if you lose. Sometimes, if you win, you will be rewarded, perhaps with extra power, or aid in escaping the Abyss. A loss can mean death…."

He gave a shady laugh.

"How do I escape this place?" hissed CJ, activating his own Duel Disk. He knew he had no choice.

Schrodinger grinned even more broadly. "Now we're talking!"

He reverted to Raphael. "Deep within the Abyss is a portal which represents the only semblance of order in it. If you reach that, you will be able to enter it and return to your chosen dimension if you are able to focus your mind enough. But enough of this talk, reaching it is a challenge you must pursue after you duel me."

The two duelists drew their opening hands.

(CJ: 8000, Raphael: 8000)

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The Irish guard did not look very interested. He was one of Kaiba's more unprofessional security personnel. One could tell immediatley if they noticed the way he sat, one ankle resting on the other knee, his back hunched over with his eyes half open. His position was at the helipad, located to the outside of Kaiba's island. It was the structure on the island closest to the sea.

On a radio, he was listening to a football game between AC Milan and Chelsea. "Ballack to Drogba… Drogba avoids a waiting Kaka, the crowd is tense, this may lead to something! Drogba, past Beckham, Drogba with to Anelka, Anelka SCORES!"

The echo throughout Stamford Bridge was almost deafening, even considering it was on a radio. The Irishman grinned in satisfaction. Chelsea was up two-one with five minutes to go, having broken a deadlock of almost forty-five minutes without a goal. This meant that they had most probably clinched a spot in the Champion's League knockout round. Life was good.

His unprofessional contentment meant to things: one, if one of the guards decided to check the feed from the security camera in the small room next to the helipad, he would probably be fired if news of his behavior got to a higher official. Two, it also meant he was nowhere near alert enough to notice the small, black form that was slithering along the floor towards his feet.

He was not even aware of his presence until the pain began to come. It first came in the form of a sharp prick in his ankle. He glanced down, but saw nothing. Had he bothered to check the small, exposed area between the bottom of his trousers and his sock, he would have noticed two red pinpricks. But the pain was already subsiding. He ignored it. Instead, his attention was focused on the game coming up in the next few minutes: Bayern Munich versus Manchester United.

He was so engrossed in the pre-match commentary, that he forgot all about it until the real pain began to come: this was far worse than the original stinging sensation. He gasped in agony. He was suddenly feeling it very difficult to breathe. Looking at his ankle in horror, he noticed two small, red pinpricks. Marks left by the puncturing of his skin by a snake's fangs.

It was obviously not your garden variety serpent, as he felt his air passages constricting already. Desperately, his hand flailed against his walkie-talkie, but he only succeeded in knocking it to the floor. In the corner of his eye, he noticed some kind of projectile slamming into the camera above him. It shattered. He could care less.

Suddenly, a slim, dark figure appeared above him. For a second, the guard relaxed. He was saved.

His notion seemed to have been proved true when the man bent down. There was a syringe in his hand. He placed the needle against the guard's ankle, and pushed down. The relief was almost immediate. The guard sat up, gasping.

"Thanks for that, laddie. I don't know what me old pap would've said if he was told I'd taken that old dirt nap…."

The man did not reply. "This was only part of the antidote. It will keep the effects of the venom at bay for a maximum of three minutes. You will be able to perform basic actions. I will administer the rest of it only on one condition."

The guard's mouth fell open in horror. The man was right. His vision was still bleary. "I want to know the location of two rooms within the building. The first is that of the infirmary. The second are the rooms where his guests are staying."

"I'm just a security guard," he pleaded. "I don't know nothing about rooms, mate! Please, just give me the antidote."

The other man hissed in anger. Suddenly, the guard felt a thin form slither over his shoulder. "That's what gave you this," murmured the other man. "If you do not give me the location of those rooms, it will bite you again. The pain you will feel will be unlike anything a person on this Earth has ever experienced: other than me."

The Irishman did not know what those words meant, but he didn't care. He staggered upwards. "All right," he cried. "I'll need to at least look at the computer."

He felt another jab in his ankle, and within moments a little more of his vision had returned. "Go," hissed his extortionist.

He stumbled over to the desktop on the table across the room. He caught a glimpse of his attacker, but didn't recognize him. It didn't matter. Right now, his only focus was on survival. He tapped a few keys, and sighed.

"I can't do it, mate. Mr. Kaiba has made the blueprints of the base inaccessible from all terminals except his own. He did it the moment all his friends moved in. He's got a password for it."

The other man paused. "Try 150890."

Blindly, the Irishman punched in the numbers. There was a loud beep, followed by a mechanical voice from the speakers next to the terminal. "_Access denied. No numerical characters allowed_."

He looked at the only man who could save him, who was taking a deep breath. "M… M-O-K-U-B-A."

Somewhere in the back of his mind, the guard remembered the name as the brother of his boss. But that meant nothing to him right now. He entered the sequence of characters. There was another pause. "_Access denied. One further unsuccessful attempt will alert security._"

The other man seemed to be boiling over with rage, but he said nothing. When he spoke, his voice was almost cracking. "Try S… S-E-R-E-N-I-T-Y." The Irishman entered the word. After a second or so, the dull voice from the terminal brightened up a bit. "_Access allowed_."

This was drowned out, however, by a howl of rage from the Irishman's assailant. He felt a stabbing pain in his foot, and saw that the snake had reappeared, biting him once more. The effects of the injection were already wearing off. He felt his mind growing unclear. The last thing he remembered during his last few seconds of consciousness was that Serenity Wheeler, the boss' supposed girlfriend, was supposed to be in the infirmary. What would this madman want with her?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"So now do you remember?" hissed James.

"I never forgot!" bellowed back Kyle. "I accept that I was at fault, but if you continue to stand in my way, I will finish what those thugs started all those years ago. Only thing is, I'll be using the power of my cards."

"Then give it your best shot," said James in a dangerously low voice.

"You asked for it," growled Kyle in reply as he drew, giving him three cards. James knew one of them was Magical Dimension. If he had two spellcasters in his hand, he would be able to use its effect to destroy one of his Sky Scourges.

"I activate Dark Magic Curtain!" he declared.

Instantly materializing onto the field was a platform with a large red curtain, the top half of a skeleton with a red collar, and a pentagram design etched circle.

"To use this useful spell card, I must pay half my life points, allowing me to call to the field my Dark Magician (2500/2100)!"

A black aura soon formed around Kyle and fed into the curtain creature. Once all the energy had been collected, the skeleton pulled open the curtain, allowing a figure to escape from it. The figure soon became clear and took form of a mage in purple armor with flowing purple robes. He wore a strange set of armor, with a strange mage's hat, and had a powerful green staff that was nearly as tall as his body. His long hair that could be seen hanging out of his hat was purple and his eyes were the color of lilac.

With that, Kyle grunted in pain as a bolt of black electricity shot through his body.

(Kyle: 3900, James: 8000)

"Foolish," sneered James.

"It's worth it," defended Kyle, holding up another card. "Now I'll play Thousand Knives, which will allow me to automatically destroy one monster on your field since my Dark Magician is in play!" Even as he spoke, six knives appeared in the air, hovering just in front of the Dark Magician. With amazing skill, he pulled them out of the air one by one and flung them in perfect synchronization at Enrise. The Sky Scourge roared in pain as the blades caught on the extremes of his limbs, nailing him in place as the Dark Magician pointed his staff in his direction. The remaining nine hundred and ninety four knives appeared behind him, and surged towards their target, skewering him within seconds.

"That's one down," smirked Kyle. "And as for the second…. We'll go with Dark Magic Attack!"

The Dark Magician raised his palm, and for a second, everything around them seemed to freeze. Invicil, whose skin was normally a pale grey, suddenly turned red, and his breath seemed to constrict. Then, the mage mouthed something, and everything seemed to unfreeze. Invicil exploded, leaving James' field completely empty.

(Kyle: 3900, James: 7700)

"I'll end my turn with that."

James drew. "I set a monster in defense mode, and end my turn." His brown-backed card was quite dwarfed by the Dark Magician's imposing presence.

Kyle looked at his only card, and decided not to use it for the moment. "Dark Magician, introduce James' monster once again to your Dark Magic Attack!"

Opting for a different method this time, the purple armored mage raised his staff fired a blast of green energy straight at the face down card image. Upon impact, the card image shattered to reveal a tiny, fiendish man dressed in aqua colored robes, and a hood, covering his cackling features. He had a black belt around his waist, with a dagger tucked into it. He continued laughing as the blast shattered him into millions of tiny pixels.

"You had the bad luck of destroying my Caller of the End (600/1200)." James informred him, "When he's destroyed, I can add one ritual monster card that is to be summoned by 'End of the World' from my deck to my hand."

"_His other card _is _End of the World_," thought Kyle. "_Now, he once again has the two necessary cards for another Ritual Summoning. But there's a good chance that he won't draw a monster with enough level stars to sacrifice on his next turn. If that's the case, I'll be ready for his monster whenever he summons it_."

"I'll end my turn."

James drew. "I activate Pot of Greed." As he spoke, he drew two more cards.

"Then I'll activate End of the World, sacrificing Demise-Prince of Annihilation (1800/1500), to summon one of my most powerful monsters: Demise, King of Armageddon (2400/2000)!"

Blue flames surrounded the area in the sky, soon raining down upon the field and erupting with dark energies. In the center of the flames, a tall monster with a black axe with a metal handle could be seen, stepping through the blue-tinted inferno. His arms and shoulders were covered in white flame designs, and the monster's head had metal horns sticking out of his helmet. His destructive, sharp eyes glowed red, as he raised his chosen weapon - a mighty axe with a double-edged and sharp blade, held together with a long, gray handle. He slowly floated over the field with an ominous presence.

"When Demise-Prince of Annihilation is sacrificed to the effect of End of the World, he counts as a level eight, and the ritual monster summoned gains six hundred attack points! Now watch, as I pay two thousand life-points, and Demise (3000/2000) decimates your Dark Magician, bringing me one step closer to victory. Wrath of Judgment!"

Demise slammed his axe down onto the ground, and blazing blue flames erupted out on all sides. They raced across the snow, leaving only a few drops of water in their wake, heading straight for the Dark Magician, whose piercing gaze continued to stay on Demise. Just as they were about to reach him, Kyle reacted.

"I'll chain my facedown trap card to Demise' effect! It's called Spellcaster's Rage, and it lets me remove all spellcasters on my field from play until the end of the turn. In turn, I can also draw one card, then another for every card removed."

The Dark Magician disappeared into thin air the second before the flames reached him. They continued to burn for a moment, melting all the snow around them and even setting a tree or two alight, but James' purpose was lost. The Dark Magician had lived to fight another day.

(Kyle: 3900, James: 5700)

"Fine!" snarled James, pointing at Kyle. "Demise can now attack you directly!"

The mighty emperor roared and rushed forward, raising his axe as it moved. He swept it forward in Kyle's direction, bringing a blaze of fire with it, but Kyle raised another card in time. "I activate one of the cards I just drew, Streams of Time! I can now special summon one level four or lower spellcaster from my deck or hand, while you can special summon _any_ monster, from your graveyard. Come out, Chronos, Sorcerer of Fate (1900/800)!"

Yet another monster appeared on Kyle's field, this one in white garments, which consisted of a sort of skirt and a wide length of fabric which had been wrapped around his torso and then draped over his shoulders. His staff was thick and pale, with a small crystal at the head with what looked like stars swirling around within.

"When he's summoned, he gains one spell counter! Then I'll chain to it Magician's Ordination, which allows me to remove one spell counter on the field to end the turn and draw a card immediatley, but only if you've special summoned a monster this turn. I think your ritual summon of Demise counts perfectly!"

Chronos slammed his staff into the ground in front of him, sending a burst of green energy erupted out of the ground, blocking Demise' way. James' eyes flashed. "Fine! You will regret that, for I will use Streams of Time in order to special summon Ruin, Queen of Oblivion (2300/2000) back from my graveyard!"

The white-haired, axe-wielding woman reappeared on James' field. At the same time, the familiar Dark Magician materialized back in front of Kyle, who drew.

"I summon Alpha Magician (1500/1600) in attack mode!" A man dressed in azure robes, with a long, iron staff appeared on Kyle's field. The staff was topped with a glowing ruby. The man's face was hidden by a white mask.

"When Alpha Magician is summoned he gains one counter for every magician in play, including himself. Now, I can remove from play all his counters to send an equal number of magicians in my deck to the graveyard, and draw one card for every magician sent there."

Quickly finding the necessary cards in his deck, he slid them into his graveyard before refilling his hand.

"Next up is my continuous magic card, Fountain of Dreams!" Next to Kyle appeared a simple marble fount with water drizzling over it and then cycling back up to the top. Within the water there seemed to be a limitless number of dots of light, shimmering beneath the surface.

"I'll follow it up with Magic of Revival, which allows me to special summon a spellcaster I sent to the graveyard to the graveyard this turn. I summon Tempus, Sorcerer of Destiny (1900/800)!" Yet another monster appeared on Kyle's field, this one in black garments, which consisted of a sort of skirt and a wide length of fabric which had been wrapped around his torso and then draped over his shoulders. His staff was thin and pale, with a small crystal at the head with what looked like stars swirling around within.

"Why do you keep summoning pathetic and useless monsters?" sneered James. Kyle ignored him.

"When either a spell card is activated or a spellcaster-type monster is summoned, Fountain of Dreams gains a magic counter. They serve no purpose by the effect of Fountain of Dreams, but can be used for any other effect. It already has two now, but I'm not done! Tempus, Sorcerer of Destiny, allows me to special summon a level six or lower magician from my hand! I choose Time Paladin (2500/1500)!"

A man dressed in gold and black trim made of a thin, flexible fabric that stretched across his broad chest appeared on the field. He had a helmet down over his face, and a silver blade glowed in his right hand as his eyes flashed underneath the grille. A black cape flared out beneath him as the Fountain of Dreams seemed to glow again.

"You have five monsters, but none of them can hope to match Demise or Ruin!" sneered James. "Really? Just wait until you hear of the effect of my Time Paladin. Every spellcaster on my field gains two hundred attack points for every magic counter in play!"

James scowled as all of Kyle's magicians began to glow with a silver, ethereal aura (3100/2100) (3100/1500) (2500/800) (2500/800) (2100/1600).

"Now not only can I destroy Ruin and Demise, but I can also deal you over seven thousand points of damage! Dark Magician and Time Paladin, lead the charge and obliterate his pathetic imitations!"

This kind of move, of course, was exactly what Kyle had in mind. Perhaps it was now even possible to not only finish off Demise and Ruin, but even win the duel in time to perhaps get help for Kaiba with Schweinstigger's injury.

The Dark Magician raised his staff and the tip of it began to glow with a sphere of purple energy. He aimed it straight for Demise, while the Time Paladin raced across the field towards Ruin, his blade glowing. The King of Armageddon raised his axe in an attempt to deflect the sphere, while Ruin parried the Time Paladin's first attack. But the struggle, they knew, was but one of display, for the two mages were far more powerful than those of James' monsters.

"Do you think I will let you destroy Demise and Ruin so easily?" growled James. "Activate, Blessings of Destruction! When either Demise or Ruin is in play, I can pay a thousand life-points to destroy all cards on our field, at the cost of not using their abilities during my next turn. On top of that, I can draw a card for every monster sent to the graveyard!"

Demise slammed his axe down onto the field with a roar. A wave of bluish-black energy erupted across the floor, cutting a path deep into the ground. It grew bigger as it spread across the field, slamming into all of Kyle's monsters. He swiftly reacted, raising another card from his hand.

"I activate Time Paladin's other effect, sacrificing him to prevent one other spellcaster on my field from being destroyed this turn. I choose my Dark Magician!"

The knight disappeared before Demise's attack hit. A sphere of light was visible in his place, and it suddenly grew into a large, transparent, shield-like structure, encasing the Dark Magician. He looked on grimly as his comrades were obliterated one by one. The last to go was the Fountain of Dreams, releasing a wave of small, glowing nexuses into the sky before it finally vanished.

"I set a card and end my turn," growled Kyle.

(Kyle: 3400, James: 4700)

James drew. By using Blessings of Destruction, he unfortunately could not use Demise's effect to clear Kyle's field. He was sure Kyle had Magical Dimension in his hand, but knew he would be reluctant to use it if he was not able to summon another monster by its effect. His facedown card was a possible cause of worry.

"_If I could use Demise's effect, I could blow it away and end the duel right now. But I can't, so I'll simply have to take the risk_."

"Demise, obliterate his Dark Magician with Wrath of Judgment!"

The purple-robed magician did not take his eye of the huge, armored king as he rushed towards him, axe raised. "I activate Magical Dimension-…" He was cut off by James.

"I cannot allow that. I'll counter with Duality of Destruction, which allows me to prevent the activation of all magic cards during this turn of Demise and Ruin are both in play!"

Just as Demise was about to shatter the Dark Magician's helmet with his axe, Kyle pressed a button on his Duel Disk. "I activate Soul of a Soldier, which makes it impossible for all monsters on my side of the field to be destroyed in battle!" It was a crude move, he knew, but at least his Dark Magician would still be safe on the following turn. He winced as the Dark Magician barely avoided Demise's blow, and yet came away with a scratch across his arm. James bellowed in anger, and pointed at the mage. Ruin bowed her head and did as she was told, sweeping her axe towards the spellcaster. He leapt upwards, avoiding each and every blow with amazing speed and flexibility. The final one, however, caught him on the leg, throwing him back against the ground.

(Kyle: 2400, James: 4700)

"I end my turn," growled James. He knew that either Demise or Ruin would have been destroyed by the end of Kyle's turn.

Kyle drew. "Those two would make a strange married couple. And you know what they say… In sickness and in health, until death do us part. But I intend to send them away together, because even one of them pretty much kills my appetite. So I'll start things off with Skilled White Magician (1700/1900)!"

A mage in white robes and cloak with a white hood and staff appeared onto the field in a crouching position. On his cloak, there were three half spheres: one on each shoulder, with one on his chest.

"Then comes Magical Dimension! I'll sacrifice Skilled White Magician to eliminate Ruin, Queen of Oblivion."

The white-robed magician disappeared into the golden coffin, which closed for a moment, before re-opening, and releasing a wave of orange energy, slamming into Ruin and consuming her. The Queen's screeches echoed throughout the night sky, as she was reduced to ashes by the magical assault within moments.

"Demise still endures," growled James. "Next turn I'll pay two thousand life-points to obliterate your field, and then he'll kill you! That was a really foolish move, Kyle." Kyle ignored him, and held up another card.

"I choose to summon Sigma Magician (1800/1800) by the effect of Magical Dimension."

A blonde-haired man, dressed in midnight-blue robes appeared on Kyle's field next to the Dark Magician. He held a golden staff, and wore a black mask.

"Then comes Dedication through Light and Darkness, which I will use to sacrifice my Dark Magician to special summon Dark Magician of Chaos (2800/2600) from my graveyard!"

The Dark Magician disappeared. A fiery pentagram formed on the field a slowly a mage in black tight fitting armor rose up through the flames. His blue skinned slightly gleamed in the flames, and his eyes were closed shut. He opened his eyes, to reveal flaming pupils. He then took his powerful staff in his hand and swung it out, making the flames on the field instantly disappear.

"When Dark Magician of Chaos is special summoned, I can add another magic card to my hand from my graveyard, as I'm sure you very well know. I choose Magical Dimension once more, which I activate immediatley, sacrificing Sigma Magician to destroy Demise, King of Armageddon!"

James' clenched his fist in rage as the casket reappeared. The Sigma Magician was absorbed into it, and another blast of energy issued forth, slamming into Demise and vaporizing him.

"When Sigma Magician is sent to the graveyard by a card effect, I can draw two cards." Quickly, he snapped the top two cards off his deck before pointing at James. "Dark Magician of Chaos, attack his life-points directly!"

Spinning his scepter with one hand, the mage finally slammed the tip of it into the ground using both hands, sending a sphere of pure darkness at James. The sphere struck him hard within seconds, leaving a trail of smoke in its wake and causing a powerful explosion to ensue. Not long after that, through the smoke, Kyle heard a low cough from James.

(Kyle: 2400, James: 1900)

"I set a card and end my turn," he finished.

James drew aggressively. "You have made me very angry… Angrier than I ever thought possible. For that, there's always a price to be paid. I play a magic card called Doomed Gambler. Now, I must name a specific card, and check the top five cards of my deck. If it is there, then I can add it to my hands, and gain one thousand life-points. The other cards are sent to the graveyard. If not, all five cards are sent to the graveyard, and I lose one thousand life-points. So… I choose Demise, King of Armageddon!"

"You have a second one?" gasped Kyle.

James lifted up his top five cards for Kyle to see. Giant Germ, Newdoria, A Second Chance, Nightmare Wheel, and Airknight Parshath. James instantly sagged under the weight of an invisible force, gasping and spluttering in pain for a moment. He forced a grin. It unnerved Kyle. There was a look in his eyes that he had hoped never to see in anyone's. It was the same look of sadistic bloodlust that was present in his emerald orbs when he had broken one of his attacker's noses back in the detention center. A look of madness.

(Kyle: 2400, James: 900)

"So you just thinned out your deck?"

"No…" whispered James. "I just sealed your fate. I remove from play Giant Germ, Newdoria, Demise and Airknight Parshath in order to special summon Sky Scourge Norleras (2400/1500)!"

He watched Kyle's baffled look as streams of light and darkness suddenly shot out in all directions, blending together in order to form a malicious-looking body. The light and darkness vanished, leaving the being's demon-like appearance, its body bulgy, and black, with bandages wrapped around the upper body and forearms. It had skeleton hands, and the head of a skeleton, with two gray and zig-zag horns sticking through the top of the head. Two pitch-black wings were behind the creature, resembling almost gargoyle-like wings. It grasped unknown, twilight energies in each of its hands.

"You look afraid. You have a right to, as this is the most powerful of the three Sky Scourges. But you will not die by his hand. His effect, I'm not afraid to let you know, requires me to pay a thousand life-points to destroy all cards in play and send our hands to the graveyard, after which I can draw a card. As I can't pay a thousand life-points, I will resort to a different strategy. I activate the magic card Soul Crusher, which destroys one monster on my field in exchange for allowing me to draw two cards!"

Norleras gave a loud screech, and suddenly his neck jerked upwards due to an invisible force. His back jerked inwards a moment later, followed by a loud snap. He looked like a marionette, being controlled by a sadistic puppeteer. Suddenly, he exploded from the inside-out, sending streams of black and white energy in all directions. Kyle and the Dark Magician of Chaos looked on in shock.

"Why the hell would you take the effort to summon such a powerful monster and then just destroy it to draw a couple of cards?"

"Because now, I have all three Sky Scourges in my graveyard," hissed James. "When this condition is met, I can remove all three from play to summon another monster from my fusion deck." The dark and light essences of Invicil, Enrise, and Norleras shot out from his graveyard, forming a glowing amalgam on his field as black wings with blue veins suddenly flashed from the depths of the light. They were behind the muscular and bare, blue body of a human-shaped demon, with curved and spiral-like horns on his head, sticking out the sides. The psychotic face of the demonic man was plastered with oily, light-violet skin, contrasting the burning, fiery glow of his straight sword. A black, falcon's helmet stuck out of his head, and his figure vanished into the darkness that had constructed itself below him.

"Introducing Shining Hell Lord – Lucifer (3500/3000)."

For the first time in the duel, Kyle found himself actually feeling afraid. James' newest monster was far more terrifying than anything he had ever seen, even in his duel with Dartz, as it clenched its fist, stuck its head out and let lose a carnal screech.

"By his effect, I can discard a monster, magic or trap card from my hand to remove a card on your play of the same type. So I'll send Ultimate Offering to the graveyard to target your facedown!" The card flipped over to reveal it as Magic Cylinder, getting a groan out of Kyle. "This is the end for your Dark Magician of Chaos, Kyle! Shining Hell Lord – Lucifer, eliminate his pathetic magician!"

Lucifer raised his flaming sword, and waved it in a straight line across from him. The ground underneath the Chaos Mage suddenly cracked, and belched out a huge globule of lava. He avoided it, but this was just the beginning. More and more cracks appeared, and Kyle's favorite monster soon had his hands full just staying alive. He looked up just in time to see Lucifer bearing down on him, his devilish wings flapping lightly, and fiery blade raised. In defense, he fired off a black sphere of energy, which was knocked by Lucifer. It slammed into his chest, throwing him against the lava.

He staggered upwards, badly burned, when Lucifer's sword passed through his shoulder. His breath constricted for a moment. The Shining Hell Lord jerked the sword one more time, causing the Dark Magician of Chaos' pupils to dilate. Satisfied that his victim was well and truly dead, Lucifer retreated to James' field.

"When Lucifer destroys a monster on your field, you lose life-points equal to the level of that monster multiplied by a hundred!"

(Kyle: 900, James: 900)

He did not get an answer from Kyle. "This is the end for you," he said softly. "Your past crimes are finally catching up with you. You have run into many who would have made you repent throughout your life, but Lucifer will be the only one to succeed. Look at you now, nothing but a foolish child, helpless before the wrath of my deck. You are even more foolish than you were five years ago, Kyle. He who commits the sin is less at fault than he who is unable to accept punishment for it."

Kyle looked up, a sharp gleam in his eyes. "Just cut the crap for once, okay."

James stopped short.

"I cannot begin to tell you how tired I am about all the garbage you've been giving me because you're just too much of a dumbass to let go of something I did as a child. I don't give a damn about you or what you do, really. You can kill as many people as you want, it really doesn't matter to me. But the moment you begin to screw with my life, it DOES matter. And believe me, when something MATTERS to me, I will give you hell. DRAW!"

He ripped the top card off his deck, and held up Pot of Greed. He increased his hand size to three, before continuing.

"Then I'll activate the magic card Strings of Destruction. I can select one monster on your field, and add one monster from my deck to my hand of the same attribute, with a level less than that of yours." A crazed grin crossed his face.

"Now, I have a good idea on what I should make you pay with, James. How about Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning (3000/2500)?"

A strong bolt of lightning struck right in front of Kyle. From the lightning, a figure appeared. Bit by bit, it was revealed to be a warrior with black ebony shiny armor with a mixture of gold trim, as well as a few blotches of red, mostly around his helmet. In his right hand was a powerful bronze colored sword, and in his left was a strong shield with black and gold coloring. On his shoulders were two golden backward sweeping spikes. His face had a light shade of green. The helmet that protected his head had three flowing spikes pointing behind him, and coming out from under it in the back was a braid of brown hair. Once fully on the field, he took a kneeling position with his shield protecting his body.

"_The Soldier_," thought James, looking up in shock. "_But the card he added to his hand with Strings of Destruction… That can only be…_"

"Now I will make you and Lucifer bow before the might of the bringer of your end! Rise up, Chaos Emperor Dragon – Envoy of the End (3000/2500)!"

Out of a blinding light, a creature's enormous, long, light-blue tail could be seen, the silver rings running all the way up it and continuing the pattern on the similarly colored and thick body. The fat legs rose higher into the air, the three-pronged, metallic feet becoming visible, at the same time arms and metal claws of the same nature appeared. The turquoise wings on the back of the creature shot out, the horrendously long, light-brown hair flowing in the black winds accompanying the beast. The diamond-shaped, gold gem embedded on the center of the body reflected off the light from the surrounding place, and the golden eyes let out their own glow.

James stared on into the faces of the two legendary monsters. "_Black Luster Soldier… Chaos Emperor Dragon… Just the monsters I wanted to face_."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Joey had nothing else to do at this point. He was already in a foul mood at the way Kaiba took off without speaking to the rest of the group. Who the hell did he think he was? He was not their leader or anything of the sort, which gave him special rights to handle the situation the way he felt appropriate.

Therefore, he found it best to take out his frustrations in the state-of-the-art gym that was located on the top floor. A punching bag was hanging out in front of him. He growled in anger and lashed out with a brutal left hook. His knuckles were bruised, but he didn't care. The punching bag was an even bigger mess. There was a rip in the rubber, with some of the foam beginning to spill out. He incessantly punched away, until the point when blood began to drip from his knuckles.

Fifteen minutes later, he collapsed onto a bench, his frustration gone for the moment. It was only replaced by a deep emptiness.

Almost without knowing why, he found himself biting back tears. It was just all the events of the past few days, no, the past few weeks, that were catching up with him. Starting with Yugi's insane duel with Kaiba, to the relevation of the fact that Yami Marik was indeed alive and ranging for revenge. From having his soul taken by the Orichalcos _again_, to the horrific ordeal of watching his sister almost being drowned and not being able to do anything about it.

A sharp sob wracked his body. He just wished he could have _someone_ to share his grief with. But the only three people whom he could ever depend on for this kind of situation were all gone. Yugi and Tea were off on a mission, one that they could possibly never return from, and Tristan… Tristan would never return from where he was gone.

The tears were beginning to flow in earnest now. He had never found himself reacting to these situations like this, but it seemed like it was just too much for his twenty-one year-old mind to cope with. It was almost strange that the other extreme situations he had found himself faced with, from the evil genius of Pegasus in Duelist Kingdom, to the warped malevolence of Marik in Battle City. It seemed like for the first time, he was faced with an almost impossible problem which he didn't even have an opportunity to solve. Prior to this, he always tried, no matter what. But sitting on the sidelines, watching as the calm descends into the storm, pulling your loved ones with it, was far worse, Joey decided.

He wished he could speak to Serenity about this, but he knew it would serve no purpose but to disturb her. _He _was the older sibling. He was meant to be there for her, _not_ the other way around.

The tears ceased, and he began to calm down. Speaking of Serenity, he felt the need to check on her every once in a while. He had slept the whole night, quite fitfully. Perhaps he could spend some time with her now, and convince that blasted doctor to let her move to a separate room.

He slowly trekked the distance to the infirmary. Rikuo, Siegfried and Deondre were both in the separate wing of the gym, which had a Playstation 3 with a selection of games. Zane and Ryou, he was sure, was finishing breakfast with Sarah and Serena. The English duelist seemed to have been able to strike up easy conversation with the latter since they first met. Alexis barely left her room since Jaden's kidnap. Even though he didn't know the girl too well, he felt for her. She was a wreck. She barely ate, and ordered the occasional meal into her room. He had seen her once, and she looked like a ghost. She was pale, and her eyes red. Recently, she was prone to fits of anger and violence at not being able to leave the island.

He didn't blame her. All of them felt like that at the moment, what with having absolutely nothing to do at this point. Especially Alexis and Zane, he knew, were both a mess. It was one thing for Joey to leave the island to search for his sister, but they knew leaving was pointless, especially since Jaden was now gone. A servant of Apocalypse.

He opened the infirmary, expecting a greeting from the occasional nurse. To his surprise, none of them were visible. In fact, it was completely empty. He shrugged and walked over to Serenity's bed. She seemed to be sleeping.

Just as he walked over to her still form, he heard a hiss and felt a sharp sting on his leg. He looked down in shock to see a black form slither underneath one of the beds. A snake in the infirmary? "Hey, nurse!" he called out. The pain wasn't too bad. Had the bite even penetrated the skin?

He bent down, and glanced underneath the bed. It was nowhere to be seen. "Snakes on a plane is one thing, snakes in the damn hospital…" He groaned to himself, and straightened up. Suddenly, he began to feel a bit unsteady on his feet.

"What the-…" He had never heard of a snake that simply knocked a victim unconscious, at least in such a short span of time. The last thing he saw with hazy vision was a tall, lean form walk over to Serenity. He was dressed in a black trench coat, and seemed to be wearing a strange, mask-like helmet. With that, he passed out.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The pain was incredible. He never suspected waking up from having been knocked out by a snake could feel so horrible.

Joey groaned and shook his head, trying to recall what had happened. Some kind of snake had found its way into the infirmary and bit Joey. Its venom was obviously unique, because he had lost consciousness within seconds. The last thing he remembered was a tall, masked man walking up to Serenity.

His vision slowly returned to him. He tried to rub his eyes, but found that he couldn't. He was chained to some pipes by his wrists. This relevation shook him to attention, and he glanced around wildly. He was in utter and complete darkness.

For a second, he went mad. He let out a scream of fury, straining against his bonds. But it was to no use. He only succeeded in cutting his own wrists. His legs were free, but kicking out in the darkness served no purpose. After a moment or so of reckless thrashing, he calmed down. He would figure this out.

Suddenly, a dim light appeared some distance from him. It was coming down from a single lamp hanging some distance off the floor. The room itself was very high, perhaps twenty feet. Machines, pumping levers and valves, and steam, surrounded him on all sides. He recognized this room: the generator room of Kaiba's headquarters, located underneath the building.

But his attention was now focused on the figure standing alone in the light. He recognized it instantly.

"SERENITY!" he roared, rattling his chains again. "SERENITY!!!!"

She turned to look at him. Her feet were chained to the floor. A sad look was present on her face, and a Duel Disk on her arm.

"_Serenity… Serenity_…." echoed a voice from outside Joey's line of vision. He froze. That voice could not be echoing through his ears. Because he had seen the owner of this voice die.

"How exquisite to hear you scream that name…" The voice was approaching. "Knowing that you want something… And you can never have it."

The similar, tall form, was in his line of vision now. The mask was off. "Just like me."

"It…. It can't be," choked Joey.

"Now Sylar, a Horseman of Apocalypse," continued the man. "But once the one who suffered eternally…. Once your best friend…. Once _Tristan Taylor_."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**I am not a writer who blows my own trumpet, but truly, I would not have done this final scene any other way. I'm too hyped about finally writing this, so I won't say much.**

**Thanks a lot for all your reviews, I will leave you to ponder this chapter now.**

**Do review and give me your opinion on this relevation.**


	23. Leave Out All the Rest

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: Leave Out All the Rest

**This will be my last chapter before the end of May, as I'm out of town and will have no access to Microsoft Word. **

**Master of the Library: Joey vs. Serenity? Possible. Thanks for the review.**

**Aelsthla-Mental: Glad you are. No one was really expecting that twist, lol. Thanks for the review.**

**KageNoNeko: You will, in time.**

**Candyman123: Your card? What're you talking about? But thanks a lot for reading, in any case.**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: Well, let's hope I pull off the deck well enough. I'm glad you enjoyed the twist, even though I guess it wasn't so big of a twist for **_**you**_**…. Lol. But a major part of the story from now on wouldn't have been possible without your ideas. So, thanks a lot, mate.**

"You… You…"

Joey had no idea what to say. It was as if someone had severed the connection from his brain to his tongue.

"Yes, Joey…" rasped the dreaded voice. "It's me." He stepped completely into the pale light. All of Joey's doubts had vanished by now. It was undoubtedly the face of one of his oldest friends, the one who had been killed by Anubis before his very eyes, reduced to mere particles by the wrath of the foul God of Death. The likeliness was unmistakable. But despite this, he would have not been able to bring himself to accept this under normal circumstances.

But these were anything but normal circumstances.

"It's certainly been a while," Tristan, no, Sylar, said softly.

"You're… You're _dead_," said Joey hoarsely.

"I _was_ dead," murmured Tristan. He was dressed in a long, black trench coat, possibly similar to Kaiba's. His hair was as pointed and stiff as normal, but he seemed a lot more well-built than before. His shoulders were much broader, and his new frame would have tipped the scales at two hundred pounds, as compared to his original one hundred and fifty. He was the same Tristan Taylor who Joey joked with, and yelled at, when he flirted with Serenity.

Except for his eyes. The old Tristan Taylor always had a jovial glint present in his soft brown orbs, always a spark of humor and good will. But the new one had something completely different. It was the cold, remorseless glare of a hunter.

"Yes, I _did _die, Joey," he continued, taking another step towards them. His slow drawl was now sharp and raspy.

"I died before your very eyes. Before the very eyes of the one woman whom I would have done anything for… The one woman who cared nothing for me. The one woman who scorned me. The one woman who betrayed me."

Joey's eyes bulged. "What the hell are you talking about?!"

Sylar let lose a wild cry of anger, and suddenly lashed out with his fist. Joey's head snapped to the side, a cut visible on his cheek. Serenity screamed in horror, rattling the chains that held her in place.

"YOU!" he bellowed at Serenity. "I would have killed myself for you! I LOVED YOU!"

"SHUT UP, TRISTAN, AND JUST LET US GO!" roared Joey. For this, he received another punch.

"I AM NOT TRISTAN! I AM **SYLAR**!" His voice drowned out choked sobs from Serenity.

"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT IT FELT LIKE TO STAND BY AND WATCH KAIBA **STEAL** THE ONLY WOMAN I EVER LOVED? DO YOU?!"

He breathed heavily for a moment and continued. "HE COULD"VE HAD ANYONE HE WANTED! **ANYONE**! AND STILL THAT SELF-CENTERED PIECE OF CRAP TOOK WHAT MADE ME COMPLETE!"

Serenity's sobs were reduced to mere whimpers now, and Joey looked on impassively, a growing sense of horror within him.

Sylar resumed in a softer voice. But it sounded all the more frightening. "The pain that I experienced, dear Serenity… You had no idea. You chose the man who would give you the world, over he who would give you his heart. I was reborn just a few days ago, by Apocalypse. Death has changed me. I now see the world for what it really is: selfish, and obsessed with materialism. You cannot hope to understand how deep you cut me, without even using a blade. Mere actions can hurt far worse than any weapon. But the pain cleared my mind; it changed me into something I was always destined to be: a soldier. Not only that, he gave me a strange mastery over snakes…"

At his word, Joey felt a form slither over his legs.

Serenity looked down at him, horrified. "Tristan… Please don't tell me… Those people…"

"I killed them all," he said hoarsely. He looked down at his hands, which were covered in black gloves. "It helped me to deal with the pain temporarily, the knowledge that I punished those who scorned true love in favor of money and other such disgusting things. But the pain could never subside completely, no, not until I extracted revenge against the very people who did this to me…"

He reached over, and placed a hand softly on Serenity's cheek. She shivered, but didn't move.

"If you _touch_ her-…" began Joey hoarsely.

"Touch her?" said Sylar bitterly, withdrawing his hand. "Never. I have something far worse in store for her. But it does not compare to what you are going to suffer, Joey, or even Kaiba. You two are even more guilty than her, and I will make sure you are punished appropriately."

"_Guilty_?" groaned Joey. "What the hell did I do?"

"You gave them your BLESSING!" bellowed Sylar. "You stood by and watched as he distracted her with his money and glamour! You could've stopped it! BUT YOU DIDN'T! You betrayed me, Joey, the one man who stood by you since we were children. You stood by and did nothing as my heart was ripped out, leaving an empty space that could never be filled! For that, you must pay, and you WILL!"

"_Stop _them?" said Joey incredulously. "It was _her_ choice. What the hell was I supposed to do? You just flirted with her, how the hell was I supposed to know how seriously you took it?"

"Seto saved my life," said Serenity in a deathly quiet voice. "Which is more than you ever did."

Sylar's eyes flared, and he suddenly whirled around. His outstretched hand stopped inches for Serenity's face. She winced, but met his unforgiving and remorseless stare.

"That was a very foolish thing to say," Sylar said softly.

He walked across to the other end of the room. Joey turned to his right, desperately trying to see if an exit was visible.

"Now, we are going to play a little game," continued Sylar. "I like to call it 'Kill the Traitors'. Others may call it a Shadow Game."

The darkness around them seemed to grow a little thicker, and Serenity gasped, putting her hands to her mouth in shock. Joey's eyes widened. _Tristan_ was calling upon a Shadow Game? It seemed Apocalypse had truly changed him. The name of the rogue Council member brought a bitter taste to his mouth. Only a truly heartless being would bring this upon them.

A Duel Disk had appeared on his arm. It was metallic, with a tinge of green to it. It was a lot older and looked more worn out than the regular DD2 on Serenity's arm. On the side of it, the initials 'CV' were branded onto it in a deep black.

"I do remember teaching you how to play Duel Monsters," said Sylar wistfully. "It was on the train to Battle City. Perhaps, now the skill I foolishly taught you, along with so many other of the things I did for you, are now going to be your death."

Serenity did not answer.

"The terms are simple. Every time you lose one thousand life-points, one of my new friends will work some of his magic on Joey. The doses of venom will be so precise that when his life-points hit zero, then exactly eight doses will be introduced into his body, enough to kill him very shortly. As for you, death is too good. You shall enjoy a permanent stay in the Shadow Realm, where I'm sure many nasty creatures will be happy to give you your due for this betrayal."

"Tristan… Please…" pleaded Serenity one last time. She had an utterly helpless look in her eyes.

But Sylar ignored her this time. He pointed to a deck already present in the deck-slot of her Duel Disk. "This is the deck I found in your room. I don't know if it's fit to be used in a duel, and frankly I don't care. It's just a formality to punish both of you in a way fitting of your crimes."

Serenity looked over at her brother, tears sparkling in her eyes. He nodded mutely. She closed her eyes, with a few braids of red hair falling over her face. When she looked up, the tears were gone, replaced by a spark of determination.

"Duel."

(Sylar: 8000, Serenity: 8000)

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I'll make the first move," declared CJ, looking over his hand of six cards. The blazing Californian sun beat down around him, but he ignored the heat. Even so, a bead of sweat already began to trickle down his forehead.

"I summon Berserk Gorilla (2000/100) in attack mode." A tall gorilla appeared in front of its master. It had blue skin, but its hide seemed different from that of regular silverbacks. It looked like it was covered in blue fire. As the gorilla howled and beat its chest, a small wisp of flames escaped its mouth.

"Then I'll add Double Summon, to special summon Enraged Battle-Ox (1700/1000)." A dark minotaur appeared on CJ's field. He wore red and gold armor, with a heavy helmet that allowed long horns to stick out. In his hands he clutched a large battle-axe. He swung it upwards and rested it on his shoulder, roaring out at Raphael, who looked back impassively.

"Then I'll set a card and end my turn."

Raphael drew. "I will merely set a monster facedown, and add one facedown card. My turn ends."

CJ snapped the top card off his deck. "Berserk Gorilla, attack his facedown monster with Death Bodyslam!" That was all the gorilla needed. With a loud roar, it leapt forward, and slammed into the facedown monster. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, the card flipped over to reveal a thick, muscular, blue-skinned monster with yellow eyes and spiked, orange hair rose onto the field, holding its arms out in front of it while its hair flowed behind it. It had a serious look on its face. With a roar, he swung his arms outwards, throwing the gorilla away.

"It seems your ape was a little too weak to match my Backup Gardna (500/2200)."

(CJ: 7800, Raphael: 8000)

"_What a waste_," rued CJ. "_I could have dealt piercing damage thanks to Enraged Battle Ox's effect._"

"Fine," he sighed. "I end my turn."

Raphael drew. "I do not plan to slip up," he warned. "I will prove that by equipping Backup Gardna with Butterfly Dagger – Elma, and then summoning Guardian Elma (1300/1200) in attack mode, and equipping her with Gravity Axe – Grarl!" A woman with short, brown hair leapt into play, spinning around the light-green veil that was attached to her arms. She wore a type of green vest that covered only her chest area. She also wore rather short, brown pants, and had similar-colored boots. She was thin, with lightly pale skin. Then, a large, two-sided blade hammer descended into play, with Elma taking a hold of it. Meanwhile a green knife appeared in Backup Gardna's hand (800/2200).

"Gravity Axe – Grarl boosts the attack points of the equipped monster by five hundred, meaning your Enraged Battle-Ox is now a target for Elma!"

The female Guardian rushed towards the minotaur, which was by now spitting fire literally. She deftly avoided a swing from him, and nimbly swung around, slicing through its torso with her less bulky, but nonetheless deadly axe. For a split second, there was silence. Then, the minotaur exploded, leaving Berserk Gorilla alone on CJ's field.

(CJ: 7700, Raphael: 8000)

"I set one card and end my turn," finished Raphael smoothly.

CJ scoffed to himself. "_He destroyed Enraged Battle-Ox by equipping a weak monster with another weak equip card. What's this guy's strategy? The moment I decide to take it up a notch, he's done_."

"I summon Chiron the Mage (1800/1000) in attack mode," declared CJ, as a centaur appeared on his field. The human portion was dressed in silver armor, with long, blonde hair flaring out underneath his helmet. He had a small beard, and held a long staff with blood-red energy glowing at one end in his right hand. The horse part was chestnut.

"Once per turn, I can destroy one spell or trap card on the field, at the cost of discarding one spell card from my hand. I will send Repayment of Losses to the graveyard to destroy the card you just set on your last turn!"

Even as he spoke, Chiron raised his staff and fired off a sphere of red energy at the facedown card. Raphael raised his eyes. "I will activate it first. It's called Power of Self-Sacrifice, and allows me to pay one thousand life-points in order to special summon one monster that was destroyed in battle, during the battle phase of this turn."

CJ shrugged. "Fine. Berserk Gorilla, destroy Guardian Elma!" The gorilla roared out loud once more, and jumped into the sky. It slammed straight into the axe-wielding guardian, literally crushing her with his bulk. Within moments, she was reduced to nothing but a pile of cinders.

(CJ: 7700, Raphael: 7800)

"I immediatley pay one thousand life-points to special summon Elma back!"

(CJ: 7700, Raphael: 6800)

The brunette reappeared on Raphael's field. "You made one mistake," pointed out CJ. "Now, she's easy prey for Chiron!"

"Yes, but would you sacrifice him as well?" goaded Raphael. CJ looked to Raphael's field in surprise, only to notice that Elma was still holding the Gravity Axe – Grarl. "I'll explain. When Elma is successfully normal summoned or special summoned, I can equip one magic card in my graveyard onto her. Since only Gravity Axe – Grarl, was present, I chose that. Now, her attack points are equal to Chiron (1800/1200)."

CJ frowned. "_I wouldn't sacrifice Chiron like that. His strategy seems to depend a lot on equip cards, using Chiron to destroy them may prove helpful_."

"I'll call it a turn," he nodded.

Raphael's eyes flashed. "Now, it is time for you to realize the true power of the Guardians. Since Gravity Axe – Grarl, is in play, I can now special summon from my hand Guardian Grarl (2500/1000)!"

A beige, very strong and muscular creature with a lizard-like head landed on the field, causing a small dent in the ground. The creature had blue cloth down its legs, and his feet looked a turquoise tone. He had blank, beige eyes, and roared mightily as he flexed his mighty muscles and held his arms out.

"_Twenty-five hundred… This guy might not be such a pushover after all_."

"Next I'll use the effect of Backup Gardna to shift Butterfly Dagger – Elma, from him, to Elma!" The large defender threw the dagger to Elma, who caught it spinning out of the air by its handle (2100/1200).

"Now, Grarl will attack Chiron and Elma will destroy Berserk Gorilla!"

The reptilian beast roared and charged across the field. Its clawed paw slammed into the centaur, ripping straight through his armor, which was nowhere near strong enough to withstand such a blow. With another punch, it beheaded Chiron. For a moment, the headless corpse stood on CJ's field for a moment, before shattering into an infinite number of tiny pieces.

Meanwhile, Elma attacked the gorilla in a similar manner to which he finished off the Enraged Battle-Ox. The primate attempted to swipe at her with his massive arms, but she was able to duck, slashing at his legs with one weapon each. Momentarily, it stood, swaying, for a moment, before collapsing under the strain of his wounds.

(CJ: 6900, Raphael: 6800)

"It will not be easy to advance through Chaos' game," warned Raphael, folding his arms. "I am an extension of Chaos, and hence I have his power and skills as well. You didn't seem to take this duel very seriously, and now you will pay a heavy price for that, CJ Andersen."

"Fine," growled CJ. "Just finish your move and then I'll show you what's it's like when I go all out."

"Then that will end it," finished Raphael. "Make your move."

CJ drew. "I'll begin by summoning this, my Exarion Universe (1800/1900)."

Materializing onto the field was a half man, half horse creature, with the human half having green skin. He wore thick bluish-grey armor that covered his head, shoulders, upper chest, and most of his horse half's back. His four horse legs were brown, with a black tail hanging off his backside. On his left hand was a thick hunk of armor that was a heavy looking weapon, and in his right hand was a lance with red blades on both ends.

"Eighteen hundred is not enough," growled Raphael.

"Fair enough. I activate Wild Nature's Release, which will reduce it's defense points to zero, and then increase it's attack points by the same amount!"

The centaurian monster raised his lance, and let out a roar as he crackled with black lightning (3700/0).

"Attack his Guardian Grarl," ordered CJ. Exarion Universe obeyed, charging across the field with his lance raised. The reptilian creature braced himself for the inevitable impact, although he knew that it was one he would be unable to survive. Just as the centaur was about to slash forward with his lance, Raphael reacted.

"I activate my facedown quick-play magic card, Obedience, which will force one monster on your field to change its battle position!"

Suddenly, the Exarion Universe keeled over, retching. Its weapons suddenly seemed ten times heavier, and try as it might, it could not lift them. Slowly, it trekked back to CJ's field, angry and disappointed.

"And now, your move will amount to nothing, as the effect of Wild Nature's Release will destroy Exarion Universe when the turn ends."

CJ shook his head. "Not gonna happen. I activate my facedown continuous trap card, Ultimate Offering. By paying five hundred life-points, I can perform one extra normal summon. So I'll sacrifice Exarion Universe to summon Manticore of Darkness (2300/1000)!"

The centaur vanished; giving rise to a huge, humanoid monster whose head was a lion's. The gigantic mane of golden hair flared out in the breeze of Death Valley. Its muscular body was framed by a pair of black wings that looked like those of an eagle, while the stinger of a scorpion stood to attention behind it. It fell down onto all fours and roared loudly at Raphael, its gigantic claws cutting into the ground.

(CJ: 6400, Raphael: 6800)

"With that, I'll set a card and end my turn."

Raphael drew. "I summon Guardian Raiden (1600/1000) in attack mode." A man dressed in firm, platinum armor appeared on Raphael's field. His head was covered with a similar helmet, and a shimmering cape billowed out behind him. His gauntleted hands, however, were empty.

"Then, I equip him with Hammer of Miracles, which will reduce his attack points by eight hundred!" CJ's eyes bulged. "_Reduce_ his attack points?" A golden hammer appeared in the hands of Raphael's newest guardian (800/1000).

"Yes. But it is a small price to pay, for as long as Raiden is equipped with Hammer of Miracles, I am allowed to transfer active equip cards from one monster to another as many times as I want, during each of my main phases. So I choose to transfer Gravity Axe – Grarl, to its rightful owner!"

The dinosaur-like warrior roared out in triumph as Elma looked at him and threw the axe over to him. He caught it in his right hand and gave it a few experimental slashes (3000/1000) (1600/1200).

"_Three thousand_…."

"First, I'll switch Backup Gardna to attack mode. Then, Guardian Grarl will your Manticore of Darkness once and for all!" Grarl raced forward, and expertly swung his axe in an arc. He cut off the edge of the manticore's stinger, inciting a deep roar of agony. Then, he silenced it by slashing one more time, this time severing the beast-warrior's head.

(CJ: 5700, Raphael: 6800)

"Backup Gardna, Raiden, and Elma will attack your life-points directly!"

CJ braced himself as the assault continued. First came the powerful punches from the Backup Gardna, but it didn't compare to the pain from the stab by Elma. Raiden finished the volley with a devastating blow to CJ's shoulder from his hammer. He fell down onto one knee, gasping in pain as his life-points took a steep drop.

(CJ: 2800, Raphael: 6800)

"Now, I'll reveal to you the more interesting part of Raiden's effect: at the end of my battle phase, I can draw one card for every Guardian monster that attacked." CJ gasped as Raphael refilled his hand luxuriantly, until he had four cards to work with. "Then I'll activate a continuous magic card called Purity of the Cemetery, set a facedown card, and end my turn."

Before drawing, CJ spoke. "I can discard a beast or beast-warrior type monster from my hand to special summon Manticore of Darkness back from my graveyard. So will send Green Baboon, Defender of the Forest, to the graveyard, so that you can give my Manticore a warm welcome!"

The roaring beast reappeared on CJ's field, and he then drew. Suddenly, he gasped in pain. He was finding it very difficult to breath for some reason.

"That would be the effect of Purity of the Cemetery," explained Raphael. "When I have no monsters in my graveyard, you lose one hundred life-points during each of your standby phases, for every monster you have in your graveyard. At the moment, there's Chiron the Mage, Berserk Gorilla, Enraged Battle-Ox, and Exarion Universe, for a total of four."

(CJ: 2400, Raphael: 6800)

CJ relaxed a bit as he found his breath. "_Damn… That's why he uses cards like Power of Self-Sacrifice. I gotta destroy one of his monsters real quick, or his continuous magic card will finish me off just like that_."

"Then I summon Giant Rat (1400/1450) in attack mode." A freakishly large rodent appeared next to the Manticore on CJ's field. Its fur was purplish, and its eyes shown a primal yellow. In one of its paws it clutched a skull.

"Now I'll attack Guardian Elma with Giant Rat!" Raphael raised an eyebrow as the rodent charged towards the female warrior. He attempted to latch onto her neck with his canines, but with a disgusted snarl Elma slashed at his flank with her dagger. The rat backed off, whining in pain. With another growl of anger, she slashed at his head, severing it from his body. The headless corpse vanished.

(CJ: 2200, Raphael: 6800)

"That served quite a purpose," mused CJ, pulling a card out of his graveyard. "When a beast-type monster is destroyed on my field, I can pay a thousand life-points to special summon Green Baboon, Defender of the Forest (2600/1800) from my hand or graveyard!"

Raphael gasped in shock as a gigantic, armored baboon appeared on CJ's field. He wore brown mail that fitted tightly around his huge shoulders, arms, and legs. His skin was green, and a mop of messy hair was hanging off all parts of his face. He opened his mouth, exposing razor sharp teeth that glowed almost as much as his stony eyes. In one hand, he held a wooden club as big as a man.

"And since Giant Rat was destroyed in battle, I can special summon one earth-attribute monster with fifteen hundred or less attack points from my deck to the field. My choice is none other than another Giant Rat (1400/1450)."

As an animal identical to the one that preceded it appeared on CJ's field, Raphael spoke in a hard voice. "Swarm the field all you want, Guardian Grarl is still unstoppable. Even your strongest monster is too weak to challenge him."

"Grarl may be powerful, but only as long as he has his axe," defended CJ, tapping a button on his Duel Disk. "I was waiting for just the right time to activate this card, which I set on my very first turn. It's called Dust Tornado, and I'll use it to destroy Gravity Axe – Grarl!"

A swirling cyclone of dust and dirt slammed into Grarl, leaving him unharmed but shattering his weapon (2500/1000).

"Now, each and every one of your monsters is weak enough for me to destroy! Green Baboon, Defender of the Forest, Manticore of Darkness and Giant Rat will each attack Grarl, Elma, and Backup Gardna!"

As one, CJ's monsters whirled into action. The baboon leapt towards Grarl, and dealt him a savage blow with his club. Defenseless without his axe, the reptilian humanoid succumbed to the attack with ease. Elma was the next to go. She mounted a valiant battle, slashing and jabbing at the manticore with her dagger, but the poison from its stinger soon overwhelmed her. Finally, the rat bit down on the muscular man's neck. He struggled against his attacker, fighting to throw the large mammal off, but a single flick of the rat's jaws broke his neck.

(CJ: 2200, Raphael: 5100)

"And since your monsters are now destroyed, Purity of the Cemetery is finished," concluded CJ. To his shock, he saw something that completely contradicted his statement. The deadly continuous magic card was still very active.

"I activated my other facedown card, Guardian Blitz. At the cost of one thousand life-points, all monsters that would have been sent to the graveyard this turn are instead returned to my deck, which is then shuffled."

(CJ: 2200, Raphael: 4100)

"I don't get it! Why the heck are you spending so many life-points just to keep your monsters safe?!"

"A demon like you would never understand!" shot back Raphael. "But maybe this will help…" He held up Guardian Raiden.

CJ examined it closely. "The hell…" The card looked like it was twenty years old.

"Unlike some, I share a bond with my Guardians," murmured Raphael. "I have been using these same cards for eighteen years. The Guardians were what prevented me from losing my mind, many, many years ago, and in thanks for the way they kept me stable, I will _never_ let them be destroyed. You can try as hard as you like, but you will never kill a Guardian. You may kill me, but never my Guardians."

With that, he suddenly vanished and was replaced by a laughing jack-in-the-box. "Liked that story?" bellowed the voice of Schrodinger. CJ rolled his eyes. "So all of that was crap?"

The jack-in-the-box reverted to Raphael. "Actually, no. The real Raphael is actually strangely fond of his monsters, something that is quite beyond me. That's Life's job, she's the one who shapes the strange personal details of a person's life. All Chaos determines is what obstacles they encounter. Au-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"_Where is Kyle_?" thought Kaiba to himself angrily. He knew that the young duelist was Schweinstigger's only hope of survival. With a bullet wound as serious as this, the German would die if someone attempted to move him. Kaiba himself didn't dare risk leaving him alone in order to go for aid himself. He had already arrived at the conclusion that a Paradias agent had intercepted Kyle along the way, and there were surely plenty more waiting in the wings to finish the job.

He didn't even have a secure cell-phone. Thankfully, they were well-hidden under the cover of bushes and the heavy fir trees. Making a call on his regular phone would make it easy for them to locate the duo. He had no option but to wait and hope his amateurish attempt at applying the principles of cryogenics would be successful. In theory, the freezing snow would give Schweinstigger a lot more time. But Kaiba was not about to stake his revenge on theory.

Suddenly, he heard a cough from the German. He turned to see him attempting to lean upward. "What the hell are you doing?" growled Kaiba.

He choked and pointed to his chest. Kaiba heard a hoarse whisper in German.

Kaiba was quite multilingual, but even so, German was not his forte. He squinted at the supposedly dying man. "What?"

Schweinstigger seemed to realize who he was talking to. "_Remove it. I can't breathe_."

Upon looking closer, the CEO realized that Schweinstigger was in fact wearing something quite heavy underneath his shirt. Tearing it open, he was shocked to see a thick bullet-proof vest wrapped around the gambler. It was no wonder that he was finding it hard to take in air, as his lungs would have soon been crushed if Kaiba had not understood what he meant. He ripped it open, inciting a gasp from Schweinstigger, who shot right up, breathing in deeply.

"You were wearing a vest all along?" growled Kaiba in disgust.

"It was necessary…. As a part of the illusion. You could not know," breathed Schweinstigger.

"What illusion?"

"These people… They will never let you have me alive. They value my wealth, yes, but they will kill me and lose the money forever rather than risking me giving you information. If I was able to fake my death for long enough… It would provide an opportunity for escape. I had a pill in my mouth when you captured me, which would knock me out and make the supposed death seem realistic. Now that they will be sure of my death, I am free."

Kaiba grabbed his shoulder. "_No,_ you're not," he growled.

Schweinstigger looked at him incredulously. "Are you really serious? We don't have the time for that here. If they know I'm alive, they will come after the both of us. We cannot wait a moment longer. I agreed to give you information, and eventually, I will. There is no love lost between myself and the Paradias Corporation. We will meet again soon."

"I know more about fighting organizations like Paradias than you can dream about," whispered Kaiba, grabbing Schweinstigger by the scruff of his neck.

"Then you should know that underestimating them will get you killed," murmured back Schweinstigger, smoothly pushing Kaiba's hand away.

He held up his cell phone. "The Ritz-Carlton, London. Seven p.m., tomorrow evening."

"No," shot back Kaiba. "Too private. I don't trust you for a second."

"Fine," sighed Schweinstigger. "The London Eye. Same time."

"How do I know you'll show up?" grunted Kaiba. "Take my word for it."

"I'm smarter than the average bear, Schweinstigger," snarled Kaiba.

"All right!" sighed Schweinstigger. "I have a program on my phone that I can give to you. I can configure it to my SIM card, and until a specified time you will know my exact location on the global map. Even if I try to double-cross you, you can find me."

"And risk you corrupting my entire mainframe with some virus?" snorted Kaiba. "No, I don't think so." With that, he snatched up Schweinstigger's suitcase from where it lay on the snow next to him. He emptied its contents indiscriminately onto the ground, ignoring the other man's protests. He picked up another small phone.

"If you want this back, you'll meet me in London tomorrow."

"That's the only terminal from which I can access my winnings," protested Schweinstigger. It had been given to him by the man in charge of the casino. The money was stored in the casino bank until he entered his password into that very terminal and wired it to his private Swiss account. The only other way to do it was to physically return to the casino and do it personally, but he had made far too many enemies there today to risk returning there in his life.

"Which is why I'm sure you won't lead me on a wild goose chase over Europe and disappear," said Kaiba nastily.

Schweinstigger looked at him helplessly. He didn't even have a weapon, but then again, even if he did, he'd have to be a fool to attack Seto Kaiba in such a foul mood.

"You'd better get moving. I'm going to find the kid and leave tonight itself. Be there, Schweinstigger."

"How do I know you won't double-cross _me_, and take the money for yourself?" said the German weakly.

Kaiba didn't even turn back as he disappeared into the darkness. "Does it look like I need the money?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I will make the first move," said Sylar, deathly quiet. His slim, elegant fingers already held five cards. He used those of his right hand to slowly add a sixth.

"Dearest Serenity, you are now going to be introduce to a variety of cards whose mere purpose for existing was for me to extract revenge upon those foolish enough to betray me. They will cause pain and suffering, yes, but in no way can it be compared to what you caused me! But I assure you, Serenity, it will be quite close… I introduce Cyber Venom – Iron Cobra (1700/1200)!"

An unnatural hiss was heard from the darkness, sending a shiver down her spine. Joined by her brother, she looked on in horror as a slithery form appeared on Tristan's field. When the light shone down on it momentarily, they saw it was an unnaturally large cobra with segments of its body replaced by wire laden mechanical segments that contracted and expanded like accordions. One of its eyes was replaced by a metal sphere with a glowing red optic slit that shone brightly as its hood, now made of interlocking metal plates that fanned out ending in saw like serrations. The initials 'CV' had been branded onto the flaps of its hood one letter on each side.

"What the… What the hell is that thing?" whispered Joey in disbelief.

"The beginning of the end of both your lives," replied Sylar coldly. Suddenly, his eyes flashed. "Attack."

Before Serenity could even begin to protest as to the fact that a monster could not attack on its first turn, the mechanical snake bowed its head to Tristan, as if its own hatred and ferocity paled in comparison to his, and darted towards Serenity quick as lightning. Joey's moan of anguish drowned out Serenity's own as the snake coiled around her waist, latching onto her shoulder with its knife-like fangs.

Her cry of agony pierced Joey's heart. He felt more pain from having to watch his sister suffer to this extent than she did from actually suffering. The sadistic reptile seemed to savor the taste of her flesh, constricting tighter around her as her life-points continued to drop. Finally, it uncoiled and slithered back to Tristan's field, leaving her on her knees, her screams reduced to pained groans.

(Sylar: 8000, Serenity: 6300)

Joey roared and rattled his chains. "LET HER GO! HURT ME IF YOU WANT, YOU SICK SON OF A-…"

"You want pain?" hissed Tristan. The sound coming from his lips was so similar to that of his monster, the resemblance was quite uncanny. It was as if they were the same being, as if the sounds of a snake were echoing from within his own mouth.

"I will grant your wish. Or rather, the Shadow Game will."

To Joey's shock, the lights seemed to dim over the duel, and focused more on him. There was another hiss. He closed his eyes, willing himself not to see it, and praying that Serenity would do the same. But her own scream of anguish as the pair of razor sharp fangs punctured the skin of his ankle told him that she had not. He opened them to see that the perpetrator was already gone. The pain caused by both the bite and the venom had already started coming in waves. It was taking all his resolve and strength to stop from screaming again. He knew that in a duel with such an insane freak, seeing him crack would make it hopeless for Serenity. He only hoped that all the practice he had put her through would finally come in handy.

"It's all right," he murmured. "Don't worry, Ren, just duel your heart out."

He didn't even know if she had heard him, for she turned back to Sylar for an explanation. "At the cost of a single card from my hand, Iron Cobra can attack your life-points directly regardless of any card effects, and even on the first turn of the duel."

Serenity shook her head, trying to clear her mind of the image of her brother being tortured by Tristan's unbelievable cruelty.

"I will set a card end my turn. Make your move, Serenity. Use the knowledge I imparted to you in an attempt to avoid your inevitable punishment. The irony is not lost on me."

Trying to block out his voice, Serenity shakily drew her sixth card. Even though her next card could possibly work to her advantage, she didn't even brighten up in the slightest. "I activate Walkuren Ritt. I can now special summon from my hand as many monsters as possible with the word 'Valkyrie' in their names. I summon Valkyrie Altest (1600/1800) and Valkyrie Sovite (1600/1600)."

A fine mist erupted over Serenity's field. Appearing from within it were two women, riding on white horses. They had long blonde hair, and their lithe bodies were covered in Norse armor of different colors, complete with round helmets fitting perfectly around their heads. Each one held a long sword.

"When Valkyrie Sovite is summoned, I can destroy one monster on your field," she said in a quivering voice. One of the women raised her sword, and charged towards the snake. It hissed loudly at her, and just before it could slash at her horse's flank, she beheaded it.

"Snake Whistle, activate," reacted Sylar coldly. "When a reptile-type monster on my field is destroyed, I may special summon one level four or lower reptile-type monster from my deck. Come, Cyber Venom – Armor Rattler (2000/2000)."

The previous snake's corpse began to vibrate, and suddenly, a new creature exploded from within it with a hiss. It was a rattlesnake whose eyes were covered with a metal plate with the initials 'CV' branded onto it. Much larger then a normal rattlesnake, it had metal spikes sticking out of its scales that rattled as it moved, and a particularly thick cluster near its tail. It waved its tail slightly as it hissed, giving the infamous warning of a normal rattlesnake.

"Two thousand for a level four?" croaked Joey to himself. He shut his eyes tight, continuing to pray that Serenity would be able to survive against beasts of such insane power.

Serenity lowered her eyes, unable to think clearly. She glanced back at Joey at regular intervals. "I… I end my turn."

Sylar drew, continuing to fix Serenity was a callous glare. "I summon Cyber Venom – Nitro Marauder (1700/1600)."

At this moment, another hiss echoed, but this one was not caused by one of Sylar's monsters. It was the result of a wave of steam erupting from a pipe all over the field, blinding Serenity momentarily. Out of the corner of her eye, she was able to see another serpentine appear from the ground. As the steam cleared, she saw that it was a snake about ten feet long, with a large hood and long fangs. Its scales were pale blue, and a bright blue optic lens covered its eyes. A number of vents were visible along the length of its body.

"Nitro Marauder attacks Altest."

The serpent gathered its coil and sprang forward, flying into the air. It used its momentum to knock one of the women off her horse. As it coiled around her, Serenity saw to her horror that the vents around its body were opening up one by one, and a strange, bluish-white gas was being expelled from them. The moment she was hit by the gas, Altest stopped struggling. In fact, she did not even move as the snake bent down and clamped its jaws over her head, ripping it off.

(Sylar: 8000, Serenity: 5500)

She looked on in horror as another snake, this time a bright green one coiled itself around Joey's leg. He groaned out loud, rattling his chains in fury as it continued to slither up his body, finally settling on his chest. Its fangs slowly sank into his shoulder. This bite was more than a mere puncture wound, and the pain caused by the bite this time would actually be comparable to the poison. His face muscles tightened, and he bit down on his lip to prevent himself from screaming so hard that he actually drew a little blood. Finally, the snake retreated, leaving a deep gash in his shoulder. When the poison finally took effect, death would be preferable.

"It should have only been a hundred points of damage," protested Serenity weakly.

Sylar glanced back at her. "When Nitro Marauder does battle, his opponent is drained of seven hundred attack points. Now, Book of Moon, activates." To Serenity's surprise, he flipped the Nitro Marauder facedown.

"Armor Rattler cannot attack. However, once per turn, I can switch Armor it to facedown defense mode. Then, the monster card zones of all facedown defense position monsters are shuffled." The mechanized rattle-snake was replaced by a facedown card image. Suddenly, the pair of brown-backed cards began to move about at an incredible pace. Serenity, tired as she was, was completely unable to follow their motion. By the time they settled into a pair of his monster card zones, her guess as to which card was which was as good as someone who had just chanced upon the duel.

"Turn end. Continue with more of your sorry dueling, Serenity, so that I may send you to oblivion for your crimes."

The younger Wheeler sibling drew, trying to fight back tears as she did. "I summon Valkyrie Mist (1700/1500)." The newest of Serenity's Valkyries was riding a brown horse, and had long, red hair. Instead of a sword, she held a pair of short daggers. As she finished her materialization onto the field, her body seemed to give off a strange mist that dispelled the darkness around her a little.

"Valkyrie Mist negates the effects of all magic and trap cards on the turn she's summoned. I will use Mist to attack the facedown monster on the right."

The red-haired woman urged her horse forward. She slashed forward with her pair of daggers, and the card flipped up to suddenly reveal the larger rattle-snake, with metal spikes on its scales. Serenity gasped, placing a hand over her mouth as the daggers bounced off its armor. It hissed and sprang onto the Valkyrie. Its fangs tore through her armor, and its head erupted out the other side as blood leaked out from the woman's body. Its momentum carried it so far that it had actually landed near Serenity's field by now. Behind it, Valkyrie Mist exploded.

"When Armor Rattler is attacked, the monster that targeted it loses two thousand attack points. If its attack points are reduced to zero, it is destroyed, and its owner loses twelve hundred life-points." Serenity gagged, but the pain she was feeling was nothing compared to what Joey was undergoing. The poison of the previous two bites had begun to take effect, igniting a burning fever. As a third snake crept up his chest, this time a cobra, he began to feel his body go numb. Thankfully, he did not even feel the third bite as the brown serpent sunk its teeth into his chest. The fangs were thin enough to slip through a pair of ribs, but the venom they gave off could kill a horse. The only thing keeping Joey alive was the magic of the Shadow Game. And if Serenity lost, that magic would cease to do so.

(Sylar: 8000, Serenity: 4300)

Serenity fell to her knees, breaking down into tears. Sobs wracked her body as Sylar watched coldly. Joey attempted to voice a word of encouragement, but his throat was too dry, and his mind too unclear.

"Perhaps now you have some kind of inclination of exactly how I felt that night when I realized the truth about you and Kaiba. It was the longest night of my life, Serenity. When Anubis finally vanquished me, I actually welcomed it; anything was better than the hell of watching an arrogant toe-rag with the woman I loved, the woman I deserved… the woman who betrayed me."

"Please, Tristan…" she whispered, not even looking up.

He glared at her coldly. "The night of my death, Serenity, was the final betrayal. Perhaps, in death, I actually considered that you might have shed tears for me that night, and only me. But I was wrong. Kaiba was taken on that same night, and I was quite sure that you, as the cold-hearted, undeserving wench that you are, would have given _him_ precedence over _me_. You will never be forgiven for your sins, Serenity. God may forgive you, but I will not."

"_Don't_…. Don't talk to my sister like that, you jerk," breathed Joey, barely loud enough for Sylar to hear.

"I will talk to her as I please. You are hardly in a position to make demands. I know that you have been praying all this time, Joey. You are a fool. Seek no sanctuary in God. I have learned that the hard way. Until the night of my death, I begged Him for deliverance every night. I loved Serenity, I would do anything for her. Why was her heart given to somebody else? I received no answer. Yet, until I died, I maintained that foolish faith. This world is one of cruelty, and those who ask deities for aid will only be crushed underneath the heels of stronger individuals. I have learned that lesson, and it is time for you to do the same."

Serenity staggered upward. The flash of determination, the glimpse of hope that Joey had hoped to see on her tear-stained face was not present. Only absolute despair, hopelessness and sadness was visible. He hung his head, trying to block out the pain of the venom. No one was going to come to save them this time. Serenity was not going to make a dazzling comeback. It was over.

"I end my turn." After all, Sovite was too weak to destroy Nitro Marauder.

"Appropriate," murmured Sylar, as he added a third card to his hand. "I sacrifice Cyber Venom – Nitro Marauder, in order to summon Cyber Venom – Giga Grappler (1950/1000)."

The one-eyed serpent vanished, and was replaced by a beast whose head actually grazed the ceiling of the lower part of the room in which they stood. It was a tall humanoid, but with a longer neck than usual, and the flat visage of a snake. Its scales were a deep purple, but had steel plates woven into them. Its arms were replaced by mechanical ones, each with three spike-like fingers. It had two yellow optic lenses on its eyes, across which data seemed to flash.

"Giga Grappler attacks Valkyrie Sovite." The soldier-like reptile extended its hand out, and suddenly, it seemed to stretch from the shoulder. It seemed to be able to stretch infinitely, as Sovite was hit by the spikes on its fingers, carrying her off her horse and into the darkness. It continued to stretch for some time, until a sickening crunch and scream was heard. Nothing happened for a moment, before the Giga Grappler finally retracted his arm.

"When Giga Grappler destroys a monster, you must discard a number of cards from your hand equal to the destroyed monster's level. For every monster discarded, you lose three hundred life-points."

Serenity silently slid her hand into the graveyard, as Valkyrie Sovite was level five. She had discarded Valkyrie Brunhilde (1800/2000), possibly one of her strongest monsters, along with Valkyrie Dritt (1000/1600).

She was snapped out of her reverie by Joey's screams. He was unable to control it this time, as yet another snake bit into him, this time in his calf. He rattled his chains kicking out wildly in an attempt to throw the snake off. When he finally stopped, he just lay still. He didn't seem able to say anything.

(Sylar: 8000, Serenity: 3350)

"I activate the magic card Reptilian Evolution. By sacrificing one level four or lower reptile-type monster on my field, I can special summon another one from my deck, but this one is limited to level six instead. I sacrifice Armor Rattler."

The armored serpent vanished in a flash of light from his field. He held up another card.

"Come, Cyber Venom – Lizard Bomber (500/1900)."

Appearing in defense mode, in the place of the fallen Armor Rattler was a creature that at first sight reminded one of a balloon. However, if one looked closer, it was actually a lizard-like monster whose entire body was inflated to such a large extent that it really did resemble a balloon, with its limbs and head looking like they had merely been glued on. Its scales were a light brown. However, it had a pair of rocket launchers on its shoulders, along with a laser-shooting mechanism in its mouth. It seemed like the air within its body was enough to make it float, just as it did over Sylar's field.

Tristan held up his final card. "I activate Machine Duplication. I may special summon up to two copies of one machine-type monster on my field which has five hundred or less attack points."

Joey looked up in shock. He was barely conscious, and the venom was playing hell with his senses. For a moment, he was quite sure he had heard wrong. "Machine-type?" he croaked. "Those are all reptiles." At the same time, two more Lizard Bombers appeared on his field (500/1900) (x2).

Sylar did not even look at him. "Cyber Venom monsters are unlike anything you have ever faced. They are cyborgs built from the deadliest reptiles in the world. They are a special breed of unique monsters which have _two_ types, machine and reptile." He held up the Giga Grappler card and showed it to Serenity. It was true. Where its type would normally be written, the words reptile, machine, and effect were all shown.

"This is where the versatility and power of Cyber Venom stems from, Serenity. Your abmyssal dueling skills are no match for a deck such as this. I will now end my turn, giving you your final, pathetic attempt to salvage this duel."

Serenity drew, her eyes tightly closed. She drew. "I play Pot of Greed." Silently, she drew two more cards, sobs continuing to wrack her body. Nothing she had drawn could help her. She sank down slowly to her knees, beginning to cry again.

Sylar drew fast, and spoke in a harsh voice. "The first phase of my vengeance is complete. I sacrifice my three Cyber Venom – Lizard Bombers to summon Cyber Venom - Gogiga Gagagigo (3450/3300)."

One by one, the overinflated lizards disappeared. There was a loud, screeching roar that echoed from within the darkness. A huge, hulking form stepped out of the shadows.

The reptile seemed like a humanoid Godzilla. Heavy jaws leaked saliva as razor sharp fangs glowed silver. It was almost completely mechanized. Tubes ran all along its body, green liquid bubbling within as they were transported along its spine, neck and veins. They had thick black steel plates interlocking around them with only a few dried up reddish patches of scales visible here and there to indicate it was once alive. A thick metal plate had been welded over its eyes with the letters 'CV' branded onto it and its fangs have been replaced by hollow energy charged blades dripping with acidic venom. Its hands were now fully mechanical, each one twice their original size; the fingers replaced by enormous axe like claws.

Joey rattled his chains harder, bellowing out loud, pain forgotten. "Run, Serenity!"

Serenity was deaf to what he said. She simply closed her eyes. "_I'm sorry, big brother. I failed you_."

"Now, finally, perhaps you will have an inkling of what I went through. You may even perhaps thank me for teaching you a valuable lesson, Joey and Serenity Wheeler. Seek no sanctuary in God, for your wishes will never be granted. Cyber Venom – Gogiga Gagagigo attacks."

At his command, the gigantic, mechanized reptile charged across the field, while Giga Grappler looked on in mild interest. It opened its mouth, yellow energy gathering within it. Everything seemed to slow down for an instant, as its leg slammed down on the ground momentarily, in the process of running. During that period of time, the energy seemed to expand exponentially. It raised its head, and as it neared Serenity, the yellow flames were released, consuming the younger Wheeler sibling.

(Sylar: 8000, Serenity: 0)

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Siegfried Reinhardt was a private man. Despite the 'friends' he had made with the members of Team Topdeck and the other Demon Lords, he always preferred to maintain a cold, and less than emotional decorum. The only person whom he had ever really opened up to was Crystal.

So as he watched Serena Avalon laugh and chat with Ryou Bakura, he could not help but feel alienated. Rikuo and Deondre were heatedly discussing dueling strategies. The way Kaiba had taken off was soon forgotten. No one in the building really cared much about him, _or_ Kyle Gardner.

He finally stood up and left the mini-restraunt. To hell with it. He didn't even know what he was doing here. He had not left the building since he had arrived. The frustration was getting to him.

He stalked up the long, narrow corridor, that led to the elevator. Maybe he would pay a visit to the gym. At least he would be able to engage in some kind of constructive activity. Suddenly, one of Kaiba's suits walked up to him.

"Sir, I am afraid I must ask you to return to your room."

"Why?" bristled Siegfried.

"One of our guards was found dead at his post, sir. We are checking the security feeds. It is possible that there is a murderer lose in the building. We will track him down soon, but I must ask you to stay out of the way."

"I can take care of myself." As the Tiger Demon Lord, the statement was very true, actually.

"Sir…" The suit was not used to having to say things twice. Frankly, he had no idea why his employer had invited such strange company into his building. But it was not his job to question things such as this. It was his job to get things done. So just as he was about to make Siegfried understand just how important it was for him to return to his room, and possibly risk an injury in the process, his walkie-talkie buzzed with static.

"A possible disturbance in the generator room. Already, two men are on their way. Approach armed, and with caution."

By the time the suit was done with confirming the threat, and had turned back to Siegfried, he was gone.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Such powerful monsters…" mused James. "Do they deserve to be in the hands of a foolish child such as yourself?"

"Cut the crap," warned Kyle. "Lucifer is finished. I use the effect of Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning to remove your monster from play!" Aiming his shield at the horrific fusion of James' field, the soldier fired off a beam of white energy. Lucifer snarled in reply, throwing its wings up in defense. It crossed its wings over its body, and the energy seemed to stop momentarily.

"How is that possible?" gasped Kyle.

"Once per turn, Lucifer allows me to pay half my life-points to negate one monster effect," sneered James. With that, Lucifer's wings exploded outward, throwing the energy right back at the soldier. It slammed right into him, throwing him across the field. He landed in the snow, gasping in pain.

(Kyle: 450, James: 900)

"There is a reason why I am superior to you, Kyle," he continued as the teenager looked dumbly from one monster to another, panic rising in his features.

"And since you can't do anything, I'll draw," snapped James.

"The duel is over. Lucifer, attack Chaos Emperor Dragon – Envoy of the End!"

"No, no, no, no, no!" bellowed Kyle in shock as the incredible fusion of the three Sky Scourges slashed his blade in an arc. A wave of black energy was released, shooting across the field towards the mighty dragon, who opened his mouth and fired back a sphere of yellow energy in one, final attempt at survival. It was, however, worthless, as Lucifer's attack was far stronger. It tore through that of the dragon, and slammed right into it, causing a huge eruption of smoke and energy.

(Kyle: 0, James: 900)

"That's that," hissed James. "The duel has ended… Now, time's up for your life."

"I highly doubt that," said a cold voice behind him. As he calmly deactivated his Duel Disk, James turned around to see Seto Kaiba standing behind him, a grim look on his face. "Ah, Mr. Kaiba. What a pleasant surprise. I see you've decided to enjoy the sight of me finally giving Kyle what he's had coming to him for so very long."

"He can be irritating at times, yes," agreed Kaiba. "But I don't see how that gives you the right as to who lives and who dies."

The smoke had finally cleared. Kyle was lying motionless across from James. "I hardly think that makes a lot of sense, coming from someone like you," pointed out James, pulling off his Duel Disk. "Hostile takeovers, corporate blackmail, so many unethical lawsuits…."

"Hostile takeovers are one thing, but murder is something different," said Kaiba, a dark glint in his eyes. James pulled out a gun.

"Now tell me one thing," he drawled. "I'd like one reason why I shouldn't kill you right here, right now, and then finish off Kyle."

"Maybe because you'll never find Schweinstigger then," replied Kaiba evenly.

James froze. "Schweinstigger…. He's dead."

"Really?" replied Kaiba, a smirk growing on his face. "Then why would I have this?" He fished something out of his pocket, and held it up to James. It was the cell phone from which Schweinstigger could access his winnings.

"It's worthless without the password, which only he knows."

"This is a trick," accused James. "I killed him, I know I did. A bullet straight through the heart…."

"Does this look familiar?" Kaiba pointed to a dark shape on the snow. It was a bullet proof jacket. Specifically, _Schweinstigger's_ bullet-proof jacket.

"The hell…" James didn't know what to say. He had never blown a mission. _ Never_. Reflect had made it clear that their primary aim would be to silence Schweinstigger. The money, as well as Kaiba and Kyle were both secondary. Now the German had skipped off merrily into the night, and was probably boarding a chartered plane to anywhere in the world at the moment. A man with his contacts could easily disappear. There were places in the world where even Paradias could never find him.

But Kaiba had the phone…

Which only meant he could have taken it from Schweinstigger as leverage. Leverage to make sure he showed for a meeting.

"You're going to meet Schweinstigger one more time," growled James. Kaiba nodded.

"If you kill me and the kid now, then you'll never see a trace of Schweinstigger one more time. He'll lie low for a while, come back to this place when it's safe, get his money, and disappear. And if I don't show up for the meeting we're supposed to have, you'll lose your one golden chance to salvage this mission. As it is, now that he knows that you're after him, he'll spread information about you like wildfire."

"So you're going to come with me," growled James.

A dark shape rose up behind James. He felt a sharp blow to the head. He fell to the ground, unconscious.

Kaiba turned to the guard from the hotel whom he'd had a quick word with on his phone, before arriving at the site of the duel.

"Wrong," drawled Kaiba. "You're coming with me."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kevin swore from his standpoint on the roof of the casino. He had a perfect view of the duel and the events that followed it from up there, and safe to say, James' carelessness irritated him. He was unarmed, as it seemed Reflect did not even trust him enough to give him a weapon. He couldn't go in alone, it would just result in him being captured as well. At least he knew all that had been said between the two, thanks to the comm.-link that James and him had used to communicate. Kaiba would presumably find it soon and destroy it, but he hadn't been smart enough to do it up until now, even as he spoke to one of his subordinates on his phone, ordering him to prepare his plane for a flight to London.

He pulled out his phone, and dialed a number. Reflect picked up. "I trust he's dead?" intoned the President of Paradias.

With a hint of hesitation, Kevin went on to relate the manner in which James had defeated Kyle, but then been knocked out and captured by Kaiba. Schweinstigger, it seemed, had also escaped.

He had expected Reflect to really lose it, but only got a low laugh on the other side. "Interesting. Very interesting. Obviously, Kaiba will meet Schweinstigger somewhere now. Follow him to London, see what happens. When you reach there, call for backup. It's the only way to finally end the nuisance of Klaus Schweinstigger. The moment he's done with Kaiba, finish him off. He has no idea that you are following Kaiba, he won't be prepared in the least."

"What about Kaiba?" asked Kevin.

"You'd me no match for him," said Reflect matter-of-factedly. "No, I think I'll have to activate another agent for this…."

"Who?"

Kevin heard the name, and shuddered.

"You just do what I told you to."

Kevin disconnected, and made another phone call. It was done. He sneered inwardly. He wanted to finish off Kaiba himself, but knew that this was too good an opportunity to achieve a higher degree of trust with Reflect. James had screwed up big time, and if he picked up the pieces in the manner in which he was told, he'd finally justify the confidence Reflect had placed in him, and move on to bigger and better things. Besides, if Kaiba actually managed to defeat his newest challenger, he'd be there to pick up the pieces.

But that was highly unlikely. Deep in the capital of England, death awaited Seto Kaiba.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Siegfried stood outside the door of the generator room. From what he had heard from other guards on his way here, Joey Wheeler and his sister had both gone missing. It was very possible that they were being held by the intruder in the generator room.

Strangely enough, the door was open. Taking a small breath, he opened it and slid in. It was pitch-black, which was strange. Under normal circumstances, at least a few lights would have been on.

"Ms. Wheeler!" he called out. He got no answer. "Joey!"

He raised his hands, trying to find his way through the darkness. Suddenly, he tripped over something. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he saw in horror that he was looking at the prone form of Joey Wheeler. "What… What on Earth happened to you?" he choked. For a moment, he thought the man was dead. Thankfully, he heard a dry croak coming from Joey's throat.

"_Sylar_…."

His head lolled to one side. "Stay with me!" Siegfried said urgently, checking Joey's pulse. It was fading, very fast. There were puncture wounds all over his body, obviously caused by pairs of fangs. He had developed a sort of grudging respect of Joey after the way he had saved them all from Yamidra.

"That is not a wise decision to make," said an icy voice behind him. Siegfried whirled around.

He gasped. "I remember you… You were the one who always used to follow Yugi Moto and his friends around…. Taylor! Tristan Taylor! I remember… They told me you were dead!"

"Tristan Taylor is dead," came the cold reply. "Sylar, the Third Horseman of Apocalypse is all that remains."

"Did you do this to him?" growled Siegfried, pointing to Joey.

"That depends… Perhaps I facilitated it. It was my friends who did it." As he spoke, Siegfried heard a loud hiss. He turned to see, to his shock, the prone body of Serenity Wheeler. A black, slithery form had just coasted over her body.

"She is finished. No one can save her now. The terms of the Shadow Game I summoned were that she would remain eternally in the Shadow Realm. A fitting punishment for a sinner such as her. Her brother, on the other hand, has a sliver of a chance, even though the vengeance I exacted upon him was far more painful."

"Then I challenge you to a Shadow Game," growled Siegfried. "My terms are simple: if I win, then you will free both of them."

"I already told you," hissed Sylar. "Serenity is finished. Nothing can save her now. And in any case, I have no time to waste, dueling you."

A snake curled itself around Siegfried's foot. If Sylar expected him to wince, he was mistaken. The Tiger Demon Lord flicked his foot upward, causing the snake to fly into the air. When it came in level with his right hand, he released a nexus of white energy, which cut it in half. The two pieces fell to the floor, rapidly issuing blood.

"I see you will be harder to put down than those fools," growled Sylar. A dim light began to shine above them, just enough for them to clearly see each other.

Siegfried raised his hand. Using his powers as a Demon Lord, he had already initiated a Shadow Game. "Fine. In that case, the effects of the venom on his body will be suspended until the end of the duel. If I win, his system will be cleansed of the venom."

"You will regret trying this," warned Sylar, activating his Duel Disk one more time.

Siegfried took one more glance at Serenity's body. "Perhaps, but not as much as I would regret not trying at all."

(Siegfried: 8000, Sylar: 8000)

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Sorry to whoever thought I ended James vs. Kyle abruptly. I should have actually ended it the previous chapter, as it was not meant to be a three-parter. The basic premise was just to demonstrate Lucifer's dominance over the original Chaos monsters. **

**Also, the Cyber Venom cards belong largely to Metal Overlord 2.0. I came up with the idea of a monster having two types, and he expanded on it incredibly. All thanks to him for his incredible work with Sylar's deck.**

**I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, because I won't be able to give you more for quite a while. Until then, GO LAKERS!**

**Please don't forget to REVIEW! *MVP, MVP, MVP, MVP, MVP!***


	24. All or Nothing

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: All or Nothing

**Wow, I don't know how one of my shortest chapters ever turned to one of YOUR longest waits, lol. But I'm back. Updates will be more irregular now, as this year is very important in school, and I can't afford any let-ups. But don't worry, I will never put this story in hiatus at all.**

**KageNoNeko: Well, read on to confirm your feelings.**

**Candyman123: Yeah, I don't think anyone was expecting that… LOL.**

**Starlight AT: If anyone has to get back at Tristan, I think we'll leave it up to the characters.**

**Aelsthla-Mental: The premise was just mine, Metal did most of the work with the cards. Full credit to him.**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: I'm glad you're liking it, my friend.**

"CJ Andersen…." murmured Chaos. "Random Opponent seems to be suiting you well. Now, let us see how the next contestant fares against a Duel Challenge…"

The form of a mummified man, wrapped in bandages, warped into a small jackal. Its paws, strangely, had actual fingers, and its gleaming eyes never left the dice as it rattled down to the board. From the remaining figures at the end of the board, one of them glowed briefly and floated over to the jackal, which had now been replaced by a samurai, dressed in heavy red armor.

"Yugi Moto…. Is your unity with the Pharaoh strong enough to weather the bonds of separation? The Duel Challenge will decide that."

A shadow waved over the field, and the samurai placed the figure of Yugi Moto on the board. It glowed briefly again, and moved in one direction for a few seconds. It alighted on a picture of a maze. "One of your oldest enemies…. Now much stronger. You are better equipped to face this kind of challenge than others, but it will be difficult, undoubtedly."

With that, he turned his attention back to his dice.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Ugghh…" groaned Yugi, rubbing his head. He never drank, but if he did, this would compare to the worst hangover possible.

He sat up, his vision still bleary. "Where the hell am I?"

Yes, he had lost consciousness the moment he had jumped into the Abyss. Was he dead, and waking up in Death's realm? On afterthoughts, it had been a very, very stupid thing to do, even if it had been there only option. But they didn't have a choice, did they?

As his vision returned to him, he stood up. He found the place strangely familiar. He couldn't quite place his finger on it…. It was a vast, empty room, built in traditional, Japanese style. At the end was a single, shut door.

"Hey, I remember this!" It was the room in which Joey and him had dueled those annoying Paradox brothers, all those years ago in Duelist Kingdom. It felt like that was in another world altogether. Chasing a maniac who had kidnapped his grandfather to resurrect his dead wife seemed hard then. Trying to stop a deity who wished destruction upon the universe was a totally different ballgame.

He looked to his right, and saw another figure staggering up. For a moment, he thought it was another one of their party, landed in the same place as him by the magic of the Abyss. But the hair was unmistakable. He should have known, considering it was identical to that which hung over his head. The figure over there was Yami.

"What the-…. What are you doing outside my body, Yami?" he slurred.

Yami looked up in shock. He pressed his hands against his stomach. His body was completely solid. This was bizarre.

"This must be the Abyss," muttered Yami. "Angel told us it did strange things…." He clenched his fist. "_Angel…_ That traitor."

"Well, he was never really on our side to begin with," sighed Yugi. "So he actually never betrayed us." Neither one smiled at this attempt at humor.

"Now, where are we?"

Before Yugi could answer, a pair of men leapt into view. They were both obviously Chinese, with one dressed in an orange robe, and the other in a green one. They were bald, and instantly recognizable to the pair.

"Para and Dox…" breathed Yami.

"We are glad you made it for the fun and games!" crooned Para.

"And equally thrilled that you remember our names!" added Dox.

"It would have been preferable if Wheeler had made it too," continued Para.

"But since he didn't, we'll make do with you!" finished Dox.

Yugi rolled his eyes. He remembered the rhyming of the two brothers all too well. It was already starting to get on his nerves.

"The Abyss directed you to the scene of our maze," began Dox again.

"You will duel, and if you lose, it will be the end of your days!" They both broke out laughing madly.

Yami raised an eyebrow. "Hold on a second. First explain to us how we landed here."

Para chuckled again. "If that you do not know, you are more ignorant than I thought."

"He may be not to blame, brother, it's hardly his fault."

A vein was now throbbing in Yami's forehead.

"Very well, now, I will explain," chortled Para.

"But listen carefully, for from dueling, we do not wish to abstain!" complimented Dox.

"The dimension of the Abyss, is controlled by the one known as Chaos, a member of the Infinity Council," said Para.

Yami looked dumbstruck. Immediatley, he began to say something, but Dox held up a hand. This time, he did not rhyme. He was deadly serious.

"As long as you reside in this dimension, your fates are controlled by him. He will randomly determine what challenges you will face as you go through the Abyss. He will determine which direction you move in. You could face any kind of obstacle in your path. You could just as well have been paired up with any one of your other friends to face us, but the randomness of the Abyss determined that the two of you would have to face us in separate bodies."

"And what happens when we duel you?"

"It is all up to Chaos," shrugged Para. "If you win, you could advance further. It could mean nothing. You may be given help in your next challenge. If you lose, you could die here and now. Again, it could mean nothing. This realm is the embodiment of randomness, which is otherwise hard to achieve in the real world. We ourselves are merely extensions of Chaos himself."

"So we have no way of knowing the consequences of our duel with you until it ends?" growled Yami.

"Yes, and if you do wish to know, the duel must begin now!" laughed Dox maniacally again. A Duel Disk appeared on his arm.

Yami and Yugi looked down at their own arms. To their surprise, they too had Duel Disks. Quickly pulling out their decks from their belts, they inserted them into the deck slots.

"We will double duel; I'm sure you remember how," put in Para, as he had Dox took their places, equidistant from Yami and Yugi.

"Each duelist has eight thousand life-points, and the cycle of turns will start with me and then proceed in a clockwise manner."

"Even if one duelist loses, the other may continue. But be warned, against duelists like us, one of you would be backed into a corner!"

"Enough of this," snapped Yami. "Let's duel."

(Dox: 8000, Yugi: 8000, Para: 8000, Yami: 8000)

"I summon Kaiser Seahorse (1700/1650) in attack mode," he began. A humanoid monster appeared on the field, but it looked more amphibious. Its body was covered with blue and purple scales, which were especially heavy around its torso and shoulders. In one hand, it gripped a yellow staff.

"I will set two cards and end my turn. It is your move now, Yugi. Cherish it dearly, for soon you will burn!"

Yugi drew. He knew that he didn't have Reality Warp to fall back on this time. But if the Paradox brothers continued to use a strategy as slow and unreliable as they did last time, he wouldn't need it. They would end this duel swiftly and progress quickly towards leaving the Abyss. He was sure that was the ultimate 'prize' of the game Chaos was playing with them.

"I play Polymerization, to fuse Twilight Shadow Avenger (1900/1200) and Twilight Shadow Bombardier (1700/1400) to special summon Twilight Shadow Steel General (2800/2000)!"

The sillhouetes of two monsters appeared on Yugi's field. The first was a man dressed in a black bodysuit. He had a flowing cape as well, with a color that matched his attire. In one hand he held a long, dangerous looking dagger. He looked up, to reveal a terrible scar which had blinded him in one eye. His face was marred by a snarl of hatred.

The second was a rather enthusiastic pilot, dressed in old-fashioned flying gear with goggles on his head, visible within the cockpit sleek, silver jet racing towards them at supersonic speeds, piercing the otherwise silent void of the night sky.

One silent, the other shouting jovially, they began to meld together in a large portal. It spun around momentarily, before a new monster emerged from within it. It was a large, bipedal, robot, dressed quite impressively. It wore a black cape that fluttered out behind him, with a pair of rocket launchers on its shoulders. It had a heavy helmet to complement similarly strong, black armor.

"Once per turn, Steel General allows me to add one level four or lower Twilight Shadow from my deck to my hand. I choose Twilight Shadow – Striker (1300/1500), who is immediatley special summoned to the field when he is either drawn or added to my hand from my graveyard or deck."

A man dressed in a flowing, white and purple robe appeared on Yugi's field, down on one knee with his arms crossed defensively. Clutched in between his fingers on both hands were multiple, razor sharp throw-knives.

"I set a card and end my turn."

Para drew. "I summon Sangan (1000/600) in attack mode." A furry, demonic creature appeared on his field. It looked a bit like a pumpkin, with orange skin, large, primal yellow eyes, and long, green limbs.

"I immediatley activate Double Summon, sacrificing Sangan to summon one monster facedown in defense mode!"

Even as Para spoke, Yugi knew exactly what was going on. "_He's summoned Labyrinth Wall (0/3000). What he didn't bank on was the fact that against the way Yami and I duel, three thousand defense points won't help him. It _does_ seem like they're continuing with that Gate Guardian strategy. Back in the days of Duelist Kingdom, it was a strong deck, but today, it's quite laughable_."

"My turn ends here."

Yami drew. "This won't last long. I summon King's Knight (1500/1600)!" A tall, blue-caped knight appeared on the field; he had a golden suit of armor, similar to that of Queen's Knight's, except it also had blue, spiked, ring-like attachments near the right wrist. The shield he held was thick, golden, and round-shaped, with a star-like design on the front of it. He had a short, golden helmet, that covered only his head, allowing his somewhat long, blonde hair to flow behind him. He drew a thin, gold-handled sword.

Picking another card up from his hand, he said, "I send this card to my Graveyard in order to special summon the monster known as The Tricky (2000/1200)."

Appearing onto the field was a monster dressed in a yellow and black with a blue cape on his back and a question mark on his chest and face. The creature looked more like a court jester than anything else.

"I discarded Repayment of Losses, which allows me to draw yet another card." He immediatley looked at his newest card, and smiled appreciatively. "I will finally play Replication, which allows me to send the top three card of my deck to the graveyard, to add one normal or quick-play spell card from your graveyard to my hand. I choose your Double Summon, Para, which I use immediatley to normal summon Silent Swordsman LV3 (1000/1000)!"

The medium-sized, turquoise-skinned, red-eyed blonde swordsman with a blue helmet-like pirate's hat leapt into play. He donned his silver-buttoned, blue jacket with silver and blue shoulder pads, as well as blue, cape-like pants with the silver stripe. He had a silver belt on, with the center containing a capital "S" on it. He wore blue boots with a silver-lined center, containing light-silver bullet marks on them. With his right, white-gloved hand, he gripped onto a thick, gray buster sword, holding it forward.

"Finally, I set a card and end my turn."

(Dox: 8000, Yugi: 8000, Para: 8000, Yami: 8000)

Dox drew confidently. "It is time to introduce you to a monster you may remember…"

He held up a card. "Kaiser Seahorse counts as two sacrifices when tributed for a light monster. Sanga of the Thunder (2600/2200), arise now and inspire fear!"

The amphibian vanished, and appearing in its place was a huge, brown creature that looked humanoid, but ended at the torso. It had red armor fitted onto its shoulders and neck, and in place of its head was a sphere with a Japanese symbol inscribed upon it. Two spindly objects were attached to its back, and they crackled with lightning.

Yugi did not seem worried by the appearance of the storm deity. Neither was Yami.

"Sanga of Thunder, inflict your wrath upon Silent Swordsman LV3 now! Thunderstroke Attack!"

The large monster raised its hands, and a ball of lightning formed within it. With a grunt, the deity let lose the attack, right in the direction of the comparatively small swordsman, who looked on confidently. "I will not allow that to happen," said Yami, pressing a button on his Duel Disk.

"Magical Cylinder, activate!"

A pair of cylinders appeared on Yami's field, on either side of the Silent Swordsman LV3. One of them absorbed the powerful attack, and the glow of lightning vanished from within it in seconds. However, it was now very visible in the other one. The Silent Swordsman pointed his sword in the direction of Sanga, and a similar explosion of lightning erupted from the cylinder. It bypassed Sanga, and slammed right into Dox, knocking him off his feet.

(Dox: 5400, Yugi: 8000, Para: 8000, Yami: 8000)

Para looked at him angrily. "What was it with such a careless move?"

"Do not irritate me; of your constant criticism, I do disapprove!"

"Are we going to duel here or not?" said Yugi loudly. Para and Dox looked back at him, narrowing their eyes.

"I will set one card facedown and end my turn."

Yugi drew. "First, I'll use Steel General's effect to add Twilight Shadow Shield Guardian (200/2200) from my deck to my hand. Before I do anything else, I'm first going to sacrifice Twilight Shadow Striker to summon Twilight Shadow Mercenary (2200/1500)!"

Joining the futuristic robot on Yugi's field was a man dressed in rusty, black armor. The protection wasn't much, for it only covered his chest, elbows and knees. It had a blue bodysuit on, and on a belt clipped to its waste was a dangerous looking, futuristic blaster. It held a long axe in one hand, which, like the blaster looked quite futuristic with a number of buttons all over its handle.

"When Striker goes to the graveyard, I can add one Polymerization from my deck to my hand. I'll do just that, and activate it immediatley, enabling me to fuse Twilight Shadow Shield Guardian with Twilight Shadow Soldier (1600/1200) to summon Twilight Shadow Swordmaster (2500/2000)!"

Two spectral forms appeared on his field. One was a platinum armored warrior, with a simple helmet. The slim sword in his hand made him seem more intimidating then he would otherwise.

The other was kneeling, and about five feet tall. It wore blue armor, and a dome-like helmet. A futuristic shield was attached to one arm. It was pitch black in color, but in the center was a single, shining blue jewel, with cracks extending all around it. The cracks glowed in a similar manner.

The two monsters slammed into each other. There was a blinding light that enveloped Yugi's field, and from it emerged the warrior that wore tight fitting, futuristic, silver armor. On either side of his back, energy wings cracked open. One of his arms was mechanical, and he held a glowing sword in the other hand. Floating into the air, he glared down at Sanga of the Thunder.

Para and Dox looked at each other, growing increasingly worried. They had not banked on Yugi playing such a fast-paced and powerful strategy.

"When Swordmaster hits the field, I can destroy a card on the field. If it's a magic or trap card, you lose a thousand life-points flat. If it's a monster, the damage is two hundred multiplied by the monster's level. So I'll obliterate your facedown card, Para, and I think we're all pretty sure of what it is."

The orange-robed man screeched in horror as the futuristic warrior swung his sword in an arc, releasing a wave of emerald energy in the direction of his facedown card. It flipped up to reveal itself as a large maze, made of rock. It was shattered instantly, and the wave continued on, driving Para to his knees. The infamous Labyrinth Wall (0/3000), which was the centerpiece of their original strategy, had fallen early.

(Dox: 5400, Yugi: 8000, Para: 6800, Yami: 8000)

"Twilight Shadow Steel General, attack Sanga of the Thunder now!" The rocket launchers on the robotic man's shoulders began to glow. Simultaneously, they released a pair of missiles each, which flew at lighting speed towards the strange creature, leaving behind a trail of smoke in their wake.

"Fool? Have you forgotten the effect of Sanga of the Thunder? Once per duel, I can reduce the attack points of one monster with which it battles to zero, which means your general is doomed!" growled Dox.

"Not quite," muttered Yugi. Sanga unleashed another ball of lightning. However, the missiles slammed into it, shattering it and continuing on towards its point of origin. It shattered the sphere, and slammed into the storm deity, consuming it within an influx of smoke and light. Para and Dox's screeches of shock went unheard over the explosion. As the smoke cleared, both their fields were left clear.

(Dox: 5200, Yugi: 8000, Para: 6800, Yami: 8000)

"How could you have destroyed it?"

"They are chipping away at us, bit-by-bit!"

"When a fusion monster with Twilight Shadow in its name is special summoned, Steel General gains a counter. If there are two or more Twilight Shadows in play, I can remove that counter to negate the effect of one monster, which is exactly what I did. Essentially, as long as I continue to summon fusions, the pieces of your Gate Guardian are quite useless, except as beatsticks," explained Yugi.

The brothers looked outraged.

"Now, I'll attack Dox with Swordmaster, as well as Mercenary!"

The green robed man braced himself in shock as the fusion swung its sword in an arc again, releasing a similar wave of green energy. At the same time, the other monster pulled out its gun, and aimed it at Dox. A thin, blue beam erupted from within it, suddenly quadrupling in thickness as it approached him. He was hit by the twin attacks simultaneously, knocking him off his feet and consuming him in light. His wails went unheard.

(Dox: 500, Yugi: 8000, Para: 6800, Yami: 8000)

The smoke began to clear, revealing that Dox was completely unhurt. "That's impressive," muttered Yugi under his breath.

"I told you, we are merely extensions of Chaos," shrugged Dox. "It would take a lot more to hurt an Infinity Council member than two weak attacks."

"Weak or not, they've got you on the ropes," retorted Yugi. "I'll end my turn, so that Para can make whatever plays he feels like before Yami knocks you out."

Para drew. "I set one card facedown and a facedown monster in defense mode. Then I activate Gold Sarcophagus, which allows me to remove one card in my deck from play. On my second standby phase after activation, I may add that card to my hand. Be warned, as I end my turn. Play carefully, or your progress will be slowed!"

Yami drew quickly, and grinned to himself. "I sacrifice Silent Swordsman LV3 to summon Dark Magician Girl (2000/1700)!"

Instantly the warrior vanished and in his place, a young woman with long blonde hair, bright blue eyes, wearing a skimpy blue and pink mage's dress that showed her cleavage quite well with the dress barely covering her back side, a blue and pink mage's hat, and a staff in her right hand took to the field.

"Then comes Sage's Stone. When Dark Magician Girl is in play, I can activate this card to special summon Dark Magician (2500/2100) from my deck!"

The familiar mage in purple armor with flowing robes joined his apprentice. He wore a strange set of armor, with a strange mage's hat, and had a powerful green staff that was nearly as tall as his body. His long hair that could be seen hanging out of his hat was a dark greenish-purple.

"This is it!" warned Yami. "Dark Magician, lead the charge and attack Para's facedown monster!"

The mage raised his staff, and fired out a sphere of black energy at the facedown card. It flipped up to reveal a large, female blue grizzly bear. It roared loudly, revealing yellow teeth, before the sphere struck it in the chest, shattering it instantly.

"You destroyed Mother Grizzly (1400/1000)!" proclaimed Para. "When she is destroyed, I may special summon a water-attribute monster with fifteen hundred or less attack points in face-up attack position. I choose another Mother Grizzly."

An identical bear appeared on his field. Yami pointed at it. "Dark Magician Girl, destroy it!"

The female spellcaster began twirling her scepter till she finally pointed at the bear. A pink spear instantly formed at the tip of the scepter and was launched straight at the Mother Grizzly. It tore through the bear, shattering her instantly and once again leaving Para's field clear. Another bear appeared immediatley. However, his life-points had not changed.

"I activate my facedown continuous trap card, Spirit Barrier! As long as I have a monster, I do not take battle damage."

"Fine. But your monsters will still fall," pointed out Yami. "Now the Tricky attacks!"

Leaning forward, the yellow and black creature threw his arms out to his left side. With blinding speed, he crossed the field in seconds and was behind the bear. He delivered a devastating blow to the unfortunate animal, shattering it immediatley.

"I use the effect of the final Mother Grizzly to summon Unshaven Angler (1500/1600)!"

A true inhabitant of the deep appeared on Para's field. Its body was very unclearly defined, and almost colorless. Its fins trailed a long way behind it. However, its jaws were quite prominent, as they opened over a hundred degrees, with teeth the size of chainsaws. However, it was still weaker than the King's Knight.

"King's Knight, finish off his monster!" commanded Yami.

The regal warrior charged forward, raising his sword as he went. The Angler looked all set to become seafood when a large totem pole appeared in front of it suddenly, releasing a loud wave of sound. The King's Knight was forced to stop and retreat to Yami's field.

"I'm sure you know of the effect of Command Silencer. It will negate one attack and allow me to draw," chuckled Para.

Yami frowned. "I end my turn."

Dox drew. "I summon Whirlwind Prodigy (1500/1600) in attack mode." A young, Japanese boy appeared on his field, dressed in a rough black shirt with brown trousers. He had wild hair, which looked even stranger because of uncharacteristic gusts of wind which were blowing around him. A bat was hovering above him.

"Then I equip him with two magic cards: Ring of Magnetism and Heart of Clear Water. The first reduces his attack points by five hundred, but forces you to target him with your attacks, and only him. The latter ensures he cannot be destroyed either in battle or by spell and trap cards, as long as his attack points remain at or under thirteen hundred." (1500 – 500 1000/1600)

"_Not a bad combo_," thought Yugi.

"I end my turn."

Yugi drew, and suddenly realized that it was not a bad stall combo at _all_. Until he drew a card that could destroy spell or trap cards, they were at quite a stalemate. Ring of Magnetism worked for both Para and Dox, meaning that Whirlwind Prodigy was the only monster that could be targeted on both their fields. Heart of Clear Water made it impossible to destroy that particular monster in any way, and Spirit Barrier meant that even attacking it just to inflict battle damage was all but useless.

He looked grudgingly at his hand, for the first time feeling a little irritated. "I pass."

Para drew, a look of excitement crossing his face. "Slowly, Yugi Moto, slowly, the pieces are assembling."

"And soon, very soon, our power will be all-consuming!" added Dox.

Para drew, a look of excitement growing on his face. "Only one turn remains! I place one card facedown and end my turn."

Yami drew, and glanced in disgust at the Paradox brothers. "I can do nothing as well, at the moment. My turn ends."

Dox drew. "Your end is nearing…. Watch as we begin to assemble the first pieces of the puzzle that will lead to your doom. I sacrifice my Whirlwind Prodigy, which counts as two tributes for a wind-attribute monster, to summon my almighty Kazejin (2400/2200)!"

Replacing the strange boy was a gigantic, green, spherical shape. It had a small opening that could have been a mouth, with its cheeks puffing out on either side. Yellow Japanese symbols were inscribed on it, and two, small arms stuck out on either side.

"_I could attack his Dark Magician now and use Kazejin's effect to destroy it, but that would mean it would be left defenseless against the Twilight Shadows. Even then, I cannot risk having it destroyed by a card effect after so much painstaking set-up. No, it would be wiser to play it safe, and hope that Yugi will not attempt to destroy it_," thought Dox.

"I end my turn."

Yugi drew. "First, I can draw an extra card during each draw phase, as long as Twilight Shadow Mercenary is in play."

"_I could attack now, but he would just use Kazejin's effect to overwhelm any monster. I do not want to destroy a monster that I don't have to. I could just attack with Swordmaster, allow him to be sent to the graveyard, and finish it off with Steel General. But having two strong monsters in play, is much better than having one. Dox himself does not want to attack, seemingly. I can easily attack later. The only risk is that Para might be able to summon the Gate Guardian on his turn, but I doubt that. I'll take the risk and play it safe for now_."

"I will set one card facedown and end my turn."

Para drew. "You have made a dire mistake…. I can now add the card that I removed from play with Gold Sarcophagus to my hand. I immediatley activate it: Premature Burial, which I use to resurrect our almighty Sanga of the Thunder (2600/2200)!"

The large thunder beast appeared on his field next to the Unshaven Angler.

(Dox: 500, Yugi: 8000, Para: 6000, Yami: 8000)

"Then I sacrifice Unshaven Angler for the final piece of the puzzle: Suijin (2500/2400)!"

As the deep-sea fish vanished, possibly the strangest of the trio appeared next to its brethren. Its body was not clearly defined, and seemed to consist of a flowing puddle of water on Para's field. From within it appeared an ugly face, with sharp features consisting of narrow eyes, a hanging pair of jaws, and razor-like teeth. Two spindly arms emerged as well. On its head was a blue symbol in Japanese.

"So, all three have emerged…" murmured Yami.

"Yes, Pharaoh!" crowed Dox. "The three elemental deities have made their way to the field!"

Added Para, "If you wish to survive, they at once you must yield."

Yugi snorted. "Is that a joke? We continue to have the clear advantage in terms of field presence, regardless of whether you have your three primary monsters. The only way you could progress is if you actually held the Gate Guardian…"

He looked up. "Unless…"

"Yes, yes, yes!" shouted Para, holding up a glowing card. "I tribute Sanga of the Thunder, Suijin, and Kazejin, to summon one of the most devastating monsters to have ever been created! Arise now, and terrorize our foes: Gate Guardian (3750/3400)!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Are you sure about this, Mr. Kaiba?" said the guard nervously. "I mean, he's just a kid."

"Yes," said Kaiba impatiently. "A kid who nearly killed a man tonight." He held up the check he had just written.

"Four hundred thousand dollars, Mr. Kohler. One night's work,_ without_ asking questions, and you're a rich man. Find a decent bank, and the interest you get should be enough for you to live comfortably. Besides, the work is hardly something that will weigh heavily on your conscience."

Four hundred grand. It was not hard for Kohler to think of how much easier his life would become.

"All right," he grunted, picking up both unconscious teenagers, and slinging them, one over each shoulder. Kaiba shook his head.

"The redhead is dangerous. Tie him up, or he'll probably break your neck while he's hanging there when he wakes up."

Kohler gave him a strange look. He had received a call while standing by the front desk of the casino from Kaiba, telling him that if he came out to the clearing right then, he would not regret it. Frankly, he couldn't decide whether he did or not. Nonetheless, he bent down, and pulled out a strong cord from his pocket, which was used to restrain some of the more dangerous customers at the casino. He bound both limbs, and was about to put him back on, when Kaiba interrupted again.

"Gag him as well. He'll probably bite your head off, or something. We don't want him attracting attention." Kohler did as he was told. Soon, they were set.

"Take us to the parking lot. We need to get to Zurich immediatley."

"Didn't you come here by train?" protested Kohler weakly. "No time for that. Two large men walking around with two unconscious teenagers is hardly the model of a low profile group."

It was a short, cold walk to the parking lot. Kaiba considered the cars. Not many of them seemed to fit his standards. Finally, he pointed to a rare Aston Martin. "Whose car is that?"

Kohler did a double-take. "Mr. Daniel Silva. That's a very expensive car, Mr. Kaiba, and he's a very vindictive man."

"Wait here," snapped Kaiba.

He walked back to the casino, and went straight to the bar. The large Brazilian who had lost to Schweinstigger was sitting at a private table, surrounded by his friends. He was furious, and hadn't touched his drink, while his friends were trying to calm him down. They were unsuccessful. Kaiba knew his attempt would be better.

"Mr. Silva," he said, unperturbed. He sat down at the table without being invited to do so. The various men at the table looked at him, some in shock, some in awe, and some in anger.

Silva glowered at him. "I know you. That kid whose made it big in the gaming industry and thinks he rules the world. I'm warning you, if you get on my nerves now…"

"Actually, I know of someone who has already gotten on your nerves," answered Kaiba coolly. "And I may be able to help in soothing them."

Silva glared. "Five minutes."

Kaiba leaned forward. "Klaus Schweinstigger."

"What about him?" growled Silva.

"I know where he is."

Silva snorted. "Yeah, and George Bush was a decent President."

Kaiba ignored the jibe. "I do not condone murder, and will therefore not reveal his location to you. However, I do know that he was cheating at your little game. That is one more thing I do not condone. I am willing to help you get the money that was rightfully yours, on a certain condition."

Silva looked at him, suddenly intrigued.

"I have in my possession, the one terminal through with Schweinstigger can access his winnings. I don't have it on me, as I'm not an idiot," he added, when Silva's breath suddenly became sharper.

"I am meeting him soon. I will inform him that I also have proof that he cheated at your game earlier tonight. If I reveal this information to the casino authorities, he would never be allowed into a high-stakes poker game ever again. The only way for him to avoid this is to give me the password, which I will then use to wire the winnings to an account of your choice. It is the only way for him, as if I go the authorities they will freeze his winnings, and he may even be arrested. If I let it go, then perhaps he could make another fortune."

"Two questions," began Silva.

"One. Why would Schweinstigger believe you?"

"The evidence is overwhelming. It would take an idiot not to believe that he did indeed cheat."

Silva shrugged. "Fair enough. And two, what's in it for you?"

Kaiba allowed himself a faint smile. "I want your car."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kaiba settled himself in the passenger's seat, reminiscing about the incredulous conversation that had followed. Silva had refused to believe that Kaiba _would_ in fact wire the money to _his_ account. Finally, Kaiba made a call to one of the banks he worked with, and set up a credit card on the spot, for one time use with a five hundred thousand dollar limit: the value of the Aston Martin. If Silva did _not_ get the money, he could charge the card immediatley, so that he could at least break even. With that, he handed Kaiba the keys with instructions to call him as soon as the money was wired to him.

The still unconscious Kyle, while James was settled in the trunk. Not a very civilized way of doing things, according to Kaiba, but the safest. Besides, it seemed like Silva carried around prisoners in his trunk a lot. There was a thermostat, as well as a ventilation system. James would be fine.

Kohler was driving. Kaiba was far too tired, in any case.

"Zurich airport," grunted Kaiba. "And make sure _no_ one sees us. I don't want Silva to know where I'm going."

Kohler glanced at his watch. "It's a two-hour ride to Zurich, give or take, sir. But if you want me to take a route where we won't be noticed, make it three."

"Fine," replied Kaiba.

They drove on in silence.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Raphael drew.

"I set a monster facedown in defense mode. That ends my turn." The real Raphael would've been pained that he could do little else.

It was CJ's turn again.

Just after he drew, he gagged once more. Purity of the Cemetery was really getting on his nerves. He looked forward to finishing it once and for all, this time around.

(CJ: 700, Raphael: 5100)

"Manticore of Darkness, attack!" He could have easily used Giant Rat, but if the facedown monster was Backup Gardna, he would lose the duel.

The hideous creature crawled forward and pounced on the facedown card, which was revealed to be a blue-skinned and muscular creature, flashing his crazed, yellow hair, some fang teeth, and black, cold-hearted eyes. It screamed and howled in agony as it was struck repeatedly by the Manticore's stinger. Soon, it was left lifeless on Raphael's field.

"Guardian Baou (800/400) has been destroyed," said Raphael through gritted teeth.

"Which means Purity of the Cemetery is officially finished," grinned CJ. "Now, Giant Rat and Green Baboon, Defender of the Forest, will attack directly!"

Raphael braced himself for the onslaught. It would have been hard to discern which was more painful: the incessant blows to his head and torso by the baboon, or the way the rat gnawed away at his shoulders with its razor-like teeth. A weaker man would've been killed by the assault, but Raphael was able to throw off the duo after a moment of struggle.

(CJ: 700, Raphael: 1100)

"I set a card and end my turn," said CJ confidently. Victory was very near, especially without Purity of the Cemetery incessantly poking him in the side and draining him of life-points.

Raphael drew silently, glaring at CJ. "You were foolish to destroy my Guardian. Now, I will make your defeat thrice as painful."

CJ shrugged. He had met many weirdoes with similar threats.

"You're thinking that my threats are just like those of others who have faced you," growled Raphael. A vein was pulsing in his forehead.

"But not many of them had the means to back up their threats. Specifically, not the power of the Guardians…. Including the power of the ultimate Guardian."

"Ultimate Guardian?" muttered CJ, intrigued. "_I didn't consider that this kind of deck would have an ace card. It seems based so much more on strategy, and use of multiple monsters_."

"First, I regret doing this, but I must play Soul Release, to remove Guardian Baou from play!"

"_Why would he do that_?" thought CJ. "_He's supposed to respect his monsters, and keep them out of the graveyard. Now he's going one step further, and removing them from play_…."

It hit him. "_Unless_…."

It was a stretch, but did his graveyard nearly need to have _no_ monsters for his next move to work out? That was a very difficult condition. It only made CJ wonder how powerful his next monster was going to be, if it required Raphael's graveyard to be empty.

"When I have no monsters in my graveyard, this monster can be summoned from my hand!" thundered Raphael. The sky seemed to have turned a tad darker, with clouds crowding over them. But the temperature had skyrocketed, with bolts of lightning striking the ground at all places.

"I call upon Guardian Eatos (2500/2000)!"

Descending down from within the clouds was a tall, regal woman. She was fair-skinned, and dressed in native American garments, with a rough, brown top and a skirt with intricate designs. The head and flowing body of an eagle covered her head, while majestic white wings spread open on either side of her. The loud screech of an eagle echoed out in the sky.

"Twenty-five hundred and she's your ultimate monster?"

"Keep quiet," growled Raphael, holding up one more card. "I equip her with Celestial Sword – Eatos!"

A long, shining, thin blade appeared in Eatos' hands. The light coming off from it was so strong that CJ could barely keep his eyes open. He grunted and continued to hold a hand over his eyes as Eatos' attack points began to increase.

"When I have no cards in my graveyard, Celestial Sword – Eatos' will increase her attack points by the combined attack points of all the monsters in your graveyard!"

CJ gasped as Eatos (11800/2000) dropped her sword so that it was pointing in the direction of his Green Baboon.

"_This… This can't be happening_!"

"It's over!" proclaimed Raphael. "Guardian Eatos, Eatos Sword!"

The angelic monster swept her sword in an arc, releasing a pure wave of untainted white energy in the direction of the Green Baboon, Defender of the Forest. The otherwise strong monster shrieked out in agony as the energy began to tear him apart at the very molecular stage. The pain would have been uncomprehendable. The light grew brighter until it began to consume CJ's entire field.

When the light cleared, his field was empty. CJ lay unconscious on the ground.

(CJ: 0, Schrodinger: 1100)

Raphael had disappeared. In his place was a zombie-like, old man dressed in a dirty green robe. His frame was almost skeletal, and he carried a large scythe, which rested comfortably on his shoulder.

"Charon, the Ferryman of the Styx…" murmured Schrodinger. "Good choice."

He looked over at the unconscious CJ. "This is usually the part when they start screaming…."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I will begin the duel," intoned Siegfried coldly. Sylar continued to fix him with an icy glare of hatred and anger.

"I summon Blade Knight (1600/1000) in attack mode!" he declared. A metallic-blue-armored warrior with a curved and thick sword rose onto the field. He wore a protective, knight-like helmet with a diamond-shaped and closed visor. He had blue, double-layered shoulder pads, and his black-gloved hands grasped his almost glowing sword, and a gray and black shield. The sword had a red handle, with a green and circular gemstone embedded at the center of it. The warrior had diamond-shaped, blue, metal kneepads, and black velvet-like pants, leading to his blue-colored and metal boots.

"Then I add two facedown cards and end my turn."

Sylar said not a word as he drew his sixth card. When he did speak, it was in a voice devoid of emotion. It was as if punishing Joey and Serenity was what drove him in life. After achieving it, he felt nothing. He was merely a machine… A machine of death.

"I set one monster facedown in defense mode. I add one card facedown as well. Turn end."

Siegfried drew quickly, ignoring the appearance of the two brown-backed cards, one placed horizontally, and the other vertically.

"I summon Archfiend Soldier (1900/1500)!" A purple horned fiend appeared on his field. He wore a golden cape glared at Sylar, showing a bunch of razor sharp teeth. In both hands he clutched a long, black, metal staff with a curved, scythe-like blade on one end.

"Blade Knight, attack his facedown monster now!"

The warrior raised his blade, nodded at the German, and charged off into battle with a war cry. Sylar looked up at the last second, and spoke in his callous voice.

"Cyber Venom Neo-Yormungarde (1600/1900)."

Erupting through the floor of the generator room, and leaving splinters everywhere was an abnormally long and thick water snake. Some scales were a sickly bright yellow, while others were a dull green. Its head resembled a dinosaur more than a snake, with two slit-like eyes and a mouth full of razor-like teeth. A forked tongue slithered out, but none of this drew attention away from the innumerable cybernetic implants visible all over its body.

The knight's blade struck its scales, and bounced off without inflicting even a scratch on it. The snake, in turn, swept its tail towards the knight, catching it in the gut and throwing him back to Siegfried's field.

"The flip effect of Neo-Yormungarde activates when it is attacked. The attacking monster is returned to the bottom of the opponent's deck, which is then shuffled. Every one of your turns during which you do not draw that monster, one hundred points of damage is inflicted to you for each of the level stars of that monster."

Siegfried gasped in shock as the snake disappeared into the ground. For a moment, nothing happened, until the Blade Knight let out a cry of pain as the snakes jaws erupted from the surface and latched onto his ankle, dragging him down as well. Siegfried bowed his head to hide the vicious snarl of fury that disfigured his features, and shuffled the Blade Knight back into his deck.

Siegfried looked back at the field. He was at quite a stalemate. "I end my turn."

Sylar ripped the top card off his deck. "You were a fool to challenge me. I sacrifice Cyber Venom Neo-Yormungarde to summon Cyber Venom Mechadilus (2200/2400)."

A huge, standing crocodile replaced the thrashing serpent on Sylar's field. It had bulging biceps, with a long snout and two, yellow, beady eyes. Its scaly body was covered by metal plates, with large axe blades on its shoulders. Its original teeth had been replaced by a set of titanium ones, razor edged to give it a grin like a bear trap. Its arms now ended in spiked drills the tips of which were equipped with flamethrowers with wires running into an energy pack built into its spine. The initials 'C.V' had been branded onto its chest.

"By skipping my battle phase, Mechadilus deals you one thousand points of damage." Sylar raised a finger.

"Die."

The drills on Mechadilus' arms began to turn, and the flamethrowers ignited. Siegfried threw up his arms in defense, but it was not enough to stop the all-consuming, sickly dark flames that erupted from the reptilian machine's weapons. It burnt more than any real flames would, and any more pain would have driven Siegfried to crying out like a child.

(Siegfried: 7000, Sylar: 8000)

"You are just as pathetic as Serenity," whispered Sylar. "I do not understand why you would risk your life to challenge me. I have no quarrel with you. Had you stood aside and let me pass, your life could have been spared. But you made the ultimate mistake of caring for others, and now it will cost you."

Siegfried dropped his arms. His eyes blazed harder than the flames which had burnt him.

"Selfishness is not a trait one finds within the Demon Lords," he hissed, clenching his fist and placing it on his heart.

"I do not know what drove you to perform such actions, but it is obviously something terrible. I would sympathize with you under other circumstances, but your deeds are truly pathetic. I do not believe that one like you deserves any mercy or understanding at all."

"I _need_ no mercy, nor understanding," breathed Sylar, a growing ferocity in his eyes. "And I have no need to prove it! End turn."

Siegfried drew, and was suddenly hit with an agonizing pain in his stomach. He fell down to one knee, retching under Sylar's merciless gaze as the effect of the fallen Yormungarde drained him off his life-points.

(Siegfried: 6600, Sylar: 8000)

Sylar said nothing, and Siegfried decided it was best for him not to as well. His eyes gleamed at his newest card. "Very well. I will do what I must. I tribute Archfiend Soldier in order to summon my Beast of Talwar (2400/2150)!"

One sinister demon was replaced by another. This one was taller, more shadowy, and had pale green skin. It was much more well-built, and had a pair of spikes extending out from each side of its head, along with two, large blue wings that threw a shadow across the field. In each hand it clutched a long, curved blade.

"Beast of Talwar…" he breathed. "Destroy it!"

"Trap card – Unblockable Maneuver," countered Sylar. "One reptile monster on my side of the field may activate its effect during my opponent's turn. However, I cannot use its effect on my next turn. I choose the second of Mechadilus' effects, which will double its attack points until the turn ends. However, you can be dealt no battle damage."

Siegfried gasped as the Beast of Talwar continued running forward. He wanted to shout out, tell his monster that it was in vain, but he knew it was useless. Mechadilus (4400/2400) had already activated its drills. With a grunt, it charged forward, impaling the field on their whirring tips. Blood splattered all over the field. A normal person would have shuddered and turned away from the gruesome scene, but it only served to enrage the Tiger Demon Lord further.

He did not show his anger, however. It would serve no purpose. He glanced once more at his empty field. "I end my turn."

Sylar drew again, the callous mercilessness of a jilted lover always present in his eyes.

"I summon Cyber Venom – Acid Lizard (1900/1800) in attack mode."

A horrifying, bipedal reptile appeared on Sylar's field. It stood perhaps eight feet tall, and had ugly, brownish-green skin. It was roughly humanoid in shape, but far more muscular. It had the flat head of a snake, with a blue tongue and metal fangs visible as it hissed out at Siegfried. Strapped to its back was a vat of acid, with two wires connected its fangs to the vat. As it hissed again, drops of acid dripped off its teeth, corroding the floor beneath it.

"Acid Lizard gains one hundred attack points for every machine or reptile monster in my graveyard. As I only have one, it now has two thousand attack points."

Mechadilus (2200/2400) and the Acid Lizard (2000/1800) hissed at Siegfried simultaneously once more. He looked down for a moment, bracing himself for the eventual agony.

"Mechadilus, Acid Lizard. Make him wish he was never born."

Once again, the crocodilian warrior activated its flamethrowers. A burst of sickly black fire was preceded by the attack of the Acid Lizard, whose fangs closed in on the skin of Siegfried's neck, drops of acid seeping through and searing him. He fought as hard as he could, lashing out wildly while the acid and the flames continued to burn him. He had never felt such pain during a Duel Monsters game. It was so…. _real_. More real than anything his previous foes had been able to conjure up. Perhaps their motivation was not as strong as Sylar's.

(Siegfried: 2400, Sylar: 8000)

"That's enough," called out Sylar. Reluctantly, Mechadilus turned off its flamethrowers, while the Acid Lizard nipped him one more time and returned to his master's field.

"Worry not, my friends… Soon you will feast on his rotten flesh… As well as the flesh of the traitors."

Siegfried spared a glance at Joey and Serenity. "_I will never let him do that_…."

"I set one card facedown. My turn ends here."

Siegfried choked on the residual smoke in the air, left behind by the flames generated by Mechadilus. "You jerk…"

"I may be whatever you call me…" murmured Sylar in a dangerously low voice, holding his fist up to his chest. "But I will not let traitors go unpunished."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Reflect and Sigma stood on either side of the stream that ran through the park. It was already quite bright by now, and children were running all around them, playing and squealing. The two men seemed deaf to the rest of the world, choosing only to concentrate on each other. They may have looked a bit out of place, two gaunt men dressed in suits were hardly seen in places of joy and entertainment, such as these.

"Your loss to the demon was…. unfortunate." Reflect could not put it more tactfully.

Sigma nodded. "A lapse of concentration and effort on my part. I was overconfident. However, I can assure you that on our next meeting, I will bury Mr. Mitsunashi."

"This is all irrelevant, Sigma," sighed Reflect, as the pair began to walk. Sigma was far different from other Paradias operatives. He never came to Reflect's office for orders. When Reflect needed to speak with him, he would simply contact him in one of the many secret ways that they had devised. Sigma would reply with an anonymous location where they would meet.

"The Jade Star is approaching. But then again, I'm sure you knew that before all the rest of us."

Sigma nodded. "Eight hours later… Had I faced him in the morning, the Infinity Council would have had to arrange for another funeral."

"What do you mean?" asked Reflect, surprised.

"The Jade Star…" murmured Sigma. They had disappeared from the view of the park, making their way into a forest near it.

"As it nears, I am getting stronger, Reflect," he whispered. "The things that I can do…." He lifted up his shades. To Reflect's shock, his eyes, which normally just had green pupils, were beginning to gain a green shade all over. While the pupil was a darker green, the rest of his eye was duller.

"Every being over there…" he muttered. "I could kill them all now, Reflect." He looked back at the park, and the sounds of children.

His face twitched for a moment, and he lifted up his hand. He began to clench his fist. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, Reflect began to hear screams echoing from the park.

"Emily, what's ha-…" The shout of a terrified mother was cut off by a retch.

"Stop this, Sigma," he growled. The other man didn't even seem to hear him. An insane grin was spreading over his face as the screams began to grow louder.

"I said stop it!" he snarled. Sigma was snapped out of his concentration, and the sound of many, simultaneous thuds was heard all over the park. Children burst into tears, while panicked shouts of "Call 911!" were heard in plenty.

"Don't forget who you work for…" said Reflect with a warning tone, as he turned and continued to walk forward.

"Genocide… That is not our aim. We kill when it benefits us, that is all. Paradias is composed of thieves, brilliant thieves. Not serial killers. Do you understand me, Sigma?" He turned back. The agent had dropped his sunglasses, his face the image of calmness.

"Perfectly."

"Good." They continued walking on, ignoring the sounds of ambulance sirens and screams from the park, that was now quite far behind them.

"Perfection… That is what we must achieve now, Sigma. Nothing can go wrong from here. If we can execute our plan without errors from here on out, nothing will stop us. Apocalypse may have power, but the sheer intelligence we have on our side is something that no other side possesses. Not Eagle, not the Pharaoh, not the Council, not Apocalypse…. Not the _Jade Star_."

Sigma said nothing.

Reflect continued. "The arrival of the Jade Star is inevitable, whether or not the Council or Eagle choose to believe it. Preparations for the inevitable consequences are on the top of my priority list right now. Our plan is based exactly on the capabilities of our foes, currently, and the steps we will take to expand our own. Therefore, we cannot afford for any lose ends to be left out. Even a single wrench can reduce the most complicated and powerful machine to ruins. By the time the Jade Star arrives, I want everything to be clockwork from then on. That makes elimination of all those who could possibly aid our enemies a top priority."

"Where do you want me to go?" asked Sigma coolly.

"Not you, not you…" he muttered. "I am going to activate another unit, one that has not seen action in a long time. I wish for them to go to Egypt."

Sigma raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Yes. I have decided that the extermination of the Tomb Keeper bloodline is vital for all chinks to be filled in. I would send you, as despite this unfortunate loss you remain my most reliable agent, but I have something else planned for you, Sigma."

The Paradias agent listened with growing interest. When Reflect was finished, he knew that the plan was flawless. He had just been presented with the perfect opportunity to not only redeem himself for his loss to Zeruge, but also to subsequently inflict a crushing loss on that same demon as revenge for his humiliation.

"_Li Ching_…" he thought. "_It will be interesting to finish you off finally_."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Chaos looked back at the board, and the result of his latest dice-roll.

"Jason Becker, you're up."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Deep inside the dungeons of Apocalypse's lair, the still, skeletal, zombie-like creature known to the guards only as Dartz cracked a smile for the first time.

"_Everything is going according to plan… Everything_."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Well, there you are. A nice little cliffhanger to finish it up. Oh, and just one more thing. James' Lucifer card belongs to a friend of mine on the Pojo boards, ShadowBlade. I reinvented the card a bit, but the credit goes to him.**

**W00t! Magic vs. Lakers for the NBA Finals! MVP! MVP! **_**MVP**_**! Kobe Bryant is the new Jordan!**

**Anyway, do remember to review.**


	25. Somewhere I Belong

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: Somewhere I Belong

**Starlight AT: The scoreline suggest something different…**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: I hope you enjoy this one as well. Sorry for taking so long to update.**

**KageNoNeko: By all means, read it as many times as you wish!**

**Candyman123: Then you have no idea what is going to come soon….**

Jason Becker lay prone on the ground, his eyelids shut. He remained in that position for a few moments, until suddenly, his eyes snapped open. He lay like that for a moment, already taking in his surroundings and scanning the area for threats. He found none. Slowly, very slowly, he lurched upwards, constantly glancing around the room for the enemy that did not seem ready to make his presence known.

He was in a dark forest, and it seemed well past midnight. The crescent moon stood out in the inky black sky like a butterfly among cockroaches. He was in a small clearing, with the trees growing thickly all around him. On his hand was his Duel Disk, and he reassuringly felt for his deck in his jacket pocket.

"_So this is the magic of the Abyss_," he thought silently.

"No, Jason… This is all real."

He looked to his right. It was as if he was looking into a mirror. Standing right there, not ten feet from him, was an identical image of himself. He stood exactly six feet two inches tall, and had the same long hair that fell similarly over his forehead. His dark eyes probed deep into Jason's features… Just as Jason's own did. He too had a Duel Disk on his arm, but was dressed differently from Jason's black jacket and blue jeans. He wore a tight black T-Shirt that captured his toned body well. He also had on a long trench coat, the ends of which were carried upwards in the slight breeze of the night.

"Have you forgotten me?"

Jason stared back momentarily. His eyes gave away nothing. "You're not real."

The other man smiled. It was a horrible, unnerving smile. "I'm as real as you can get, Jason. As real as _you_ can get."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

When Daniel's eyes opened, he found himself lying on a hard, concrete floor. Echoing throughout the air around him was that same haunting music that had forced him to undergo so many sleepless nights. Even now, anything similar to that music did not fail to make him shudder. It was the notes played on a particular organ pipe… the organ that always sounded death.

"Daniel…"

The voice. That same voice that had taken his life.

"Sestros…" he murmured.

He staggered upwards, eyes blazing. His ears were pricked upwards, while his lower jaw was left slack a little. All his demonic instincts had kicked in.

The man in the impeccable suit walked towards him. The room was huge, especially since the organ on which the Torture King had been playing extended so high into the crimson mist of the room that Daniel could barely see it. But the otherwise diminutive businessman, who barely stood five foot eight, seemed to dominate the room.

He chuckled. That evil laugh hung in the air, suspended in Daniel's eardrums. He didn't know what to think.

"Not Sestros. Garlin. Giovan Garlin."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Eizan's eyes opened as the plane came grinding to a halt, in the private airfield located some distance from New York. With Eagle's vast monetary resources it would have been easy to purchase a berth for his plane in John F. Kennedy Airport, but he had chosen not to, as too many questions would be asked.

The details of Li's own personal wealth was unknown to Eizan, but what he did know that it was huge. It was more than likely that he had a jet waiting for him at Los Angeles International Airport, ready and waiting to take him to New York.

Which meant he must have probably arrived in the city already. Getting through Seto Kaiba's security would be a chore, and more than likely Sarah would have captured him already, given that he had explained the delicate nature of the situation to her.

He stalked towards the waiting SUV, and got into the passenger's seat. The blank-faced driver in the front glanced back at him. "Where to, Mr. Nakamura?"

"The harbor." The driver nodded and slotted the keys into the ignition. Eizan looked at the guard who had gotten into the car in front of him.

"I need some kind of boat ready by the time we get there. Make the necessary calls, please."

The guard nodded. All these men obeyed Eizan unquestioningly. But if Li was able to talk, that would all end then and there. At the very least, the disaster at Necropolis had bought him some amount of time. It meant Jason had not yet returned, meaning Eizan himself had an opportunity to meet him first and tell the man whom he was supposedly a kind of father figure to the truth.

He pulled out his own cell phone, and dialed Sarah Taylor's number.

After a few rings, she picked up. "Sarah?" He tried to sound casual, relaxed, and friendly.

"Sir!" She sounded worried, nervous.

"What's wrong?" he replied with concern.

"There's something weird going on here, sir. It seems some madman has breached Kaiba's security, and gotten into the building. He's already killed three of Kaiba's men. The rest of the guards have kept us on one floor, and half of them are standing guard there while the other are mapping out the possible areas where he's hiding."

Eizan gasped. Could this be Li's doing?

"Joey and Serenity Wheeler are missing, so is that demon Siegfried Reinhardt!" Eizan immediatley discounted it. Li's primary target in Jason's absence would be Sarah.

"Some of the other guys here are getting very restless."

"What about Kaiba?" enquired Eizan.

She sounded surprised. "He didn't tell you?"

Eizan felt a growing sense of worry about the chaotic situation. "He didn't tell me what?"

"Kaiba and one other kid, I haven't even heard of him, well, they've gone to Switzerland."

Eizan's eyes widened. "_Switzerland_?"

"Yeah. Rikuo spoke to him. Apparently he was in a very foul mood. I think he was very angry about being kept out of the loop on certain things, by Eagle and the Infinity Council. Honestly, sir, we can't just be kept sitting here while Jason, Brian and those other duelists are in Necropolis."

At least she didn't know about their current predicament. Eizan saw no reason to inform her of it and worry her even more.

"All right, now what about this murderer in the building?"

"We have no idea. He's disabled multiple security cameras."

Eizan groaned. "How many guards are still alive?"

"We have fourteen on our floor. I don't know about the others. But that's not the issue. Aside from Serena and myself, two trained Eagle agents, we have a Millennium Item holder, and two Demon Lords. Not to mention a couple of other kids with experience in this field anyway. What I'm worried about is how that person was able to breach not only Kaiba's security, but also the spells set up by the Infinity Council."

"The Council's magic wouldn't protect against single intruders. It was designed more to prevent an attack by a whole legion of Apocalypse's army."

"Well, one single intruder's primary obstacle would be Kaiba's security system, then," continued Sarah.

"If he was powerful enough to do so, he would have probably destroyed the system completely," replied Eizan.

"That would have attracted to much attention," disagreed Sarah. "Besides, Kaiba is paranoid. The building is built like a fortress. There are titanium bars surrounding the island underwater. Not even a submarine or divers can get in. Even for a Horseman of Apocalypse, nothing short of blowing up the place at point blank range would have done it. It seems that wasn't the intruder's aim. He seemed to want to go for something a little more subtle, and so he disabled the system instead."

"The kind of information he would have needed for that…" groaned Eizan. "Passwords, identification codes, security clearance… I can't think of very many people besides Seto Kaiba himself who would have had that kind of information."

"It had to have been an inside job. Someone working for Kaiba must have provided him with that information."

There was a momentary silence on the line. He heard Kaiba's right-hand man, Roland, pleading with Rikuo to stay calm in the background. "Please, Mr. Amero, we don't even know where the intruder is! It makes no sense for you to go after him right now. When we find out his location, you may assist in his capture."

"Damn it, I haven't snapped a neck in years. Let me out of this damn hole!"

Eizan spoke up again. "That means the traitor has to be in the building with you."

"We can trust no one, then," said Sarah, her voice quivering. "Amero, the other demon, and the other two or three duelists there are fine. I asked Kaiba for complete details of all the other people in the building, so you can trust them. But no one else, not the guards, not the janitors, not the damn chefs can know what's going on. Create another loop, Sarah. One in which only the seven of you are present. Just because this person chose to disable things like Kaiba's underwater barriers instead of destroying it doesn't mean he's not capable of doing so."

"Yes, sir," she breathed.

Eizan clicked off his phone. After a moment, he slammed his fist into the car door and swore. Neither the driver nor the guard reacted.

The car had already left the airfield. Typically, it would take him at least ninety minutes to arrive at the harbor in New York traffic. He would take reinforcements to Kaiba's tower.

"_What have I done_?" he wondered, momentarily. With that, he looked back at his phone, and dialed another number.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"This… This is not possible," breathed Jason. "All that treatment, those drugs…. You are _dead_."

The other Jason sneered. "No, Jason. I am alive."

"What do you want?" spat Jason. His head was spinning. "_I must be hallucinating… It's probably the after-effects of Necropolis. Maybe the Abyss is playing some tricks on me_…."

"I'm here to stay, Jason," said the other, taking another step towards him. "I can't say that all that treatment, those drugs… I can't say I enjoyed it either. And I don't appreciate that, Jason. I really don't. Me, the one who has done more for you than any of those pathetic excuses for humans ever did… And you tried to get rid of me."

Jason's eyes widened, and he lashed out. His fist caught the other Jason's cheek, throwing him to the ground.

"Get the hell away from me…" he whispered, his breath ragged.

The other Jason stood up. A trickle of blood was coming down his lip. He didn't seem to notice it at all.

"You will never get rid of me, Jason… I _am_ you."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"This is poetic justice, as I see it," murmured Garlin, as he walked towards Daniel, who stood up, glaring at the Torture King.

"I will take from Rikuo Amero the person that is most important to him at the very place he took my life."

Before Daniel could react, he lashed out with incredible strength and speed. The blow caught Daniel off guard, causing him to stagger off his feet. It left a large cut on his lip.

"I don't get it," growled Daniel. "While Rikuo fought Sestros… You told me that you hated him."

"Whoever said Sestros had anything to do with this?" laughed Garlin again. "When Rikuo and the Pharaoh dueled him at the end of the Shadow Tournament, my life was taken in the process. I may be evil, Daniel, I may have killed a lot of people in my time, but the experience of being forced out of the realm was too much for an innocent man."

"But our duel…" Daniel narrowed his eyes. "You lying son of a-…"

"That, if you may remember, was not me," replied Garlin. "That was a piece of my soul that latched onto your mind and began to inhabit it. It existed independently from the rest of my being. So that part of my soul failed to take control of your body, do you think I would not stop at another opportunity?"

"Try all you want…" growled Daniel. "You're sure as hell not coming back to Earth in my body." Without warning, he sprung forward. His fist slammed into Garlin's chest, causing him to double over in pain. He spun around on his heel and dealt the man a powerful roundhouse kick to the head. Garlin's head jerked back, as he took a step back in pain.

"I thought perhaps you weren't all that of a whiny loser," spat the duelist. "It seems I was wrong."

He lashed out again with his fist. Garlin's head had been hanging low prior to this, but he snapped it upwards at lighting speed, and caught Daniel's fist in his palm. The redhead's eyes widened as he tried to pull it away. The Torture King's grasp was too strong.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"You are not me…" whispered Jason. "This is a dream, I've gotten rid of you. Your return is not logically possible."

"I am no dream, Jason," replied his mirror image. He seemed to de-materialize suddenly, and appeared once more in front of Jason. Actually, it was merely the incredible speed at which he was moving. His fist slammed into Jason's chest, knocking the wind out of him and throwing him to the ground. "I am a nightmare."

Before Jason could stand up again, the other man's powerful foot caught him on the head in a brutal roundhouse kick. It knocked him against a tree.

"You are truly pathetic, Jason. The kind of power you've turned down, over and over and over again…. Choosing instead to associate yourself with those lowly fools… I can't stand it. Our body is _mine_ as well. How do you expect me to stand by and watch while you continue to act like a selfish fool, instead of letting me take control and gain the power that Eagle has kept behind locked doors for so long…"

He lashed out one more time. This time, Jason caught his fist in his palm. "I don't know what the hell you're talking about," he growled. "And I don't care, because dream or nightmare, you don't exist, and therefore whatever you are telling me cannot be true in any way."

He snapped his head forward, head butting his mirror image in the head, knocking him backwards. He tried to follow it up with a kick, but his foot was caught in mid-air and twisted, knocking him off his feet. He found his opponent leaning over him, his fingers closing in around his throat. "I have desired this for so long…." he whispered.

Jason began to feel his air passage constricted. He began to lash out blindly with his fists. The other Jason's jaws tightened grimly, for the punches felt like burning brands on his body. But he continued to strangle his opponent mercilessly.

As Jason's vision began fading, he suddenly noticed that his opponent was _not_ his mirror image. He had red hair… Bright red hair, with ears. The reason his punches were having no effect on his assailant was because of his demonic nature. He was staring at Daniel Pilkington.

"Daniel…" he gasped. "I'm Jason…"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Daniel had reeled away from a lone headbutt from Garlin, and then knocked him to the floor. He had no qualms about ending this sick man's life once and for all. He hated the thought of murder, but Giovan Garlin was an insult to humanity. This had to end once and for all.

Suddenly, as he continued to squeeze his victim's throat, he heard a dry cough. It sounded like a constructed sentence, but he ignored it. There was another one.

"I'm Jason…"

Reflexively, he loosened his grip. How on Earth would Garlin know about the Eagle agent, even if he was lying?

The person he was strangling broke free and hit him in the jaw with a massive uppercut. It threw him off his feet, throwing him five feet away. He hit the ground hard, with a groan.

"What the… What the hell was that?" gasped the voice of Jason Becker.

Daniel stood up and looked around him. He was no longer in the private chambers of Giovan Garlin. Their surroundings now resembled a war-torn battlefield. The soil underneath them was gray and infertile, with patches of grass growing here and there. The air was musty and cold. However, the most shocking part was that the sun was partially covered in a solar eclipse. A black disc was moving across it slowly.

"I don't know… I was fighting someone else, and then suddenly he turned into you," replied Daniel, looking around. "I was somewhere else, too…"

"Someone I knew…. He was strangling me in another place," recalled Jason darkly. "Then I realized it was you."

"If you knew it was me, what was with that uppercut?" growled Daniel, rubbing his jaw.

"I apologize. But my air supply was dwindling fast, and I needed to breath immediatley. I was unsure of your identity at that point," shrugged Jason.

"Well, whatever the he-…." He paused mid-sentence.

The entire field was littered with corpses. Each one of them was gruesomely mutilated, with a large number of the dead bodies missing legs, hands, or even heads. Some bodies had been misshappenly ripped apart in a random manner, with blood and other fluids leaking out all over the field. A few even had various kinds of weapons still stuck in them.

Daniel felt bile rising in his throat. "This is some unbelievable crap…."

Jason kept his eyes fixed on the gruesome sight. "Who could have done this?"

Daniel had no answer to him. Many of the dead were women and children. This was nothing short of genocide.

As he turned away from the endless expanse of dead bodies, he noticed a small, whimpering figure sitting against a rock, hardly twenty feet from them. He crossed the distance quickly, and to his shock realized it was a girl, barely six years old. She was wrapped in a rough jute cloth, under which she wore a simple dress. Her skin was pale and her eyes wide with terror.

Daniel placed a comforting arm on her shoulder. "What… What happened here?"

She screamed out in fright, and stood up. Before Daniel could react, she began to run as fast as she could. Before Jason could even move to intercept her, she tripped over a stone and fell to the ground. She began to cry.

Daniel ran over to her, and quickly checked to see if she was injured. He placed his hand on her hair again, trying to comfort her.

"Don't worry… No one is going to hurt you." She didn't argue this time as he picked her up. Jason watched impassively.

"I swear, I won't let anything happen to you."

He got nothing but a sob in response. "What's your name?"

"C-…Carla."

"What happened here, Carla?" murmured Daniel.

"They… They killed my parents," whispered the toddler. "Who? Who's they?" pressed Daniel.

She closed her eyes tight and shook her head in fright.

"_I'm _they," came a deep voice from across the wasteland. There was a tall, gaunt figure standing there, with a very broad frame. He was dressed in a heavy brown jacket with black jeans. His skin had an unhealthy, greenish tinge to it, with long, spiky hair.

"I recognize you…." murmured Jason. "A former employee of Maximillion Pegasus. I saw your picture in the list of eliminators during Duelist Kingdom."

"You're getting warmer…."

"A duel with Yugi Moto caused your downfall," continued Jason. "You were banished to the Shadow Realm."

The giant man clenched his fist maliciously. "And it was that very banishment that gave me the kind of power that my former master could never have even dreamed of… The power to inhabit the nightmares of others."

Jason frowned. "You seem to enjoy using this power of yours… Panik."

The former eliminator grinned. "I was wondering when you would begin to understand who I was."

Daniel narrowed his eyes. "What is this guy talking about?"

"He was formerly an employee of Pegasus, until he was banished to the Shadow Realm by the Pharaoh Yami," replied Jason, keeping his eyes fixed on the nightmarish man. "That was seven years ago. I do not know how he has found us here, but I can assure you of this. Panik is a dangerous man."

"Dangerous would be an understatement…" murmured Panik, raising one of his skeletal hands. A swirl of black fire appeared in it.

"The power to bring the nightmares of others to life is possibly the best weapon one can possess."

"It was you…" whispered Daniel, placing a protective arm over Carla."

"Kilomet Sestros…. Whatever you may say, Daniel Pilkington, I know he visits you in your darkest dreams. You are terrified of him. Possibly the same way in which Becker here is terrified of-…"

Jason cut him off. "I do not have time to listen to your nonsense."

"Oh, we have all the time in the world," replied Panik smoothly. "Once I was banished to the Shadow Realm, I was surprised to find that instead of having the shadows feed off me, I began to absorb certain elements of them. I gained some truly terrifying power, but in return I sacrificed my material form. I now exist as merely a ghost, a shadow of my former self. I am now able to enter the minds of others, bringing what they fear most to life. But I have received little in return…. Even I cannot survive only off the fear of others."

Daniel looked around him. "_All these dead people… It's what she fears the most_. _Her mother, her father… This guy is one sick freak_."

"The nightmares that I generate are not ordinary ones. The milder ones can be described as merely strangely realistic. But the truly horrific ones can ensure that one will never, _ever_ wake up…." He trailed off with an evil laugh.

"Take little Carla, for example. I chanced upon her mental presence in a small neighborhood, tucked away deeply in the midwest United States. At the age of five, she cannot comprehend life without her parents. When she went to bed that night, I don't think she could have ever imagined that scenario becoming a reality…."

Jason glared at Panik.

"Your sadism is rather pathetic. Preying upon helpless children…."

Panik roared and took a step forward. He lashed out with a giant fist. Jason rolled away from the punch, and reflexively head butted the former eliminator in the face. Suddenly, he felt a bolt of black electricity coursing through him. He grunted in pain as he was thrown backwards.

Panik scowled. "I told you that my tenor in the Shadow Realm has given me certain powers…."

Jason stood up. Daniel put Carla down, and raised his hands. The claws that were not usually visible on his hands unfolded. His eyes began to turn a light red.

"Fighting me will get you nowhere," chuckled Panik. "I can leave this nightmare anytime I wish. You, on the other hand, were directed here by the strange magic which governs the Abyss. In this realm, you cannot proceed forth unless you accomplish whatever task has been set for you, which, in this case, is namely defeating me. The result of your victory or defeat may be anything, as this realm is governed by Chaos himself. I have had the personal experience of dealing with his extension, Schrodinger, who is no doubt challenging any of your friends who may have entered the Abyss as well. You are truly unlucky that you ran into a true, corporeal entity such as myself, rather than that falsifying fool."

Jason said nothing, but a frown began to grow on his face.

"So what happens if you are defeated?"

"Anything is possible, you fool," replied Panik. "You may proceed forth whether you win or lose, that will only be determined by Chaos once the duel ends. Either of our defeats may mean nothing. Don't you understand? Nothing can happen until the duel ends. You may choose not to duel me, and you will remain in this girl's nightmare forever, as the Abyss will not do anything if you do not co-operate with the challenges set down."

"But why would you care about dueling us, in any case?" replied Daniel. "You could just escape and go to some other child's nightmare, like the pathetic piece of crap that you are."

Panik smirked evilly. He pointed at Daniel. "That's why."

Daniel looked down instinctively. "For long, I have wanted to return to Earth in a suitable body and seek my revenge on the Pharaoh. I challenge you now… For control of your body. If you win, you will possibly be able to expel me from the girl's nightmare, and move forward. Your defeat, however, will result in the destruction of your mind, meaning I can finally gain a physical form."

"So that's what you're after…" growled Daniel, raising his arm. "You'll never return to Earth, neither in my body nor anyone else's…."

"That is because I am going to bring an end to this right now," growled Jason. He pulled his Duel Disk out of his jacket, and put it on. "Stay with the child, Daniel. I will deal with this."

A black Duel Disk flashed into existence on Panik's wrist.

"I shall enjoy the feeling of extinguishing your mind," breathed Panik.

"Keep dreaming," replied Jason.

(Jason: 8000, Panik: 8000)

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Siegfried shivered as he drew. He could feel Sylar's cold gaze on him the entire time. He stopped himself from falling to his knees, but winced heavily from the effect of the dead Yormungarde. Unless he drew Blade Knight soon, he would lose the duel in five more turns whether or not Sylar inflicted damage otherwise.

(Siegfried: 2000, Sylar: 8000)

"I set one monster facedown in defense mode," breathed Siegfried, "and set one card facedown. I end my turn." The Third Horseman didn't even notice the two brown-backed cards.

Sylar drew.

"I summon Cyber Venom – Iron Cobra (1700/1200) in attack mode."

The unnaturally large cobra with segments of its body replaced by wire laden mechanical segments that contracted and expanded like accordions. One of its eyes was replaced by a metal sphere with a glowing red optic slit that shone brightly as its hood, now made of interlocking metal plates that fanned out ending in saw like serrations. The initials 'CV' had been branded onto the flaps of its hood one letter on each side.

"Iron Cobra may attack you directly at the cost of a single card from my hand."

Siegfried's eyes widened as the snake slithered across the field faster than the eye could see, and entangled him within its coils in seconds. He stifled a roar of pain as its jaws closed in on his shoulder. His arms flailed wildly, trying to push the snake off, but it was to no avail. Finally he felt the jaws unclench. He exhaled as the snake slithered off him, silently closing his eyes.

(Siegfried: 300, Sylar: 8000)

"Now, Acid Lizard attacks your facedown monster."

The reptile pounced on the facedown card image, which flipped up to reveal a huge tiger with a very undefined body. It seemed like he was completely made up of blue gas, which had somehow been molded into the form of a large cat. It had crimson eyes, with sharp claws on every limb. It roared out loud at the attacking monster, and slashed forward with its claws, knocking the creature backwards.

"Soul Tiger (0/2100) seems a little too strong for you." The Acid Lizard landed cleanly on its feet back on Tristan's field, hissing furiously.

(Siegfried: 300, Sylar: 7900)

Sylar raised an eyebrow. "Impressive. You actually dealt me damage. Perhaps this duel will not be a repeat of the one with Serenity…"

"Mechadilus attacks."

The crocodilian warrior raised its arms, which began to whir as the pair of flamethrowers ignited. A splash of black flames erupted out onto Siegfried's field, consuming the Soul Tiger within seconds. The unfortunate mammal roared out in agony as the flames burned away his skin molecule by molecule. Soon, nothing but a charred corpse remained on Siegfried's field. It disappeared after a moment.

"My turn ends here. Now, if you do not draw Blade Knight, this pretense of a duel will follow."

Siegfried looked down at his deck. He had thirty-one cards remaining in his deck. That meant his chances of drawing Blade Knight were 3.23%. Low, by any standards. Which was why he had left a certain card facedown as insurance.

Sylar watched the Demon Lord impassively as he smoothly picked his next card off his deck. He did not show any emotion.

However, at that moment, he fell to his knees, retching in pain. Sylar did not seem capable of smiling, even faintly, but this would have been an appropriate moment to do so.

"You did not draw Blade Knight. Neo Yormungarde's effect has finished you off."

"Not… quite." Sylar looked at the life-point counter, and his eyes widened in shock. "This is not possible!"

(Siegfried: 700, Sylar: 7900)

"I activated my facedown quickplay spell card, Surprise Assault. I may special summon one monster from my hand whose defense points are lower than that of one normal monster that was destroyed in battle on my previous turn. I choose Prime Material Dragon (2400/2000) in attack mode."

Yellow fires engulfed the misty field, blinding the two duelists. Within the midst of the flames seemed to be a six-winged, yellow dragon. It had a slender, glittering body and two-pronged claws. A sharp, orange-eyed glare originated from the beak-like face of the dragon, which had spike-shaped ears.

"You have yet to explain how you survived that damage," growled Sylar.

"The effect of Prime Material Dragon is that any damage that would be dealt to a player is converted into life-point gain," replied Siegfried coldly. "Simply put, as long as Prime Material Dragon remains in play, and I do not draw Blade Knight, the effect of your Neo Yormungarde continues to increase my life-points by four hundred ever turn."

"Your Prime Material Dragon will not survive long enough to alter the path upon which this duel is on significantly," said the Horseman icily.

"At the moment, it seems all set to do so," snapped back Siegfried. "Prime Material Dragon attacks Cyber Venom Mechadilus."

Siegfried's newest monster unfurled its wings, and took off into the darkness. It shot across the field, gathering momentum as it went, while a wave of yellow energy built up all around it. It slammed right into the crocodilian soldier, which attacked immediatley by unleashing a wave of fire from its flamethrowers. The flames slammed into the surrounding energy, but seemed unable to penetrate; leaving the dragon largely unharmed as it continued on and ripped the mechanized reptile apart.

Sylar watched silently as the remains of the destroyed monster fell to the ground in a mess of wreckage and fluids.

(Siegfried: 700, Sylar: 7700)

"I set one card facedown and end my turn," said Siegfried confidently.

"Under normal circumstances, your defiance would have irked me further," said Sylar in a monotone as he drew, increasing his hand size to four.

"But you were foolish to leave Cyber Venom – Iron Cobra in play. I discard Repayment of Losses, enabling it to attack you directly."

He slid one card into his graveyard, and did not even bother to draw a new one as the mechanized serpent hissed, tensed its coils, and sprung forward. Siegfried watched impassively as it avoided the Prime Material Dragon in its path by twisting its coils away. Just as it was about to latch onto his shoulder one more time, he tapped a button on his Duel Disk.

"Command Silencer, activate. Your attack is negated, while I draw one card."

A towering totem pole appeared over the field, sending out waves of energy in all directions. The reptilian beast froze in the air, and its metallic parts began vibrating. As if by an invisible force, it was plucked out of the air and thrown across the field. It slammed into the ground. Sylar glared coldly at it as it hissed venomously back at Siegfried, wriggling back into a crouch.

Siegfried looked over at Cyber Venom – Acid Lizard (2100/1800). It hissed viciously at him, as acid continued to drip from its teeth. It was, however, to weak to challenge Prime Material Dragon. He took satisfaction in the fact that his plans could go uninterrupted, at least for the moment.

Sylar seemed to be fuming inwardly, but he did not show any outward anger. "I add a facedown card. Take your meaningless turn."

Siegfried drew, and merely smiled faintly as the power of Prime Material Dragon ensured that the fact he had not drawn Blade Knight yet remained a boon, and not a curse.

(Siegfried: 1500, Sylar: 7700)

"I summon Gene-Warped Warwolf (2000/100) in attack mode," declared Siegfried.

A large, white werewolf rose to the field. It had a snarling, devious look on its face, shooting out a stare of impatience with its black eyes. However, it still remained nowhere near as terrifying as the mechanical reptiles of death that populated its master's opponent's field.

"Prime Material Dragon, attack his Acid Lizard!"

The dragon bounded forward, snapping and snarling as it went. The reptile screeched back at it. Sylar, meanwhile, remained emotionless as usual as he watched the exchange. Just as the mythical creature was about to reach his monster, he tapped a button on his Duel Disk.

"I activate the facedown card Zero Gazer. This will reduce the attack points of my monster to zero."

Siegfried looked up, startled, as his dragon continued on and slammed its head into the reptile. It ripped the creature apart, continuing on into the darkness and illuminating their surroundings momentarily with its aura. Siegfried spared a glance for the fallen bodies of Joey and Serenity Wheeler. The both of them were unmoving. He knew they were not dead yet, but in his subconscious mind, he found that hard to believe.

"_I am trying, Joseph. I am trying to save you from this madman_."

(Siegfried: 1500, Sylar: 5300)

Sylar, for the first time, had expressed a bit of discomfort during the duel. The aftershock of the attack had incited a low grunt from him, as well as a slight clenching of his teeth. But otherwise, he made no reaction to an attack that would have brought even Siegfried to his knees in this kind of Shadow Game.

"Foolish," breathed Sylar. "Very foolish. Damage = Reptile, activate."

A gigantic blue lizard-like creature seemed to literally jumped out of the darkness and landed on Sylar's field. Its sapphire scales were bristling wildly, while buzzsaws were attached to either side of its jaws, and feet mounted on spiked treadmills. Smoke stacks were attached to either side of its chest, billowing smog, while a double-sided axe was fixed to the end of its waving tail. It hissed softly, making Siegfried more uneasy.

"When a reptile monster is destroyed in battle, Damage = Reptile allows me to special summon from my deck a reptile monster with attack points equal or less than the damage dealt to me. Therefore, I call Cyber Venom – Overlord of the Land and Sea (2400/2400)."

Siegfried frowned at the new arrival. It was easily the strongest monster summoned by Sylar up until that point, and the trouble was that it looked the part as well. He decided to ignore its presence for the moment, as it was just about as strong as his Prime Material Dragon.

"Gene-Warped Warwolf attacks Cyber Venom – Iron Cobra. Rid me of its presence for good."

The werewolf charged forward, snarling and snapping as it did so. The mechanical cobra hissed back and tensed its coils, springing forward towards the oncoming wolf. It entrapped its head within its metallic coils, thrashing wildly in an attempt to asphyxiate the humanoid creature to death. But the wolf remained stronger, and with great effort ripped the thrashing creature of its body, throwing it to the ground and attacking it wildly with its gigantic paws. Within moments, the metallic body of the Iron Cobra was in ruins, with the spark of life inside it having been completely extinguished.

(Siegfried: 1500, Sylar: 5000)

"I set one card facedown and end my turn."

The Horseman glanced over at Joey's prone body. He hissed softly – Siegfried did not know whether it was to himself or one of his serpents – and another snake slithered softly over Joey's body. Sylar increased his hand size to three, and looked back at the field.

"My Overlord targets your Gene-Warped Warwolf."

The mechanized lizard screeched and opened its mouth as the saws on either side began to whir at a ridiculously high frequency. Its razor sharp teeth glinted momentarily, before finally a wave of black energy erupted out in the direction of the werewolf. The strongest level four normal monster in the game stood its ground bravely, smacking at the oncoming energy with all its might, trying to bat it away. However, it was in vain, for soon it was completely consumed, leaving nothing but a pile of ashes in its place.

(Siegfried: 1100, Sylar: 5000)

Siegfried felt a sharp pain in his gut as the black energy faded. He tried to ignore it, looking over instead at Joey and Serenity.

"When Overlord of the Land and Sea destroys a monster in battle, it gains two hundred attack points."

The mechanized beast (2600/2400) snarled once more.

"_Now it is stronger than Prime Material Dragon_…."

"I set a card and end my turn."

Siegfried drew slowly.

(Siegfried: 1500, Sylar: 5000)

"I switch Prime Material Dragon to defense mode and end my turn." He truly wished he could do more, but playing it safe made the most sense at the moment. He still had a mountain to climb, for Sylar had a lead of three and a half thousand life-points.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"This is better than we could have expected, Master…" murmured Blight as he looked on into the floating sphere and the scene that was unfolding within it.

Apocalypse did not reply. His stone-cold crimson eyes merely seemed to penetrate the duel between Siegfried and Sylar deeper than he possibly could from such a distance. The cold air in the throne-room around them was filled with tension.

"We knew not whether Sylar would adapt to his new role… And come to terms with his desire for vengeance and hatred. But he has done so, Master, and the result is more spectacular than I could have possibly imagined. Sylar is a monster, a creature devoid of a heart and soul. They were ripped from him by the actions of his former friends, and after you granted him the necessary power, he is the perfect killing machine. He would take his own life if you ordered him to, Master."

Apocalypse glanced at Blight for a moment, before returning his gaze to the duel.

"**Sylar is a valuable asset. His use of the cards created for him is impressive. I believe not one of our foes could match him in this game of skill, primitive though it may be. You, Blight, are finesse. Haou is cold-blooded calculation. But Sylar… He is a unique Horseman. He is the epitome of cold blooded murder and destruction**."

Blight stared on into the duel with a look of awe that almost suggested a touch of fear towards the unstoppable force of destruction that was present in front of him. But the truth was simple. Being a force of destruction himself, Blight appreciated such an amazing force more than anyone, barring his own master. He knew Sylar was truly a wonder… The Third Horseman was the Devil himself.

"**I must move on, Blight. I need to establish the final member.**"

Blight looked back at his master, surprised. "The Fourth Horseman? Master, I assumed that you would not require a Fourth, considering the incredible success that Sylar has been."

Apocalypse fixed him with a cold stare. "**You are foolish, Blight. It seems you have not forgotten your recent brush with Death**."

His voice was scornful and cold.

Blight pursed his lips and looked down at the ground. "Master…"

"**Blight, Haou and Sylar… An ungodly powerful triumvirate to lead my legions in the war against the Council. I may even go so far as saying the three of you combined would be enough to face all my enemies barring the Council. But to be that presumptuous borders on foolishness. The Council remains, and as your confrontation with Death proved, none of the three of you are even close to the Council members in power. I need one more element to complete my forces: a more human element.**"

"I do not understand you, Master," frowned Blight.

"**I would not expect you to. You yourself are a being of destructive energy, and cannot hope to comprehend the subtleties of this race. But as a former member of the Council, I had fleeting insights into the complexities of other members. From my glimpses into the workings of Life and Creation, I realized that humans are a far more intricate race than I could understand. The Pharaoh and his allies may prove to be a bigger problem then I anticipated. Having a being on my side who is like them, who thinks like them… Who understands them… That would be an advantage indeed**."

Blight bowed.

"**The Fourth Horseman can wait. Momentarily, we may enjoy the cold, destructive might of the Third**."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Yami and Yugi watched grimly as the trio of elemental beasts began to disappear into towers of gigantic energy. The towers began to swirl together to form a gigantic amalgam of elemental flames of various colors. It expanded in size until it cast a shadow over the entire room, and nearly reached the ceiling. Slowly, the flames began to fade, exposing a huge creature.

It seemed to be a combination of the three deities that preceded it. Its body was composed of three parts, with the topmost section being the chest, arms, and head of Sanga of the Thunder. Its torso was the green, sphere-like shape of Kazejin, upon which Sanga was balanced precariously. Kazejin himself was nestled in a groove above the body of the water lord, Suijin, which made up the legs of the great beast. The three roared simultaneously, and Yami and Yugi almost felt the ground tremble beneath their feet (3750/3400).

"Gate Guardian…" murmured Yugi, not taking his eyes off the monstrosity. Their previous experience with it had not been pleasant.

"Your end is nigh…" breathed Dox. "Gate Guardian, annihilate the Pharaoh's Dark Magician!"

The three-parted creature roared out in triumph as its upmost section raised its arms. In between its hands, a ball of lightning began to appear. It spread its arms wide and let the swirling ball of energy lose. The sphere raced towards Yami's mage, who merely watched on impassively.

Yugi tapped a button on his Duel Disk, behind one of his two facedown cards. "I activate Testament of the Shadows! This trap card reduces all battle damage to dark-attribute monsters during this turn to zero, _and_ I can draw one card for every attack against dark attribute monsters."

The Dark Magician raised his staff slowly, and a void seemed to erupt from out of nowhere in front of him. Its powerful suction force attracted the thunder ball towards it, and within moments, it had been well and truly absorbed into the abyss. The void closed, disappearing into nothingness.

Para looked outraged. "Nothing good can come out of such cheek!"

Dox was equally enraged. "I agree, brother! Let us show them why hiding is only for the weak!"

"Are you finished?" growled Yami.

Para looked a lot less complacent about the power of his monster when he noticed the expressionless looks on the faces of Yami and Yugi. Evidently, thirty-seven hundred and fifty attack points didn't seem like much to them.

"I end my turn."

Yami drew calmly. "I sacrifice Dark Magician as well as Dark Magician Girl to call upon one of my most powerful spellcasters… The Sorcerer of Dark Magic (3200/2800)!"

Both mages vanished in a flash, but was quickly replaced by a more powerful mage. He wore black body armor that covered a majority of his body, except his muscular arms. He had a set of mages robes on over top the armor that were an odd color of blue. On his back, a black cape reached to his feet. A strange set of shoulder pads and a stranger spike like structure rose behind his head. Also, a black hat covered his head, revealing his blue eyes and face, with a little of his blonde hair, only. His hands were covered in black gloves, and in his right hand was a powerful staff. It was green with a tri-pitch fork like design, with a small blue sphere in the center.

"An impressive monster indeed…" quipped Para.

"But to our warnings, you pay no heed!" added Dox.

"Strong though your sorcerer may be," continued Para.

"Our Gate Guardian is far more powerful than he!" finished Dox.

As if to emphasize their words, the gigantic creature roared loudly. Yami and Yugi looked on unmovingly.

"_I can't attack Dox directly while Para has a monster on the field. I'll just play it safe right now… Very soon, I'll be able to go in for the kill_."

"I set a card facedown and end my turn."

Dox drew enthusiastically. "I will merely set this one card facedown, and end my turn. When Para's turn comes, he will unleash the destructive wrath of the Gate Guardian upon your pathetic monsters, ensuring you never forget our might!"

"You're awfully confident for a guy who has five hundred life-points left," remarked Yugi, drawing two cards, as a benefit of his Mercenary's effect.

"I summon Twilight Shadow Blade Sentinel (1900/1300) in attack mode." His newest monster was a knight dressed in a futuristic suit of armor. The suit of armor war metallic-toned, with dark-red metallic shoulder pads and designs all about it, down the arms and down the legs. The gloves were red and dark, silver metallic-colored, with extendible, pink beam swords on the tops of them. It had shining boots as well, and a helmet covered its head with a grille that extended down its face.

"I add two facedown cards and end my turn."

He allowed himself a faint smile. He couldn't wait to see the look on the Paradox brother's faces when they realized what he was going to do…

Para drew, and crowed in triumph. "That was a foolish move, Yugi! Now, I use my Gate Guardian to attack Twilight Shadow Blade Sentinel!"

Yugi grinned as the gigantic beast raised its arms once more, charging up a ball of lightning. The timing required for his next move had to be impeccable.

"I activate De-Fusion, to split Twilight Shadow Swordmaster back into Soldier (1600/1200) and Shield Guardian (200/2200)!"

The winged warrior began to glow, and quickly transformed into a sphere of light. The sphere split into two, and the two smaller spheres transformed into the well-built, armored man wielding a broadsword, and the mechanical looking being that carried an energy powered shield. Yugi's field was now completely full.

"It matters not, for your Blade Sentinel is finished anyway!"

"Not unless I take away your option of selecting him as a target!" fired back Yugi, tapping another button on his Duel Disk.

"I activate Twilight Fusion! This trap card can be used to fuse Twilight Shadows in my hand or field to special summon a fusion monster at any time. So I'm fusing Soldier, Blade Sentinel, and Mercenary, to summon Twilight Shadow – Special Operative Solid Snake (2400/2400)!"

The three men each erupted into spheres of light and slammed into each other at the same time. This caused a wave of blinding energy to rise over Yugi's field. The Gate Guardian unleashed its attack, but it was absorbed by the wall of bright light, which now impaired the vision of all four duelists. It continued growing, until it would have put Troy to shame, and finally began to recede a little. After about thirty seconds, it faded, to leave a single man on Yugi's field, flanked by the Steel General and Shield Guardian.

He stood about six and a half feet tall, and was dressed in aging silver armor. It was torn in a few places. A similar, scratched helmet covered his head, with the visor shut. He wore black gloves on both hands, which had the ends of each finger cut off, exposing his nails. A heavy utility belt was clipped to its waste. On either side of the belt was a futuristic blaster. Slowly, the man lifted his visor to reveal a rugged, scarred face. His eyes were a hard-gray, and he had a little brownish-gray stubble on his cheeks.

Yami looked at Yugi's newest monster respectfully, while his hikari regarded it with a sort of appreciative affection.

"You fused three monsters to summon one with just twenty-four hundred attack points?" ridiculed Dox.

Yugi glared at him. "When you find out what Solid Snake can do, I'm sure you'll change your time. I'll give you a taste of that with the effect that activates the moment he is summoned: one monster on your field is immediatley rendered useless, unable to attack, or switch its battle position, as long as Solid Snake is in play."

Para's eyes widened in shock as the special operative pulled out one of his blasters, and aimed it at the Gate Guardian's legs. He fired, but instead of a bullet or blast, a long length of cable snapped outwards, looping itself around the giant's right foot. The Guardian turned to look at Snake, but he had already began running towards a pillar on his right, looping the cable around it. Para and Dox's ace monster fired out a sphere of white energy at him. He effortlessly dodged it looping the cable around another pillar.

The knot around the Guardian's feet was growing tighter by the minute. It desperately tried to target Snake, but he triumphantly leapt around a fourth pillar, and slammed his gun down onto a bracket on it. He had judged the angles and tension perfectly. The towering Guardian overbalanced, falling to its knees and sending up a huge cloud of dust. When it cleared, the three-parted creature was seen strewn on the floor of the temple, immobile.

Para panicked. "This is impossible! He has rendered our great beast useless!"

"We must act fast, or otherwise, they will continue with this boldness!" countered Dox, looking equally frustrated.

Para scowled and set a facedown card. With that, he ended his turn.

Yami drew, and glanced over at Yugi, who nodded.

"It's time for your Gate Guardian to fall… And believe me when I say its stay on the field was not short enough! Sorcerer of Dark Magic, destroy it with Celestial Blast!"

The magician looked at the fallen Guardian gravely, and snapped his staff around. The edge of it glowed red, and a pulsing wave of scarlet flames erupted from it, blazing across the field and slamming into the Gate Guardian.

"Despite its limitations, our Guardian is still stronger!" snarled Dox.

Yugi smiled ruefully, and tapped a button on his Duel Disk. The brothers almost balked on seeing the name of the card he had activated… Rush Recklessly.

"Now, Sorcerer of Dark Magic (3900/2800) is more than strong enough to finish your monster off!" declared Yami.

The Paradox brothers watched grimly as the gigantic monster was consumed by the sorcerer's flames almost completely. It began to burn away slowly, and within moments, a gigantic pile of ashes, as high as the sorcerer himself, was all that remained on either of the Paradox brother's fields.

(Dox: 500, Yugi: 8000, Para: 5850, Yami: 8000)

Yami grinned. "Now, the Tricky will attack Dox dire-…" He paused upon noticing the freaky grins on the faces of both men.

"What're you so happy about?" he said suspiciously. They laughed simultaneously.

"When Gate Guardian was destroyed-…" muttered Para.

"You unleashed a far greater power of the Void," complemented Dox.

Yami narrowed his eyes. What were they talking about?

"I activate my facedown Dark Element!" boomed Para.

"By paying half his life-points, Para will now unleash the most powerful monster we can summon together!" continued Dox.

Appearing on their fields was the dark silhouette of the Gate Guardian. It began to turn black, with tiny pieces of its body flying off and disappearing into nothingness. As its body began to disappear further, their fields were consumed by crimson light. Yugi and Yami threw up their hands against the sickly blinding streaks of color, until finally; a terrifying shape loomed over them.

It was a tall, muscled human, clad in crimson armor from the torso up. It wore black gauntlets, covering most of its oily green skin between the two. It had a shogun-like helmet clapped over its head, while the bottom of the new creature's torso was attached to a giant, spider-like extension, with all eight legs being represented by shining metallic spikes. In its right hand it clutched a giant axe.

"Meet our Dark Guardian (3800/3450)!" roared the brothers simultaneously.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Panik drew aggressively. "Duel wisely, young Jason. Little Carla's life hangs in the balance."

"I do not need to be told what I need to do," replied Jason softly.

Panik shrugged. "Very well. I summon Dark Lucius LV4 (1000/300) in attack mode." A dark-looking creature, not looking too human, in a metal-like mask. It also wore a metal chest plate, and had dark-gray and gray armor on the rest of itself minus the arms. It had thick, gray, metal gloves as well as some metal knee pads. It had a dark, red, blood-like mouth and eyes, with spikes sticking out of the shoulder blades and head. Some dark-blue hair stuck through the top of its head as well.

"I will then set one card facedown and end my turn," he finished, a sadistic look on his face.

Jason drew calmly, his eyes never leaving Panik's.

"I summon Psychic Snail (1900/1200) in attack mode," he declared. A giant, slimy snail appeared on Jason's field. Its shell was brown, with glowing yellow diamonds embedded in it at random intervals. Its back was a light blue in color, while the torso was a slightly lighter brown than the shell. The shell was connected to its torso by a long flap of lose skin, while muscular arms stretched out in front of it. It eyes were deep, yellow orbs.

"Had it not been for the kind of monsters you use, the shadows would have devoured you long ago," growled Panik.

Jason ignored him. "Now, Psychic Snail attacks Dark Lucius LV4."

The feelers of the humanoid snail shone, and bolts of crackling electricity shot out towards Panik's demonic creature. Lucius' eyes shot wide open, and he raised his palms in defense. Black energy shot out to meet the electric blast from Jason's Psychic, but it was immediatley evident the snail would be victorious.

Panik grinned. "I activate my facedown card, Illusion of Demise."

Lucius immediatley ceased his attack, and the electric bolt shot forward, frying him. However, instead of crumbling into ashes, he just disappeared into thin air, leaving not a trace behind him.

"Illusion of Demise allows me to pay five hundred life-points, in exchange for which my field is obscured with darkness, and Dark Lucius is… temporarily removed from play. He will be back soon, however, and until then, my trap card prevents you from dealing me battle damage during this turn."

(Panik: 7500, Jason: 8000)

A flood of darkness erupted out of nowhere, and engulfed the two duelists as well as their audience. No one besides Daniel seemed to notice Carla's whimpers. Panik was completely obscured by a towering wall of blackness right now. Only his shady, deep laugh could be heard from within it.

Jason ignored the taunting chuckles of his opponent, and extracted two more cards from his hand. "I set these cards facedown and end my turn."

Panik drew once more, and the darkness receded slightly, enough for Jason to make out his devilish smirk.

"Now, Illusion of Demise will allow me to special summon Dark Lucius LV4 back to my field… With a bonus of five hundred attack points."

The freakish creature reappeared on Panik's field, a little stronger (1500/300), but still too weak to defeat the Psychic Snail.

"Then I activate Shrink!" bellowed Panik. Jason raised an eyebrow in surprise as suddenly the creature on his field shrieked in pain, and shrunk a great deal, until it was barely half its original size (950/1200).

"Now, Dark Lucius LV4 attacks!"

The demonic man charged towards the snail and slashed forward with its claws. Jason's monster, which normally would have responded by reducing Lucius to ashes, instead moaned in pain and shattered into millions of tiny pieces. Jason's impassive expression did not change. He did not even turn a glance to his life-point counter as blood was drawn from him for the first time in the duel.

(Panik: 7500, Jason: 7350)

"Now, since Dark Lucius LV4 destroyed a monster in battle, I can send him to the graveyard in order to special summon Dark Lucius LV6 (1700/600) from my deck!" The grinning demon on Panik's field began to writhe suddenly, as its muscular frame became more pronounced, and it grew a good eight to ten inches. Its armor changed to a stronger, steel variety, and a long, purple blade flashed into existence in its hands.

"Then I set one card facedown and end my turn." He gave a deep, creepy chuckle once more.

"_It shall be fun to destroy such a grand strategy as the one Jason possesses…. Mwuhahahaha!_"

Oblivious to his opponent's confidence, Jason plotted his own move. "I summon Clevonce (1200/400) in attack mode."

Yellow, transparent cubes flickered about the area, as did random ones and zero's. Some began forming pieces of a blue and yellow-armored body, and cylinder-shaped head. Sinister, green-computer eyes flashed across the black visored face of the being, as golden and blue patterns ran up the rest of the head's helmet. Yellow teeth shot an equally dastardly smirk. The feet were covered in thin, sock-like hoppers, and white and blue gloves with golden fingers were on the creature's arms.

"Then I activate my facedown Double Summon, which allows me to perform a second normal summon for the turn. I use this benefit to summon Psycho Commander (1400/800)."

With this, a saucer-shaped formation made its presence known, designed with chrome metal and small antenna-like towers revolving around the base. Out of the top-center hatch emerged a green-army-dressed individual, with white gloves on its hands, and a black visor over its head. Four, glaring, red eyes could be seen from the visor. At the front of the saucer, a long, dark-metal cannon with a green barrel deployed.

"Psycho Commander attacks Dark Lucius LV6."

Jason's newest monster charged up a bolt of blue energy within the cannon, and fired it out in the direction of the armored demon. Panik let out a crazed laugh.

"You fool! Do you not know even the basic aspects of this game? You have sacrificed your Commander for nothing!"

"Do you think I would be so foolish as to attack a monster stronger than my own without a purpose?" said Jason dangerously.

(Panik: 7500, Jason: 6950)

"Psycho Commander's effect enables me to pay life-points in multiples of one hundred to reduce the attack points of one monster on your field which battles with a Psychic monster by that same amount. I reduced my life-points by four hundred, weakening Dark Lucius LV6 so that it can be destroyed by my Commander."

The blue bolt struck Lucius (1300/600), and it shrieked loudly as it was reduced to ashes within a matter of minutes.

(Panik: 7400, Jason: 6950)

"Now, Clevonce attacks you dir-…"

Jason paused to see that Dark Lucius LV6 was suddenly back on his opponent's field, clutching its long purple blade and shrieking wildly.

"I see…" he murmured. "Call of the Haunted."

"Yes!" declared Panik triumphantly. "Now, as long as this continuous trap card remains in play, Lucius will continue to haunt you."

Jason glanced back at his hand. "Very well. Turn end."

Panik drew aggressively. "I summon Shadowknight Archfiend (2000/1600) in attack mode!"

A demon dressed in heavy golden armor morphed into existence on Panik's field. Disgustingly enough, parts of the armor had been melted and fused into the creature's body, exposing its dark blue skin at intervals. Looming wings flapped out behind it, while a small yellow helmet was clapped over its face, exposing slit-like crimson eyes. He had massive gauntlets on either hand, with one of them having long metal claws extending out, and the other having a giant blade attached to it.

"Now, I activate the unstoppable field magic card known as Dark Arena!"

There was a flash of light, blinding Jason. When he regained his vision, he found that they were in a dark cave. The ceiling was relatively high in any case, but even so, it was an extremely claustrophobic place. The walls seemed to be bearing down on him, Daniel and Carla wherever they looked. Adding that to the fact that a large number of bones and fangs seemed to be scattered randomly over the floor, it was a relatively intimidating place. Lucius and the Shadowknight seemed right at home there.

"Its effect is going to be extremely useful to me in time," chuckled the former eliminator. "In any case, Shadowknight will now attack Clevonce!"

The knight darted towards the floating creature. He hefted his right hand upward, and his blade would have sliced though it if a golden barrier had suddenly not sprung up around it.

(Panik: 7400, Jason: 6150)

"By paying eight hundred life-points, Clevonce allows me to negate an attack if he is the target of the same."

Panik frowned. If he attacked Psycho Commander with Dark Lucius LV6, Jason would pay life-points to weaken it.

"My turn ends," he grunted.

Jason drew slowly. "I sacrifice Psycho Commander to summon Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV6 (2300/1600)."

The mechanical creature was suddenly hidden by black flames. From the flames, large silver wings came out, along with a long silver tail, a pair of powerful talon legs, and finally the main body of the silver metal dragon was seen. It still looked like a large bird, but a much more powerful bird. Its sheer presence seemed to light up the area. Both Lucius and the Shadowknight Archfiend seemed put off by its presence.

"Now, I am well aware of your Dark Arena's effect," said Jason coldly.

"All monsters in attack position must attack during this battle-phase. As long as you have an Archfiend monster, you may even choose the targets of my monsters. I was prepared for that, however. I switch Clevonce to defense mode, and since Horus is strong enough in any case, I may now destroy your Shadowknight Archfiend, as it is that card which makes your field spell that much more effective."

Roaring once more, the dragon beat its sizable wings. It opened its jaws, revealing black flames in its mouth. Breathing out, the flames came spewing out in a stream straight for the gold-armored demon. It raised its gauntlets in defense, but they were know match for the searing heat of the amazing dragon's flames. Within moments, nothing but a pile of ashes remained in the creature's place.

(Panik: 7100, Jason: 6150)

"My turn ends," said Jason coldly. As he spoke, Horus began to morph. "On the end phase of a turn on which Horus destroys a monster in battle, I can sacrifice him to special summon from my deck Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV8 (3000/1800)."

A large sphere of black flames surrounded the silver dragon in a flash. From the flames came a larger set of silver metal wings, a longer tail, stronger talon legs, powerful silver arms, and at long last, a large silver head. With a massive roar, the flames dispersed.

"In this form, Horus negates the effect of any magic card that I choose."

Panik gritted his teeth. He had not expected the boy to hold cards of this power. Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV8 was indeed a rare and powerful card. In the right hands, it was nothing short of unbeatable. If he summoned a monster in attack mode, Jason could easily choose not to negate Dark Arena, forcing Panik to attack. The advantages provided to him by Horus were incredible.

The former eliminator drew. "I switch Dark Lucius LV6 to defense mode, and set one more card facedown." The demon dropped down onto one knee, and a brown-backed card appeared behind it.

"I end my turn."

Jason drew. "I summon Spear Dragon (1900/0)," he declared. Morphing onto his field was a dragon that actually resembled a pterodactyl. It had a thin, boney body, with a long beak and thin wings that consisted of a bone-like frame and a thin flap of skin. It had primal, yellow eyes, which reflected its prehistoric nature as it let lose a loud shriek.

"Spear Dragon attacks Dark Lucius LV6!"

The thin dragon took off into the air, its beak beginning to glow as it gained momentum. If it had hit, then the demon would have been destroyed. However, Panik pressed a button on his Duel Disk just in time. "Mwuhahahaha! You should have known that I would've been prepared for your little maneuver! Negate Attack activates!"

The swirling vortex appeared on Panik's field, blocking the Spear Dragon in its tracks. Jason still looked as calm as before.

"My turn ends." Due to its own effect, the Spear Dragon shifted to defense mode, folding its wings over itself in a defensive stance.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The beautiful woman stood alone in the vast expanse of her endless garden. Her soft hand was resting on the bark of one of the many incredibly tall and lovely trees that grew around her. Squirrels scampered around in the grass by her feet, while a chirping sparrow settled itself on her shoulder. The woman, however, was oblivious to them.

"Milady Life," echoed a deep voice from behind her. She inclined her head slightly, even though she knew who it was.

"You wished to speak to me," continued Zeruge Mitsunashi.

Life allowed herself a sad smile. "Do you think that considering our history, the formalities remain essential?"

The demon looked stiffly back at her. "Milady, with all due respect, I am playing an integral role in the campaign against Paradias. I could serve the interests of the Council better if I were sent back to Earth immediatley-…"

"And as I have told you so many times before, Zeruge, the title Milady is non-existent between us. I wish you would address me with the name of the woman you fell in love with, who fell in love with you, all those years ago…."

Zeruge frowned. "If you have called me here to discuss what has passed between us, I am afraid that I have nothing to say."

Life sighed. "We have discussed this before, Zeruge, and I assure you, I am not about to break any of the oaths we both took. I stand by what I admitted before: what happened was a foolish mistake on my part, an error in judgment. However, you still remain one of my most trusted confidantes and one of the Council's most powerful lieutenants. If the formalities ceased, it would make conversation rather easier."

Zeruge did not answer.

She sighed again. "Very well. We shall get down to business."

She bent down, and allowed a squirrel to climb up her arm to settle on her shoulder. Behind her, petals of flowers from trees all around her coalesced to form human-like creatures, which floated around in the air.

"As I said, Zeruge, what happened to you was my fault and only mine. I have realized the necessity for me to make amends to you."

Zeruge stirred, but remained silent.

"When I took the form of a young, Japanese lady named Lila, in the year 1629 AD, I had no idea that I would meet you in rural Japan. I had no idea that I would feel a kind of emotional attachment to you, the likes of which I have never felt towards any one of my creations. It was a different kind of attachment, almost a romantic one, rather then a motherly one. We enjoyed our time together, yes, I admit we did. But, however, it was obviously something that could not last forever.

"I could not bring myself to just leave you. I told you the truth about who I was, and upon realizing I was not lying, I explained to you that we had no future together. However, imagining that the one thing that separated us was the separation in our power, so you merged your soul with that of a powerful demon, until your potential now approached that of the Shadow magicians of Egypt. However, your mortality, and my place as a Council member still separated us.

"Your lack of control over your new powers led you on a rampage, after which I was forced to order Zerato to seal you away. You were stripped of your powers, but in exchange received a kind of immortality, one in which you could not die a natural death. It was a pathetic imitation of life, and the sad irony was that we were both of the same breed now: an undying one. Yet, a Council member cannot have any achievements, meaning we would be forced to stay apart for an eternity. You may or may not believe me, Zeruge, but I love you as my creation, and this situation continues to sadden me more than you can imagine. I have truly wronged you, and for a long time, I wish I could correct this. Finally, I can."

"What do you speak of, Milady?" whispered Zeruge.

Life walked up to him, and placed a hand on his cheek. The demon and the woman gazed into each other's eyes. "I will give you back your mortality, Zeruge, and with it, the powers that had made you one of the most feared warriors in the world. You will be able to leave behind what happened between us for good, and when this war is finished, find a new love. You deserve it, Zeruge. At the same time, your strength will be sorely required in the upcoming battle against Apocalypse. It is a win-win situation for everyone, perhaps most of all for me, as I can finally redeem myself for the pain I caused you through my foolishness."

Zeruge stood shell-shocked for a moment.

"Is this true?"

"I would not lie to you, Zeruge," she said sadly. "I have done that enough."

He raised his hands and looked at them underneath his gauntlets. "To live my life as I would have… That is something I have dreamed of for far too long."

"I should have done this sooner," replied Life, looking down at the ground. "But I admit that I could not face you prior to this."

From within her white robe, she extracted a pulsing ruby. She let go of it, but it continued to float in the air, giving of an aura of red energy.

"Zerato sealed your demonic powers in this stone three hundred and eighty-nine years ago, upon my command. If you permit it, it will take your immortality away from you, but in exchange fill you with the kind of pulsating energy and strength you have not known for centuries. It is up to you, Zeruge. The seal has already been removed. If you come in contact with it, you will become mortal once more."

The demon looked at her, a sad smile on his face. "Thank you, Milady. Thank you…. Lila."

"Thank me not, Zeruge," she whispered, turning away from him.

She continued walking away. Zeruge stared at her for a moment, before turning his attention to the floating ruby. He reached over, and wrapped his fingers around it. A flash of crimson light exploded out of it, consuming the entire meadow. Life was already out of sight.

When the light vanished, Zeruge could be seen staring at the ground. The ruby clinked uselessly to the ground. He stood there for a moment, a blank look on his face.

Finally, he gave a small gasp. "This power…" His entire body seemed to be trembling. His pupils were dilating. Understandably, the feeling of being mortal after nearly four centuries, coupled with the power he now held, was a feeling that took getting used to.

He clenched his trembling fist. Vaguely, somewhere in his mind, he recalled what Zerato had told him of his next mission. His black wings flapped open, and he disappeared into the open blue sky. Life watched him from the distance.

"I understand the frustration of eternal immortality…" she murmured. "The speed of your decision came as no surprise to me. It is one that I would make just as easily myself. One day, Zeruge, I only hope you will find it in your heart to forgive me for what I deprived you of."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Yes, I have a fair idea what some of you would like to do to me. I don't blame you, but a lot has happened since I last updated. The Lakers are champs (w00t!), I had tests, a birthday, a helluva lot of work, and a few personal issues to sort out. Unfortunately, I have exams coming up in a couple of weeks, but I will have time to write post that. Sorry lads and ladies, but this year is going to be crazy. Less writing will be achieved until March 2010 than I would have liked, but I assure you, this story will never go on hiatus. NEVER!**

**I hope this is enough for you to chew on for the time-being. I could have updated earlier, but it would have been a lot slower. **

**IMPORTANT NOTE: Until then, I want to know what you think of the pace of the story, and whether or not I'm giving equal importance to all plot-lines. This is an epic length fanfiction, of perhaps eighty or more chapters, and I hope I don't bore you people into stopping reading before the end. Please give me your feedback here.**

**Until then, sorry once more, and thanks to all my readers.**


	26. Papercut

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE: Papercut

**Sorry for the long wait, my friends. I had exams, and then I was busy with some other stuff. I'm free of exams for three months though, and I hope to update sooner. Here's a milestone though: I'm past five hundred pages in this story, from this chapter onwards. I hope you guys will stick with me until I reach a thousand, fifteen hundred, and who knows, maybe even beyond that.**

**Starlight AT: I didn't really understand that either…**

**Candyman123: I kinda understand that logic about Sylar…. Good way to think.**

**Aelsthla-Mental: Thank you, my friend. I always like praise.**

**KageNoNeko: Glad to hear you like it.**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: Ouch, that hurts! Haha, just kidding, lol. Thanks for continuing to be patient, once this year is over I'll be able to do nothing but write, don't worry. Expect the next chapter within a couple of weeks, that's a personal guarantee. Also, expect a long e-mail from me very soon full of stuff! It's been a long time, man, and it's good to be back!**

Ishizu Ishtar craned over the delicate manuscript that lay in front of her. The parchment was fragile and thin, and even a slight amount of pressure could damage it irreversibly. She was currently trying to decipher some ancient hieroglyphics that seemed to be of an obscure dialect from western Egypt.

Ever since losing her Millennium Necklace, Ishizu had assumed that her purpose as a Tombkeeper was fulfilled. No longer would she have to brave dangers such as the ones she faced at Battle City, while trying to free her brother from the grasp of his dark side. Marik, her, and Odion had settled in their ancestral home on the outskirts of Cairo, enjoying the serene, calm environment. She had proceeded with her archeological studies, while Marik had been considering the possibility of improving on the narrow education he had received as a Tombkeeper, and possibly opening a small business in Cairo. Unfortunately, such a dream was never meant to be.

The shock of having her brother's mind seized by the spirit again was something she had never quite been able to get over. The despair that had filled her heart when she saw his heaving figure stalking away into the desert that night, the fear that had seized her when she saw that crazed, inhumane look in his eyes that could belong to no other individual…. It was something she knew would revisit her for decades to come.

The conversation she had had with the Pharaoh after that had been somewhat reassuring. He had defeated the madman once, and she kept faith that he could do it again. Then she realized that it was not only Yami Marik whom Yami was dealing with, but also the power of the Orichalcos, and the Egyptian God of Death, Anubis, Aknadin's former servant and holder of the Pyramid of Light. She had almost given up hope that her brother would be returned safe again. She herself was just recovering from a frightening bout with yellow fever, and was nowhere near a condition in which she would be of any help to the Pharaoh against those kind of opponents. She needed Odion to stay, considering her poor health.

It was a terrifying few weeks. The two of them could only pray everyday that their brother would be returned to them. Finally, just a few days ago, Marik had staggered through the front door of their house, looking more like a ghost then a man. He was running a fever of over a hundred and four degrees Fahrenheit. Ishizu immediatley forced him into bed and injected him with a powerful drug to reduce the fever. He continued to run a temperature for a few more hours. It scared Ishizu, but it finally subsided. He had slept peacefully for eighteen hours straight, and had woken finally, with the fever broken.

He was still extremely weak, however, and was obviously in no condition to engage in physical activity. Mentally, too, he was a wreck. The torture of having a hostile, foreign presence in his mind had driven him to the brink of insanity. The fact that Yami Marik had banished him to the Orichalcos was almost a blessing, as it meant he was able to escape his darker side's torture for some more time.

But it was almost as if a void was left where Marik's soul was supposed to be. When Ishizu had meekly inquired about what had happened to him, he was oblivious. He remembered nothing. Marik rarely spoke now, and barely ate. Most of his time was spent sitting on the terrace of their small home, staring out into the sky with a look of helpless despair in his eyes.

In fact, that was exactly what he was doing right then. Ishizu sighed as she heard his heavy footsteps on the ceiling above her. Slowly, she made her way out of the room, and ascended the spiral staircase to the terrace. She stopped at the entrance, looking on sadly at the sight of her brother leaning against the wall, staring deep into the night sky, looking completely destitute.

"Brother…" she said softly. Marik turned to face her, an alarmed look on his face.

"Ishizu…" he muttered. "I'll return to my room. You were right, I need my rest."

He tried to walk past her, but she blocked his path. He felt her hand rest on his shoulder. "I'm worried about you, Marik," she whispered. "So is Odion. You can't remain like this forever."

He refused to answer her, and tried to walk past one more time. She continued to block his path. "If you would at least _tell_ us what happened…."

"I told you, sister, I do not remember," he growled. "The very last thing I recall was being taken by the Orichalcos. After that, everything is empty. I simply woke up about half a mile away from our house in the desert."

"You can't live like this forever, Marik…" she insisted. "Please, there is one person who can help you remember…"

"I am NOT speaking to the Pharaoh, Ishizu," he replied firmly. "I could not face him. No, not with the tragedy I have caused him and his friends through my foolishness."

"I still fail to understand how it can be considered your fault that the spirit returned and took over your consciousness," replied Ishizu, her voice raising.

Marik looked downright furious now, and seemed ready to answer even louder, but suddenly, he stopped. It was as if he had been pricked by a pin, and the air in his body was seeping out ever so quickly. He looked down helplessly at the floor, and a small sob wracked his body. Ishizu silently put her arms around him, and he cried into her shoulder.

"I am sorry, sister…" he whispered. "It would be unfair to expect you to understand…. But a part of me died when he returned again Ishizu. It is a part of me that will never return."

She patted him on the back softly. "I assure you, Marik, it will. Odion and I will always stand by your side. I am unsure of what happened, as I have not been able to speak to anyone concerned with the Tournament of Shadows, but I assure you, Yami Marik is well and truly gone this time. There is no other way for you to have been freed from the Orichalcos, or for him to have been completely purged from your mind."

He allowed himself a weak smile, and she stepped out of his way. He proceeded down to his room, leaving a confused and frustrated Ishizu in his wake.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

During the day, the desert was scorching. At night, however, it could send a chill through the bones of even the most well-adapted creatures. The vast, empty expanse of barren wasteland, coupled with the various strange sounds that emanated through the air could make even the most hardened soldier shiver. There was no place like a desert at night. Faced with trouble here, the only thing you could do was run: it was far too empty to find a place to hide.

Not that the well-knit bunch of men seemed very affected by the atmosphere. There were at least twelve of them, all dressed in black bodysuits, except for the leader, in the front. Aside from him, all of them were tall, pale and seemed to come from Eastern Europe. He was Japanese in origin, and about five foot eight. He wore a crimson jacket with black trousers. Despite the darkness, he also wore shades.

"Dmitri, Andrei…. Take your group and enter from the left… I will take the rest and seal of the other exit route, at the front door. Take all alive, if you can, but ensure no one escapes."

Two of the men nodded, and branched out with five others, leaving the leader with just four of his own men. But he hardly looked perturbed. The other men pulled on night vision goggles. They were just about a few hundred feet from the house, but he refused to take any chances. The plan had to be executed with surgical presicion.

The men darted sideways towards the house. It was unlikely the residents would be able to even notice them in the darkness. That was if they were paying attention at all.

They positioned themselves by the doors. On their leader's signal, they silently opened the doors.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Odion was sitting alone in his bedroom on the ground floor, a hollow, reflective look on his features. He stared ahead at the mirror opposite him. He held a long scimitar in one hand, which Ishizu had recovered from a nearby archeological expedition, and a cloth in the other, which he was using to polish the ancient blade.

Had it not been for the cry of surprise from the man behind him due to the blinding sliver of light that had flashed off the sword, Odion would have been killed. He whirled around to see a tall, Slavic man dressed in a black bodysuit, and holding a cocked gun standing in front of him with the door ajar. Without waiting to think it over, Odion slashed forward with the antique blade he held, slicing off his assailant's hand, and inciting a shriek of agony.

Before he could scream again, Odion grimaced and beheaded him. The corpse fell to the floor, its head rolling to one side and the hand on the other. Odion threw open the door, which led into a long dark corridor which was adjoining to the living room.

He grimaced. Ishizu and Marik would be defenseless on the terrace. It was unlikely that only one assassin had entered the house. It was a rather large building, and there were plenty of places for many intruders to hide.

As he thought this, a similarly built man darted down the corridor towards him. He fired. Had his aim not been off by a millimeter, Odion's hand would have been replaced by a small, bloody stump. Instead, it just grazed his wrist. It still caused him to drop his blade. Bending forward, he leapt towards the man. His momentum carried them both to the floor, and caused the assassin to drop his gun, which rolled away from them.

The two large men clawed at each other violently on the hard, cold floor. Odion was dealt a resounding punch to the gut, just giving his opponent enough time to scramble out from underneath him and draw a long machete from his belt. Odion stood up, backing away a few steps, gasping with the exertion.

The assassin growled and slashed forward. Odion slid away from the blade, glancing back at his own. He dodged a thrust, and tried to slip around his attacker. The man took advantage of this, and was able to cut Odion's side. He groaned and rolled away, collapsing against the wall. It was a shallow cut, but if it continued bleeding, he would be in big trouble.

"Wait…" he growled. "Who are you? Why do you wish to kill me?"

The Russian man looked back at him, resembling for all the world an empty shell with no emotional capacity at all.

"According to Reflect, it is necessary for you to disappear."

As his opponent said this, Odion dived forward for his blade. It was faster than the man had expected, and he was just in time to swing it upwards in the Russian's direction. The assassin, however, had better reflexes than Odion would have expected, and raised his blade to parry the slash. The force of Odion's attack, however, was enough to shatter both blades, resulting in a barrage of razor sharp splinters being sprayed outwards in all directions. Both men were peppered with shrapnels. Odion sustained a large wound on his shoulder, while his opponent had a deep cut on his cheek.

Odion staggered downwards, scooping up a piece of metal from the remains of the blade, and buried it in the Russian's chest. He took in a sharp breath, and Odion watched in disgust as he collapsed, blood oozing out of the wound.

His priority shifted almost immediatley. Reflect…. He had heard the name before, back when Marik was the head of the Rare Hunters. The intelligence they had gathered was vast, and as a prominent figure in Marik's organization, Odion was privy to most of it. Somewhere, deep in their archives, he remembered reading something about a man called Reflect, in association with Dartz's organization.

His eyes widened. "_The assassins_…. _They have been sent by Paradias_."

He staggered back to his room, and grabbed a dagger, which was the only real weapon he had. He knew he had to get Marik and Ishizu to safety at all costs, even if he gave his own life in exchange.

There was a huge cave about three miles from their residence. It had been converted into a warehouse by the archaeology department of the Egyptian government. Cairo itself was eight miles out. It made more sense to retreat to the warehouse, as the intruders surely had help waiting back at Cairo.

"_Master Marik… You will not be lost once more. I can guarantee it_."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Our Dark Guardian has risen…." intoned Para.

"And your chances of surviving much longer worsen!" added Dox.

Yami frowned. He was correct. After the end of his own turn, he would have Sorcerer of Dark Magic, with thirty-two hundred attack points, and the Tricky, with two thousand. Yugi had Solid Snake, with twenty-four hundred. While he was sure that it was powerful, he knew that the Dark Guardian looked like it was in a league of its own.

(Dox: 500, Yugi: 8000, Para: 2925, Yami: 8000)

"I switch the Tricky to defense mode. Then I will set one card facedown and end my turn."

Dox drew. "I activate the continuous magic card, Shared Power! This can only be activated during a tag-team duel. The owner of this card may select one monster on his partner's field, and control it as his own for as long as Shared Power is in play. Thanks to this card, you fools will face the full power of Dark Guardian every time one of us takes our turn!"

Yami frowned. He had not expected this.

Dox grinned. "Dark Guardian, destroy that Sorcerer of Dark Magic and make sure it never annoys us again!"

The huge creature roared and raised its axe upwards. The blade erupted into flames. The Sorcerer narrowed his eyes and raised his staff in defense. But it was in vain. The Dark Guardian slashed horizontally, and a wave of flames erupted from his blade, slamming into Yami's monster. The magician closed his eyes as if resigning himself to his death, and soon vanished into ashes.

(Dox: 500, Yugi: 8000, Para: 2925, Yami: 7400)

"My turn ends now," whispered Dox.

Yugi drew confidently. "Very well. I equip Solid Snake with the weapon that will help him unleash his true potential: Phantom Blaster!"

Vanishing from Snake's hands was one of the blasters. Appearing in its place was another, completely different one. It was a shining black in color, and had a long which was thicker than the rest of the gun. The barrel itself was attached to a secondary barrel with a small strip of metal. He clasped it around the handle with easy confidence, a smirk spreading across his face.

"Once per turn, when Solid Snake is equipped with Phantom Blaster, I can activate one of three effects. By activating the one of my choice, his attack and defense points become forty-eight hundred and zero respectively, until the end of this turn."

Para's eyes widened as a bolt of electricity ran up Snake's arm (4800/0).

"Your Dark Guardian is finished. Snake, attack it now!"

The veteran agent raised his blaster, and energy seemed to pass into the blaster from his arm. A wave of purple, almost ghostly energy was spat out towards the monstrous creature on Para's field. It slammed right into its chest, and for a moment, it looked like it was going to topple over. However, absolutely nothing happened.

(Dox: 500, Yugi: 8000, Para: 1925, Yami: 7400)

"Care to provide an explanation?" asked Yugi, his eyebrows raised.

"There was a reason behind my words that the Dark Guardian is invincible," crowed Dox. "It cannot be destroyed in battle. That means when the next turn rolls around, it can crush your Solid Snake and the Tricky soon after that, leaving the field clear for your end to be orchestrated!"

Yugi allowed himself an easy smile. "I doubt that. But in any case, I will set one card facedown and end my turn."

Para drew. "I play Pot of Avarice, which allows me to send five monsters in my graveyard back to my deck, and then draw two cards."

He found the five necessary cards in his graveyard, and slid them back into his deck. Then, he drew twice more and looked at his hand. He was barely able to contain his delight.

"Excellent! I first play the powerful magic card, Sacrifice of Power. This can only be activated by selecting one level nine or higher monster on my field. Then, I must choose one monster in my deck with a level lower than or equal as the one on my field. By removing it from play, and paying one thousand life-points, the monster on my field gains _all_ the effects of the monster that I removed from play. And guess which I choose…."

He pulled out a card from his deck. "Ancient Gear Golem (3000/3000)…."

"That means Dark Guardian will deal Piercing damage, _and_ you cannot activate magic or trap cards during either of our battle phases!"

(Dox: 500, Yugi: 8000, Para: 925, Yami: 7400)

Yami looked shocked. "_This was indeed unexpected. The Paradox brothers have succeeded in summoning a monster that when powered up in the manner they have, is capable of usurping a tier one God card._"

"Dark Guardian!" thundered Para. "Destroy his Solid Snake!"

Yugi braced himself as the giant creature took off towards his powerful fusion. His facedown Sakuretsu Armor would have normally wrecked the Paradox brothers' entire strategy, but they seemed to have anticipated that sort of maneuver. Its flaming axe smashed through Snake's body. Yugi closed his eyes, saddened by the loss of that particular monster. He hadn't even gotten around to showing what it was really capable of.

(Dox: 500, Yugi: 6600, Para: 925, Yami: 7400)

"It's my move," declared Yami. As he drew, his eyes widened in shock at the look of the card he had drawn.

He looked at Yugi, and an unsaid agreement passed between them. "_I didn't want to have to do this_…."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Flashback_

"_This is one of my top five most powerful monsters," declared Jason, folding his arms. "It is the apex of my two strategies combined, for all of my other strongest creatures are dependant on each individual strategy. Indeed, you now face Shadow Sentinel Dragon (3500/3500)."_

_Yami was a bit put off by the sheer size and intimidation that the dragon provided. He wasn't too scared, however, and gave a slight smirk. "You seem to forget that as long as Obelisk is in play, even your most powerful monsters don't have a hope of defeating me."_

"_Arrogance is appalling," replied Jason softly. "No one monster can ever win a duel. Don't you know that?"_

_End Flashback_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jason's words had struck a chord in him. Since then, he had felt uneasy even when he looked at one of them.

"Do it, Yami," echoed Yugi's voice, bearing down on him. "Finish it."

Yami closed his eyes for a moment, and then looked up, glaring at the Paradox brothers. "This is the end. I sacrifice my Tricky, and Yugi's Twilight Shadow Steel General and Shield Guardian to call upon the one monster that will send you and your Dark Guardian to the void."

Golden coronas jolted around the field, taking the three cards into it and calling down a wave of light from above them. Cracks began to appear in the ceiling, exposing the deep black sky.

"No, brother!" shrieked Para. "He is summoning a God!"

"He must be stopped, or else everything we have done will be for naught!"

Slowly, the room began glowing golden due to a large golden sphere descended into the room. All eyes went to the sphere as it finally slowed and hovered above the field.

Yami hesitated once more. "Do it!" said Yugi again, looking frantically from the Dark Guardian to the sphere on Yami's field.

Yami shut his eyes tight once more and nodded.

"_Great beast of the sky, _

_Please hear my cry._

_Transform thyself from orb of light,_

_And bring me victory in this fight._

_Envelop the desert in your glow,_

_And cast your rage upon my foe._

_Unlock your powers from deep within so that together we may win. _

_Appear in this Shadow Game as I call your name, Winged Dragon of Ra!"_

Through the blinding light, a divine dragon could be seen descending from the heavens. The metallic, golden-armored icon flapped its blade-like wings caused gales to rip through the streets beyond the dueling area. The light disappeared, leaving the brilliant creature to float down at its own pace. Its eyes lit up as it focused on the unworthy opponents in its view.

"The Winged Dragon of Ra (5000/5200) has risen…." murmured Yami. His voice could barely be heard amongst the midst of screams from Para and Dox.

"I pay all but one of my life-points…. To devote that power to God."

The incredible dragon roared, and when it did, the whole world quaked. The two brothers had fallen to their knees, staring up in awe at it; their Dark Guardian but a toy in comparison to that great beast (12399/12599).

"Your Shared Power…. I know of its effect. Both controllers take equal damage when the shared monster is destroyed. Therefore…. This duel is done."

Yami still looked distracted. He gestured vaguely towards the Dark Guardian. "Attack."

Letting out a massive roar, an arch of the dragon's back began glowing brightly. Slowly, a large golden sphere of energy began forming within the arch. The energy soon began to go down wire like structures into the dragon's mouth, causing a powerful golden glow to begin forming. Opening its jaws fully, the dragon spat the energy blast from its jaws, sending a golden beam straight at the heavily armored beast.

In the blink of an eye, the blast tore through the Dark Guardian, not even giving it a chance to roar in pain. The blast continued on, striking Para and Dox. They were both consumed, along with their monster. Even the extensions of Chaos were no match for the fathomless divine energy of the God. It continued on, ripping the entire building apart, and exposing Yami and Yugi to the unending black sky. When the blast finally ceased, Yami glanced down at the life-point counters.

(Dox: 0, Yugi: 6600, Para: 0, Yami: 1)

"And here we go…." muttered Yugi, as the air around them began to warp into a multicolored vortex. Before he had a chance to say another word, they were sucked into it, to be transported to whichever place in the Abyss Chaos' unpredictable dice willed them to.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Panik and Jason stared each other down, unreadable looks on their faces. Jason had Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV8 on his field, along with Clevonce and Spear Dragon, both in defense mode. Panik, though he had the life-point advantage, was limited to Dark Lucius LV6, and a now useless Dark Arena. Daniel stood calmly on the sidelines, a hand on the now silent Carla's head.

(Panik: 7100, Jason: 6150)

"It's my move!" declared Panik loudly. "I summon Dark Resonator (1300/300) in attack mode." A small malicious fiend materialized onto Panik's field. It was dressed like a shaman, with a ragged robe and a gray, spiked helmet. It eyes were a deep red, and it held a tuning fork in one hand, and a staff in the other.

"Then, I activate Shien's Spy, which allows me to shift control of one monster on my field to you. My choice is Dark Resonator." The malicious puppet cackled as it floated over to Jason's field, joining Horus, Clevonce and Spear Dragon.

"Lucius now attacks Dark Resonator!" Holding his sword in both hands, Lucius charged across the field, and slashed horizontally upon reaching the crazed fiend. He severed its head from its body, which hung in mid-air for a moment, before exploding into millions of tiny particles.

(Panik: 7100, Jason: 5750)

"Dark Resonator cannot be destroyed in battle, for one instance per turn," grinned Panik. "However, Dark Lucius LV6 allows me to negate the effect of a monster he destroys, therefore sending that pathetic monster to the abyss!"

"You wasted two cards to deal me simply four hundred points of damage," said Jason coldly. "Surely you do not consider me a fool. There was a greater purpose behind that maneuver."

"Mwuahahaha! You are correct! I set one card facedown and end my turn. Now, since I used its effect, I can send Lucius to the graveyard to special summon Dark Lucius LV8 (2800/900)!"

Dark Lucius vanished into a cloud of thick, dark smoke. From out of the cloud came the most frightening version yet. He looked like he was clothed in demonic, spike-studded plate armor, with four diabolic wings. He carried a two-handed sword that he was holding one-handed.

Jason looked up, but said still said nothing.

"Dark Lucius LV8 shall prove himself to be a worthy opponent for your Horus. Make your move Jason, and let us continue to see what little Carla's fate will be."

Jason drew. "When I have a Psychic monster in play, I may normal summon this level six monster without tributes. Come, Armored Axon Kicker (2200/1800)."

A tall man, outfitted with green armor, appeared on Jason's field. He wore a black helmet with a tinted visor, along with purple gauntlets. Long pipes were connected to the back of his helmet, shoulders, and elbows. In one of his hands, a sphere of translucent purple energy began to glow.

"Now, I switch Spear Dragon to attack mode. Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV8 will lead the charge and destroy your Dark Lucius!"

The green dragon opened its mouth, and a sphere of black energy formed within its maw. With a roar, the ball of power burst out and plummeted towards the demon. The light seemed to be sucked into the ball as it continued on. For a moment, it seemed like the attack would succeed, but Panik reacted to save his skin with admirable speed.

"I activate the facedown trap card, Chaos Wormhole! This powerful card will suck your attack into another dimension and keep it there for a number of turns equal to half the level of the attacking monster. When its time is up, it will return and deal us both damage equal to half the attack points of the attacking monster!"

A spinning vortex appeared in front of Lucius, within which Jason could see an amalgam of colors and lightning. Horus' attack was sucked into it, and it soon closed, leaving only a speck of glimmering light, which split into five different specks, with four surrounding the original one. They ascended to the top of Panik's field.

Jason frowned. "Very well. I will set my final card facedown and end my turn."

"The first turn is already up," cackled Panik, as one of the specks of light disappeared. He drew, and looked back at Jason.

"I summon Desrook Archfiend (1100/1800) in attack mode." A sprawling creature materialized next to Lucius. At first, it looked like it was just the floating head of a demon, with most of the skin rotting and the flesh having been burnt away. Upon looking closer, one could see that it was actually a skull, with a little skin hanging off it, attached to long, bony tentacles tipped with spines.

"Then, Lucius will attack your Spear Dragon with Nightmare of Corruption!"

Lucius' body seemed to become hazy. Jason heard the distant scream of a woman, and the agonized cry of a man. Glass shattered, and explosions sounded. The Spear Dragon itself could not seem to stand the torment. It let out loud screeches as it flapped its wings for no particular reason. Lucius strode across the field, a dark smile on his face. While the Spear Dragon remained embroiled in the madness that had invaded its mind, it was decapitated by a single stroke of Lucius' blade.

(Panik: 7100, Jason: 4850)

"And what's more, any monster that is destroyed in battle by Dark Lucius LV8 is removed from play!" grinned Panik maliciously.

Jason's face continued to remain passive as he slipped his Spear Dragon into his pocket.

"Then I set two cards facedown and end my turn." One more speck of light disappeared above Panik's field.

Daniel shifted his gaze from one combatant to another. "_Panik's stall tactics seem to be working at the moment. I don't understand what he's playing at though, by summoning Desrook Archfiend. It's a sitting target for Horus. He can't even benefit from its presence with Dark Arena, since Horus has negated it._"

"I don't know what you're playing at," said Jason in a monotone. "But it does not matter. I will do nothing in my main phase, and instead choose to enter my battle-phase directly. Clevonce will attack Desrook Archfiend-…."

"I activate the facedown continuous trap card Skill Drain, which allows me to pay one thousand life-points to negate the abilities of every single monster in play!"

(Panik: 6100, Jason: 4850)

Jason quirked an eyebrow. "Intriguing. Now, Horus' negation ability becomes inactive, meaning your Dark Arena can be used freely."

"Especially since I have an Archfiend in play," sneered Panik. "I can now choose your attack targets. One by one, your monsters will charge towards their doom under the influence of Dark Arena. Clevonce will be first! Go on, command it to attack Dark Lucius LV8 and wander off into the netherworld!"

Jason suppressed a scowl as the floating yellow creature sped forward, its arms raised. Lucius quirked an eyebrow. He had been leaning on his sword prior to this, and almost immediatley, he shifted his weight onto his feet. In the same movement, he moved his sword from one hand to another, and in the process of doing so, slashed Clevonce in half. The yellow pixels that composed the two parts of its body remained floating in the air for a moment, before exploding.

(Panik: 6100, Jason: 3250)

"Your Armored Axon Kicker is next," drawled Panik.

Jason was openly scowling by the time the armored man charged helplessly towards Lucius, in the blind hope he would succeed where Clevonce failed. But Lucius stabbed him directly through the chest as if he were some sort of irritation, splattering the field with body fluids and sending shrapnels of metal flying in all directions.

(Panik: 6100, Jason: 2650)

"As for Horus, I will have him attack Desrook Archfiend."

Once again, Horus spat out a sphere of black energy towards the skull. As it neared, Panik spoke again.

"Then I activate my second trap card, Zero Gravity! This forces all monsters in play to change their battle positions, meaning the power of your Horus was just nullified!"

The sphere vanished, and Horus folded its wings around itself. Lucius raised his blade and kept one end flat against his palm.

"You have no choice but to end your turn!" declared Panik. "And since Horus has only twenty-five hundred defense points, I can easily destroy it with Lucius, and, if I draw a monster with at least sixteen hundred attack points, attack you directly and end this duel!"

Jason, as usual, did not seem worried at all. "I set a card and end my turn." The third speck vanished.

Panik drew aggressively. "This is the end for you, fool! I summon Terrorking Archfiend (2000/1500) in attack mode!"

A tall, regal figure emerged from the darkness. He wore bone-armor, and the skin uncovered by it looked like rotting flesh. Two, large, bony wings remained folded behind his back, just higher than his white helmet. His eyes were blood-red, and in both hands he held a long, spiked, bone sword. It was difficult to tell whether he or Lucius was the more dominant one.

"Now, I switch Lucius and Desrook Archfiend to attack mode. Lucius attacks Horus to clear your field for my win!"

The giant fiend charged across the field, raising his blade in the process. Jason spoke grimly.

"Command Silencer activates. I can negate one of your attacks, and in exchange, draw one card."

A large totem pole materialized on his field. It sent out a wave of sonic energy, stopping Lucius in his tracks.

Panik grunted. "Merely an annoyance. I end my turn." The final speck of light vanished, and the one in the middle began to expand again.

"Mwuhahahaha! Chaos Wormhole will now activate, dealing the both of us fifteen hundred points of damage!"

Jason spared a glance for Daniel and Carla, who was still whimpering in terror. He then looked back at Panik.

"I cannot allow that. I activate the quick-play magic card, Shock Absorber, which will convert any life-point damage that I would take this turn to life-point gain."

Panik's eyes widened as the vortex reappeared. A black sphere exited it and slammed into his middle, while Jason simply stood stock-straight as a silver mist wafted towards him, empowering him.

(Panik: 4600, Jason: 4150)

"We are more on even terms now," warned Jason, as he drew. "I activate Pot of Avarice. This allows me to send five monsters in my graveyard back to my deck, and draw two cards in exchange. I choose Psychic Commander, Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV4, LV6, Clevonce, and Armored Axon Kicker."

He looked over the two new cards he had drawn. "I activate the magic card, Psychic Storm. By removing any number Psychic monsters in my deck from play, I can destroy an equal number of magic or trap cards on your field. I only need to remove one, in order to destroy Skill Drain."

The translucent form that was Jason's Armored Axon Kicker materialized into play. It split into a cloud of golden gas, which swept over Panik's field, shattering the powerful continuous trap, and finally freeing up all monsters.

Panik grunted in dismay. Another big help provided by Skill Drain was that it prevented him from having to pay life-points for his Archfiends.

"Then I activate Emergency Teleport, in order to special summon a level three or lower Psychic type monster from my deck. I choose to call upon Teleki-Attacker (1700/700), who allows me to draw two cards when he is the only Psychic monster on the field, and I have no cards in my hand."

Surges of thunder scorched the ground, as a human-shaped being wearing a white, spherical helmet walked forward. It held its hands out, absorbing the lightning energies with its brown gloves, containing white, metallic finger slots. The being wore a faded-pink top, with a golden design of a thunderbolt on the front. Black pants went all the way down its skinny legs, and black boots with red straps on them covered its feet.

A dark, grim look graced Jason's face.

"I sacrifice Teleki-Attacker to use my normal summon for the turn: come, Overdrive Teleporter (2100/1200)."

As the Attacker vanished, an insane man in a blue trench-coat took his place. His hair was a bizarre purple, while golden designs were visible all over his clothes. His eyes were covered by a visor, while his entire body seemed to crackle wildly with electricity.

"This does not help you much," growled Panik.

Jason ignored him. "I pay two thousand life-points to activate Overdrive Teleporter's effect: I can now special summon two level three Psychic monsters from my deck."

He scowled slightly and shifted in discomfort as his life-point meter fell.

(Panik: 4600, Jason: 2150)

A rusted, golden-plated machine now rose to the field. It had wide, bulb-like, red eyes, with black centers; above the forehead was a half-transparent, dark-violet container, the being's brain visible inside of it. Two lightning-attracting bulbs were stationed on the sides of the horizontal, cylinder-shaped head. Two massive hands extended from the sides of the being's head, each containing a hexagon-shaped, light-violet diamond embedded at the centers of the palms (0/2200).

Next to it, a saucer-shaped formation made its presence known, designed with chrome metal and small antenna-like towers revolving around the base. Out of the top-center hatch emerged a green-army-dressed individual, with white gloves on its hands, and a black visor over its head. Four, glaring, red eyes could be seen from the visor. At the front of the saucer, a long, dark-metal cannon with a green barrel deployed (1400/800).

"I will use this effect to summon Mental Protector, in defense mode, and Psycho Commander."

"What next?" growled Panik. "Both are weak."

"Alone, perhaps," retorted Jason. "But once I'm finished, you will face the true power of the Psychics, one that will make you wish you never challenged me in the first place. I tune Psycho Commander with Overdrive Teleporter to call upon the most powerful Psychic monster ever created, the level nine Hyper Psychic Blaster (3000/2500)!"

Forming a pair of spheres, the two creatures began swirling together till finally the met one another and caused a brilliant white light to form onto the field. Stepping out of the light was a silver armored creature with a single teal colored electric eye and a striped line of teal running along its body.

On the creature's back was a pair of wings that were metallic and folded up. In each of the gray creature's hands was a blaster, with one being black in its right hand while the left one was gray. Both had wires hanging off of them that led back to the creature's waist and plugged into its body.

"Impressive monster," mused Panik.

"You have no idea," snarled Jason, showing some emotion for the first time in the duel. "Now, Horus will destroy your Dark Lucius LV8 once and for all!"

Roaring loudly, the dragon released a stream of black flames, which instantly engulfed the weaker demon. Lucius could put up no fight this time at all, and he was quickly burned up, leaving no traces of its existence.

(Panik: 4400, Jason: 2150)

"Now, it's Hyper Psychic Blaster's turn. I target Terrorking Archfiend."

Taking aim, the silver warrior fired both blasters, causing a teal colored beam to erupt from both barrels. The beams slammed into the zombie-like demon, vaporizing him almost instantly. They continued on and blasted Panik off his feet. The sound of his huge body hitting the ground was drowned out by the explosion caused as the beams continued forward and blew off one section of a mountain.

(Panik: 3400, Jason: 2150)

"Only your Desrook Archfiend remains," pointed out Jason. "So much for your army…."

He set his final card facedown. "My turn ends here."

Panik drew heavily, and grunted in pain. "Desrook Archfiend forces me to pay five hundred life-points per turn."

(Panik: 2900, Jason: 2150)

"I will switch Desrook Archfiend to defense mode, and set one monster facedown in defense mode. Then I place one card facedown and end my turn. I end my turn."

Jason drew. "I play Card of Demise. This allows me to draw five cards, but I must then discard my hand in five turns."

He looked over his fresh hand. "I sacrifice Mental Protector to summon Armed Dragon LV5 (2400/1700)."

Vanishing quickly, the Psychic monster was replaced instantly with a large dull grey armored dragon with orange skin. It had several large spikes sticking from its body, a pair of small drills sticking from its knees and elbows, powerful clawed fists, short stubby wings, and finally a strong mace shaped ball on its tail.

"I am not, however, finished," continued the Eagle duelist coldly.

"I play Level Up, sending Armed Dragon LV5 to the graveyard to special summon Armed Dragon LV7 (2800/1000) from my deck."

Glowing brightly, the orange and grey dragon vanished, causing a plume of smoke to rise up. From the smoke came a loud roar, followed by a bright glow. Soon enough, powerful clawed hands came out of the smoke, followed by metallic wings, a long tail with a cylindrical like mace on the tip, strong legs with drills sticking from it's legs, and finally followed by a strong head covered in semi-shiny metal armor that protected orange skin.

Panik had a sour scowl on his face, which only grew as Jason continued. "Finally, I sacrifice LV7 to summon Armed Dragon LV10 (3000/2000) from my deck: the most powerful Armed Dragon available to me."

His Armed Dragon LV7's rotator discs began to activate, spinning about and looking as though they could be unleashed at any time. The discs exploded, draping themselves over the now-massive dragon as protective armor, with metal spikes sticking out of its back. It now had long, thick, muscular red legs as well.

"Impressive…" muttered Panik. "All of your monsters have three thousand attack points."

"It is time for you to fall," said Jason coldly, pointing at Desrook Archfiend. "Armed Dragon LV10 attacks."

Stepping forward, the dragon pulled back its right arm and formed a sphere of red energy within it. Closing its fist around the sphere, the dragon moved forward another step and thrust all its power into the claw, before opening it wide to release the crimson, almost blood-like ball of energy. It let trails of fire lose as it slammed into the skull-like creature, frying it almost immediatley. Within seconds, only ashes remained.

"Then Hyper Psychic Blaster targets your facedown monster."

Taking aim, the silver warrior fired both blasters, causing a teal colored beam to erupt from both barrels. The beams slammed into the card, flipping it up to reveal a sandy-colored tortoise with a giant pyramid on its shell, and a diamond embedded in its head. It screeched softly before it was consumed by the waves of energy sent out by Jason's powerful Psychic monster, and completely destroyed.

"Mwuahahaha!" roared Panik. "You destroyed Pyramid Turtle (1200/1400), which allows me to special summon another a zombie monster from my deck with two thousand or less defense points. I choose another Pyramid Turtle!"

An amphibious creature that was identical to its predecessor appeared in its place.

Jason did not even take notice of it, but pointed to Hyper Psychic Blaster instead. "Hyper Psychic Blaster deals Piercing damage. If it does so, I gain an equal amount of life-points."

Panik felt a deep pain in his side, and he was forced down onto one knee, gripping his gut in agony.

(Panik: 1300, Jason: 3750)

"Finally, Horus will target your second Pyramid Turtle."

The gargantuan dragon spread its wings and took off into the air. It let out a roar, and in the process, coal-black flames began to form in its mouth once more. It let the wave lose, and the wide range of energy spread across Panik's field, incinerating the only monster that remained on it.

Panik grinned broadly against the dull pain that still remained from having taken Piercing damage by Hyper Psychic Blaster's effect. "I choose to special summon Vampire Lord (2000/1500) from my deck in attack mode!"

A caped man with blue hair, dressed in a sinister tuxedo, and with bats that were shining with electricity on their bodies from within his cape. He then threw his arms out and raised his cape up, and revealed bat-like wings growing form behind his shoulders.

Jason looked at the sinister, chuckling man with narrowed eyes. It was a card he had never particularly liked.

"I end my turn."

Panik drew, and continued looking at Vampire Lord. "Vampire Lord is the true master of the darkness…. And therefore, he is the center piece of what my Darkness deck revolves around. I two cards facedown. It is your move."

Jason drew. He had the definite advantage and he knew it. Even the spectators could tell that Panik was sorely outmatched. He possessed his Armed Dragon LV10, Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV8 and Hyper Psychic Blaster, each with three thousand attack points, not to mention his four card hand. On the other hand, Panik had his Vampire Lord, and three facedown cards.

"The real duel is about to begin," hissed Panik as Jason pondered his move momentarily.

"Actually…. It is about to end," shot back Jason. He pointed towards the Vampire Lord.

"Armed Dragon LV10, destroy it now!"

Once more stepping forward, the dragon released a sphere of blood-red energy from its paw. The cackling vampire spread his arms out and watched in glee as it sped towards him. Just as it was about to hit, a swarm of bats erupted around him engulfing the that area of the field in complete darkness. Within seconds, the sphere had dissipated, and the bats then turned on the dragon, inflicting innumerable scratches and wounds upon it.

Jason raised an eyebrow. "I believe an explanation is necessary."

"I activated Undead Repulsion! This will negate an attack directed to a level five or higher zombie monster and subtract an amount from the attacking monster's attack points equal to Vampire Lord's level multiplied by three hundred."

The Armed Dragon LV10 (1500/2000) let out a small groan.

Jason frowned. "If that is the case…. Very well. Horus will complete the task started by Armed Dragon."

The towering dragon unleashed another wave of flames towards the vampire, who cackled once more.

"I activate Children of the Night!" roared Panik. "This allows me to special summon one level four or lower zombie-type monster from my deck in defense mode and make it the target of your attack! Zombie Werewolf (1200/1200)!"

A distant howl could be heard from the distance. Coming bounding into the cave from one of its deeper crevices was a bipedal, ragged wolf, with scraggly gray fur and a pair of green trousers. Its claws were each well over five inches long, while its eyes shown a deep yellow. It leapt into the path of Horus' flames, and was incinerated immediatley.

"When Zombie Werewolf is destroyed, I may special summon another from my deck, with five hundred more attack points!"

Another werewolf materialized into play (1700/1200), growling at its opponents. Jason did not react, even though he noticed this one was in attack mode. He could finish the duel right then and there by attacking with his Hyper Psychic Blaster.

"_There must be something more to his move…. He could have chosen not to summon another Werewolf at all, and survived with three hundred life-points if I had destroyed Vampire Lord._"

He stared down at Panik's facedown card. "_I can be certain that his facedown card has something to do with this._ _If he wanted to use it to destroy one of my monsters, he would have been intelligent to choose Horus, as it is undoubtedly the biggest threat of all three. It cannot be monster removal, for he would have already used it. Could it negate my attack, perhaps? That is possible, considering he would then be left with two monsters on his field, and something to build on. But he still has no cards in his hand. Therefore, his primary concern would be to expand his resources. Not attacking would prevent him from doing so, but it would also give him the opportunity to stall further. It would be dangerous to do nothing about whatever he has left on his field. Therefore, it necessarily makes most sense to attack now_."

"Hyper Psychic Blaster, attack his Zombie Werewolf and end this duel."

The tall monster unleashed a pair of teal columns of energy once more. Panik kept his face prone for as long as possible, but was unable to prevent a grin from breaking out.

"I activate my final trap card, Tribute Maneuver! I may sacrifice one zombie-type monster on my field in order to draw one card for every two of its level stars!"

Just as the blasts were about to hit, the wolf vanished, and the blasts struck the ground right next to Panik's feet, leaving a scorch mark. But his life-points were still untouched.

"_I was correct_," thought Jason. "_He will have three cards to use next turn after his draw phase, not to mention Vampire Lord._"

"So, there is nothing left for you to do now!" boomed Panik. "Do what you can now in your pathetic turn, and let me end this duel."

"Very well," replied Jason calmly. "I set one card facedown and end my turn then."

Panik drew, and began breaking out into deep, insane laughter. Carla squealed in terror and once more buried her face in Daniel's shoulder, while Jason looked on impassively.

"This is what I've been planning to do throughout the entire duel, Jason! You are well and truly finished! First, I will play Book of Life, which allows me to special summon one zombie-type monster from my graveyard and remove one monster in your graveyard from play at the same time! I will return Zombie Werewolf (1200/1200) and remove your primary Tuner, Clevonce (1200/400)!"

The howling werewolf erupted from the ground next to the Vampire Lord, writhing and snarling at the trio on Jason's field.

"Short of destroying Armed Dragon LV10 with Vampire Lord, you still hold no kind of advantage," replied Jason coolly.

"Very soon, I will hold the advantage of a body, while you will not!" roared Panik. "Then I normal summon Vampire Bat (800/800) in attack mode!"

A supersonic howl was heard from the darkness, and an undead version of the world's only flying mammal appeared from the darkness. Its wingspan was far greater than that of a normal bat, almost three feet wide. Its head was long, with rotting crimson flesh visible on a number of places underneath bone-colored skin.

"_What's Panik playing it_?" wondered Daniel silently. "_He's pitting Vampire Lord and two of the weakest zombie monsters ever against Jason's powerful trio. I don't get this…._"

"This ends now!" announced Panik, flipping his final card around. "Polymerization, activate!"

For the first time during the duel, Jason looked dumbfounded. "Poly…. Polymerization?!"

Each of the three monsters was struck by black lightning. The cave around them began to collapse as a cloud of darkness consumed the area. The sky was visible once more, but it was pitch-black, lit up only by the full moon, perched up too high among the clouds to make any real difference. The ground around them began to crack, and Carla's shrieks cut through the air like knives through butter.

"No, no, it's coming!" she screamed, beating against Daniel's chest in an attempt to run.

"What are you talking about?" he shouted as he tried to hold her. But the unbelievable horror in her voice did not lie. This was the beast that had caused the unthinkable slaughter that they had witnessed.

Panik had a look of reverence on his face that one could never have expected. "Lord of Nightmares…. King of Blood…."

Slivers of darkness were rushing in from all directions, and merging together to form a humanoid form.

"Rise from your slumber… And bring death to my foes…."

The beast had taken shape now, and was keeled over, covered in darkness. Slowly, it straightened up, revealing a hefty beast, over seven feet tall, with pale white skin. It was dressed in a heavy black cloak, and its eyes were a cold crimson. The nose was thin and almost unnoticeable over the cruel mouth, in which rows upon rows of razor sharp teeth were exposed when the creature smiled its cruel smile. It spider like-hands remained lose by its sides, while its pointed ears remained pricked, like those of a dog.

Jason was speechless.

"I summon thee, Dracula, the Immortal Vampire (3000/3000)!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Siegfried and Sylar continued to stare each other down, while the prone form of Joey Wheeler lay next to them, infected with so much venom that the only thing keeping him alive was the power of Siegfried's Shadow Game.

While Sylar had Cyber Venom – Overlord of the Land and Sea (2600/2400), which would gain two hundred attack points whenever it destroyed a monster, along with a facedown card, Sylar had Prime Material Dragon (2400/2000) in defense mode, and also a facedown card.

Sylar drew calmly. "Come, Cyber Venom – Neo Lizard Soldier (1800/1500)."

(Siegfried: 1900, Sylar: 5000)

A slightly humanoid monster appeared beside the gigantic lizard. However, it was covered from head to toe with shining, stainless steel spikes scales. Its chest seemed even more reinforced, with spinning buzzsaws on its shoulders, and a pair of glowing energy claws on its hands.

"This particular monster lacks an effect, but I am sure it will do just fine to send you to the Abyss. First, however, Overlord of the Land and Sea attacks Prime Material Dragon."

The mechanized lizard screeched and opened its mouth as the saws on either side began to whir at a ridiculously high frequency. Its razor sharp teeth glinted momentarily, before finally a wave of black energy erupted out in the direction of the unfortunate dragon, and incinerated it completely, reducing it to ashes in a matter of seconds.

"Cyber Venom – Neo Lizard Solider attacks you directly."

The bipedal reptile's shoulder chainsaws began to turn quickly. It was pacing about frantically prior to this, but then it charged across the field like it was being pursued by Obelisk the Tormentor himself. Siegfried braced himself, but the pain as the creature just slammed right into him was unbelievable. The saws ripped through the expensive material of his shirt, leaving large wounds on his shoulders. He roared in pain and anger, and was just able to free himself by kicking the beast in its chest with all his demonic strength.

(Siegfried: 100, Sylar: 5000)

"You have on hundred life-points left now, demon," continued Sylar darkly. "It would be wise of you to surrender."

Siegfried was down on one knee, panting hard. But the moment he heard Sylar's words, he looked up sharply, a piercing glare visible in his eyes.

"I will _never_ surrender to the likes of you," he spat, staggering upwards, and trying to ignore the searing agony through his wounds.

Sylar fixed him with an emotionless look. "I place a facedown card. Then my turn ends."

Siegfried looked down at his deck. If he didn't draw Blade Knight, the duel would end right then and there. Neo-Yormungarde's effect would deal him four hundred points of damage and end the duel. He couldn't remember the last time he had been in this kind of situation…. And frankly, he wished it had never come down to this.

Frowning, he finally drew. He didn't look at the card at first, and considered his options. Even if he _did_ draw Blade Knight, he was in for trouble anyway, considering he had one hundred life-points remaining. If he didn't, it would simply end right then and there. In a way, not too much was hinging on this draw, because while his stubborn determination drove him on, regardless of the circumstances, logic stated his chances had nearly been exhausted. Sure, he could make a few smart plays and last a few more turns, but other than miracle draws; he was only delaying the inevitable. However, he refused to let himself believe that.

They looked back at each other for a moment, before Siegfried flipped the card around. It was Blade Knight (1600/1000).

Sylar snarled in disgust. "That was one of the most pathetic things I have ever seen! Like the fool that you are, you let your life depend on simple luck, and pulled through because of it! But those you allow fortune to determine their paths can never prosper. You may have drawn the card to intermit the end of your life for a few more minutes, but your end is approaching regardless. I have reached the point where I understand how true this is: the individual who allows his own destiny to slip from his fingers for even one second is allowing is walking into the jaws of death, allowing the predators to swoop in and pick him apart."

Siegfried looked him in the eye, and spoke in a soft, cold voice.

"Your words mean nothing. Make all the speeches you wish, if you are unable to back them up with your cards, they mean nothing. I back up my words with not only the moves I make, but also the sweat on my brow, the steel of my will, and the blood in my veins. I will die before allowing you to continue with your demented plans, Horseman."

"Very well then, demon," growled back Sylar. "Let us see whose will is stronger."

"Indeed," replied Siegfried as he placed a card calmly on his Duel Disk. "Pot of Greed." His eyes widened at the cards he had drawn.

Then he spoke once more. "Blade Knight (1600/1000), rise up now!"

A metallic-blue-armored warrior with a curved and thick sword rose onto the field. He wore a protective, knight-like helmet with a diamond-shaped and closed visor. He had blue, double-layered shoulder pads, and his black-gloved hands grasped his almost glowing sword, and a gray and black shield. The sword had a red handle, with a green and circular gemstone embedded at the center of it. The warrior had diamond-shaped, blue, metal kneepads, and black velvet-like pants, leading to his blue-colored and metal boots.

Sylar simply watched the new monster silently, as it sized up the Emperor of Land and Sea and Neo Lizard Soldier.

"Then, I activate a card which will signal the end of your conquest today, Horseman. Legendary Weapon – Thunder Claws!"

There was an eruption of light over Siegfried's field in the blackness of the generator room. For the first time, Sylar seemed rather out of his depth by the new development. Lightning was crackling so violently across the ground that it seemed as if it was going so split beneath them and send the pair into the void below. However, it all began to coalesce towards the Blade Knight's hands, which were also vibrating at an insane frequency. A pair of glowing gloves had formed on them, with long, electrical claws on each finger as well.

"Legendary… Weapon?" muttered Sylar.

Siegfried nodded. "Each of the Demon Lords holds a unique weapon from ancient times. They have incomparable power, and have also been made into cards. Thunder Claws boosts the attack points of my monster by three thousand, meaning it's more then enough to exterminate either one of your monsters."

The Blade Knight (4600/1000) looked back across the field at the duo mechanical reptiles. Sylar frowned. Evidently he had not factored that Siegfried could possess a card of such epic power.

"Blade Knight…. Attack his Overlord."

The knight raised his sword, and a huge pulse of electricity shot into it from his claws. Soon, the entire sword was crackling with small sparks of lightning. It tensed its leg muscles, and shot off across the field. The Overlord roared in reply, and was about so spit out a wave of energy back at it, but the knight reached first, slashing his blade in an arc, with the reptile's head in its path. Normally, the sword would have been stopped in its tracks by the metallic plates, but due to the enhanced power provided by the Legendary Weapon, the mechanical beast's head rolled to the side as its attacker landed in a crouch behind it. Then, its body exploded.

(Siegfried: 100, Sylar: 3200)

The Third Horseman was momentarily speechless. He had truly not expected this to occur.

"There's a lot more where that came from," snapped Siegfried as the Blade Knight returned to his field and sheathed its blade.

"I set one card and end my turn."

Sylar seemed to have regained his cool, expressionless exterior. He drew calmly, and looked Siegfried in the eye.

"You are going to die, demon."

"Why are you doing this?" pressed his opponent, a look of frustrated exhaustion creeping into his features. "What could they have possibly done to you that you are willing to go to such lengths to punish these individuals?!"

Sylar paused, and considered carefully. "Perhaps you may understand…. The others are humans, meaning they are a part of a pathetic, weak and selfish race. You, on the other hand, are a demon. You can look at humanity from an angle that others cannot…. Indeed, you may be able to grasp my purpose here."

Siegfried was stopped in his tracks there.

Sylar continued. "I am no longer human myself. I am a shadow, a specter having returned under the will of Apocalypse. I have a physical form, yes, but that is the only thing human about me. The one thing that drives me is revenge. It brings me as close to truly living as I possibly can after having died once already. Forcing the soul of another into one's body is a dangerous process, and it left me scarred, possibly as close to the suffering I experienced here in my days of being a human as possible. Without my purpose, even this imitation of life would be worthless. Vengeance is what drives me; it is what generates the energy within my heart to pump blood throughout this body. Perhaps you may understand, as a demon, you seem almost as detached from humanity as I am.

"Even so, I can understand how you think. You, as well as the other demons, still wish this fate on another. You see the power you hold as a cruel aberration of nature, you resent it, you hate it, and yet you use it. You would still give it all up to live a 'normal' life. That is what makes you truly foolish."

Siegfried snarled in anger.

"You cannot hope to possibly understand me!"

"But I do," taunted Sylar, watching the growing anger on his opponent's face with a sense of cold sadism. "I do, demon, more than you could possibly understand. Because we are both the same. Neither of us are humans, and neither of us can ever be treated like them. They are a cruel, selfish, and frightened race, and hate all that they cannot understand. They may be embracing you for your power at the moment, but one day, they will turn you out like a dog and hunt you down so that you will be unable to use your power against them."

"I am not like you!!" roared Siegfried, stamping his foot on the ground. His eyes blazed red.

"Deny it all you wish!" shouted back Sylar. "But you know it is true. Look at them: they can't even protect members of their own race. In my previous life, I was an innocent young man called Tristan Taylor. I sacrificed my life in an attempt to save one of my supposed allies from the God of Death, Anubis. And what happened to me? Anubis incinerated my mortal body in front of the Pharaoh and his allies, and they simply watched as if it didn't matter to them. They mourned me momentarily, and forgot all about it, as if I had never existed. If it is possible for humans to be so disloyal to their own kind, how do you think they would treat an outcast such as yourself? Demonkind have forever been forced to live like savages, and have been treated like the scum and parasites of society. How can a race such as humans be allowed to continue dominating our existence, enforcing their will on other races, when at the same time they cannot even co-operate among themselves? That is why I have embraced my role as an agent of Apocalypse, for only through the utter destruction of mankind can such evil ever be stopped."

"You are a fool!" spat Siegfried. "Do you truly believe you can justify the destruction of uncounted trillions of life-forms across the Universe by the crimes of a tiny percentage of humans on this planet?"

"I am not required to justify myself to anyone!" screamed Sylar. "You are a fool, a member of a race of savages who cannot even grasp the suffering his own kind are being forced to undergo. If you persist in your stand to defend humans even under the circumstances, the only punishment suitable for such foolishness is death! And I will be the excecutioner…."

"If that is your aim…" muttered Siegfried. "You will have to get past my Blade Knight."

"And I shall," retorted the Horseman, "by playing Card of Sanctity."

Both players immediatley drew till they held six cards. Sylar had a grim look on his face.

"Perhaps I was mistaken. I am not your executioner… Rather, that role belongs to a monster I am going to call upon. I play Reptilian Proliferation."

The Neo Lizard Soldier on his field began to glow, and transformed into a ball of energy. This one was split down the middle into two, which immediatley transformed into two smaller versions of the reptilian warrior (900/0) (x2).

"By sacrificing one level four or lower reptile monster in play, I may then special summon two tokens of the same name onto my field, with half the attack points of the original and zero defense points. These monsters will have no effect, but I do not need them to. My purpose is to use them as sacrifices for a greater being…."

The two monsters melted into a pool of crimson liquid which slowly spread across Sylar's entire field. It began to bubble.

"Rise, Vennominon the King of Poisonous Snakes (0/0)!"

Slowly, rising up from the liquid while it ran down his body was a creature with a golden helmet shaped like a snake with a face that had a green mask that covered all but his mouth. On his shoulders was a green set of robes that looked like a snakes head. On each shoulder was a golden snake facing one another, and a dark pink cape draped down his back. His arms and hands were made up of numerous snakes, each hissing loudly. Below his waist, a black robe stood open, revealing a green snake tail with a white underbelly. The creature let out a small snicker, as if mocking the monsters on the field.

"Zero attack points?!"

"Vennominon gains five hundred attack points for every reptile-type monster in my graveyard. I possess six."

The monarch of reptiles (3000/0) roared at the knight that stood opposite him. It was still, however, a whole lot weaker.

Before Siegfried could point this out, Sylar continued. "Then I activate the field magic card, Cyber Venom Power Plant."

There was a flash of light, and the dark generator room around them vanished. They were now surrounded by a tropical rainforest, at least what remained of it. A few leafy trees were left standing, but the wood was rotten and the vegetation looked half-dead. Most of the space was taken up by huge, iron factories, with towering chimneys erupting out into the sky from various points. Noxious black gases were spouting out from them, and a line of creatures was visible going into the doors of one of the factories. Looking closer, Siegfried recognized them as monsters from the game: specifically, reptiles from the game. Armored Lizard, Overlord of the Land and Sea, Yormungarde…. All of them were visible. They looked depressed and distant. The mechanical guards that stood along the line at various points had little to do.

To the far side of the plant was a tall, futuristic, corporate building. It had the characters 'CV' emblazoned across its front.

"In this world, all reptile or machine monsters gain five hundred attack points, and all reptiles are treated as machines and vice-versa."

"I fail to see how that helps you," said Siegfried wearily. "Your King (3500/0) is still nine hundred points short."

"Actually, it is twenty-four hundred attack points stronger than necessary," replied Sylar coldly. "Limiter Removal, activate."

Siegfried gasped as Vennominon (7000/0) let out a loud roar.

"Your Blade Knight dies," whispered Sylar.

Vennominon raised his hands, and the orange snakes visible on them hissed before opening their jaws and letting lose a spray of orange acid together. A storm of the corrosive liquid erupted towards the Blade Knight. It seemed like it was going to end right then and there, when Siegfried reacted by pressing a button on his Duel Disk.

"I activate Draining Shield, which will negate your attack and add an amount to my life-points equal to your monster's attack points!"

A wave of golden energy swept over his field, allowing the orange acid to splash harmlessly against it. Energy flowed into Siegfried's body, empowering him, giving him confidence, and increasing his life-points beyond Sylar's for the first time in the duel.

(Siegfried: 7100, Sylar: 3200)

Sylar did not comment. He placed one card facedown, and nodded, indicating the end of his turn.

Siegfried looked triumphantly at his opponent. "That was a foolhardy move. Now, Limiter Removal will destroy Vennominon, ensuring that Blade Knight's path to your life-points will be unobstructed."

As he spoke, the king of snakes let out a pained roar, and exploded. The liquid still on Sylar's field caught fire, sending his entire field into a blaze of sickly yellow flames. Sylar's eyes seemed to take on a similar color.

"I told you…. Your name was written in the Book of the Dead when you accepted this duel… You can choose not to believe me, but you were living on borrowed time, and I am here to collect that debt. Activate, Rise of the Snake Deity!"

Slowly rising up out of the crimson liquid upon this declaration was a female monster with cobalt blue snakes for hair, a golden head piece with a green emerald in it on her forehead, two glowing red eyes with no mouth visible, a large golden necklace around her neck with a green emerald hanging off of it, two red spots covering her breasts completely, twin twisted thick cobalt blue snake arms with red eyes and large fangs, and a long cobalt blue tail with a yellow underbelly. The flames caused her sillhouetes to cast a long shadow across the entire area.

"This is Vennominaga, the Deity of Poisonous Snakes (0/0). She is summoned from my deck by the effect of Rise of the Snake Deity when Vennominon is destroyed."

"Zero again…" breathed Siegfried.

"Her first effect is identical to Vennominon. She gains five hundred attack points for every reptile in my graveyard, and will be boosted an additional five hundred due to Cyber Venom Power Plant."

The god of reptiles (4000/0) hissed at Blade Knight, who was now barely stronger than her.

"I fail to see where you are going with this," muttered Siegfried. "But I assure you, it will not work. Blade Knight is still by far the stronger monster, and that will remain so. In fact, I now summon Vorse Raider (1900/1200) in attack mode."

A thick, tan, and bulky beast erupted onto the field, wielding a dark-chrome and pointed axe. It had vicious, yellow teeth, and equally disturbing, red eyes. Its war helmet barely contained the large, white horns on its head's tip.

"Now, by the effect of Legendary Weapon – Thunder Claws, I may sacrifice one monster in play and add its attack points to Blade Knight. I will do just that, sending Vorse Raider to the graveyard in order to send Blade Knight to levels of power few have even dreamed of."

The beast-warrior vanished into a sphere of energy, which floated towards the knight's chest. He raised his sword once more in triumph as his entire body began to crackle with energy (6500/1000).

"You have committed crimes that cannot be forgiven. For that, I am forced to put an end to your madness," snarled Siegfried. "And Blade Knight will take me as close to doing that as possible! Attack his Deity with Thunder Claws!"

Once more, the knight drew its blade and leapt into the air, going straight for Vennominaga. This time, however, it was Sylar's turn to react at unbelievable speed.

"Activate, Offerings to the Executioner. By paying life-points in multiples of one thousand, I may increase the attack points of one monster on your field by the same amount. However, it may not attack during the current battle phase. I pay three thousand in order to grant your Blade Knight that many more attack points."

Just as the knight was about to land on Vennominaga and drive his sword into her head, he struck a barrier of invisible energy. His sword bounced off it like a toothpick of a sheet of metal, and he was thrown back to Siegfried's field (9500/1000).

Siegfried's eyes widened. "Why would you ever do something like that? You just made my Blade Knight invincible."

Sylar ignored him.

Siegfried frowned. "I end my turn."

The Third Horseman of Apocalypse drew calmly. "The duel is over. Your fate is sealed."

"You will have to more than double your monster's attack points to back up that statement," fired back Siegfried, "so I'm not really worried."

Sylar slid a card into the magic/trap card zone of his Duel Disk. "I activate the magic card Cyber Venom Infiltration. First, I must select one reptile or machine monster, and one monster on your field. If your monster's attack points are higher than mine, then mine will be allowed one additional attack every turn for every thousand attack points by which your monster is stronger than it."

Siegfried ran the calculation through his head. "That will give Vennominaga six attacks this turn."

"Indeed," said Sylar in his monotone. "I equip Vennominaga with Bliss of Silence. Now, she will be able to attack you directly, but the battle damage dealt will be reduced to one thousand."

"Six attacks…." Siegfried's eyes widened. He would be dealt six thousand points of damage. Enough to survive, but it would be painful.

"Every time Vennominaga deals you battle damage, she gains one Hyper Venom counter. When she has three, I win the duel."

Siegfried froze, and his breathing began to slow. "_It's over, then_."

"Vennominaga, attack him directly." The snake deity raised her arms, and the snakes on each arm began to charge up orange energy in their mouths.

Siegfried bowed his head. "_I am sorry, Joseph. I failed_."

Simultaneously, the two snakes released a wave of orange flames. It spewed over his field, consuming it. Even though the Blade Knight's armor kept him unharmed, Siegfried could be seen collapsing to his knees within the fire. But it continued, one more time. Siegfried could hardly breathe, let alone think or speak. When the final burst of flames came, he hit the floor, prone.

(Siegfried: 0, Sylar: 3200)

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Ah well, hope you enjoyed it. I'm really sleepy, so there's not much else to say. Hope to see all you guys again soon!**

**Oh, yeah. I just want to say that this chapter is dedicated to the victims of 9/11. It's been eight years, and even though the State Department of the US has not brought the perpetrators to justice, and most people have forgotten about it, my heart goes out to the victims and their families. I do believe that as a country, the US has come through it spectacularly and gone back to life as normal. God Bless America. God Bless us all.**


	27. Echo Burning

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX: Echo Burning

**Well, here I am. Enjoy this one.**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: I'm glad to hear that, my friend. Hope to hear from you soon!**

**Starlight AT: Well, if you want Sylar dead, try and kill him, lol. As I'm sure you've gathered, that will **_**not**_** be easy.**

**KageNoNeko: Quite possibly, he has one of the most powerful decks I have ever created. I've barely scratched the surface with these few duels, you'll be speechless when you see what he's really capable of.**

**Candyman123: It may happen eventually. Until then, Sylar is King ********.**

**Da Baddest: Now, you can stop waiting!**

**BEWK: Haha, that would be telling wouldn't it? Enjoy this chapter, man.**

Seto Kaiba stood grimly in line for the London Eye in the dim London sunshine. The weather was hazy and foggy, and the weathermen were not ruling out the possibility of rain, which worsened his already bad mood. He held a briefcase in one hand, which contained his Duel Disk, and deck.

He had left Kyle and James at his flat, located on the outskirts of the city. He had handed the Swiss man the check he had promised after they had completed the ride to the airport and then the flight to London, and sent him on his way. The three trusted guards at the flat were employees of Kaiba Corp. and worked around the clock. It was more than enough security.

He had then turned his attention to the matters at hand, travelling to the London Eye and doing a quick recon of the area. It was as public as it got, and there was no way Schweinstigger would be foolish enough to try anything there. Even so, he had contacted an old acquaintance in London, whose company had nearly been subject to a hostile takeover by Gozaburo Kaiba. Once he had taken over the company, Seto had put an immediate end to these activities, and had earned more then a favor or two from this individual. Thanks to his connections, three former SAS men were located at various strategic points in the immediate vicinity, armed and dangerous.

He looked impatiently at his watch. Six fifty eight p.m. There was no sign of Schweinstigger anywhere. A mysterious message had appeared for him at the concierge of the hotel he had spent the previous night in just a few blocks away, which read 'Proceed normally regardless of circumstances. Follow these instructions to the letter.'

Did it mean that he should board one of the thirty-two passenger capsules, even if Schweinstigger was not there? Or was the German expecting someone to rain on their party, and had already arranged for protection? It was madness. Kaiba could not even begin to understand why he had agreed to the meeting.

As he stepped up towards the front of the line, he heard Big Ben strike seven p.m. not to far away. He suppressed a frown. Where was this going? He looked around him once more. The crowd was relatively sparse, due to the time as well as the gloomy weather. There was only an aging Chinese couple, and a tall, blonde woman, along with himself and the man who checked tickets. It seemed to be the last ride of the day.

He snarled to himself and got into the capsule. He didn't know what Schweinstigger was trying, but the SAS men were sure to prevent anything violent. The message had been specific: it was evident the German would have some other way of communicating with him.

The ticket-checker shut the gate and got on as well. It seemed he was allowed a free ride at the end of the day as a part of his boring job. While the girl and the Chinese couple began to squeal in delight as the wheel began to turn, Kaiba's frown grew larger and he kept looking at his watch.

"Worried?" sounded a voice next to him. Kaiba looked up, startled, expecting to see the ticket-checker. Instead, he was greeted by the sarcastic features of Klaus Schweinstigger, who looked rather out-of-place in the cheap, checked shirt and jeans rather than his normal, anonymous black suit.

"What the hell are you playing at?" snapped Kaiba angrily.

Schweinstigger shrugged. "I can't help it. I needed to enter this place as anonymously as possible, in case you were going to try something. I can see from the SAS man who was sitting at the café just a few feet from this line that my suspicion was right."

Kaiba's eyes widened. "How did you-…"

"He was wearing a wire," shrugged Schweinstigger. "That curled-up wire attached to his ear was a dead-giveaway, especially since he kept touching it. I think the guards here were foolish not to notice the bulge of that 9mm concealed under his jacket. Poorly done, Kaiba. I'm feeling insulted."

Kaiba scowled. "Since when did I care how you feel?"

Schweinstigger nodded. "Good point. Now, you want information."

"I do," agreed Kaiba. "And I want it before I tell you where your terminal is located." As he saw shock spread across Schweinstigger's face, he allowed himself a faint smirk.

"Do you really think I would have brought it with me? Sorry, I'm more intelligent then that. Honestly, don't worry about your money. I don't know the damn password, and even if I did, I wouldn't be wasting so much time over seventy million dollars. What I want is information, solid, reliable, concrete information. You may think I'm young, but I'm more experienced than you know, and I'm well aware that information is power."

Schweinstigger did not speak.

"You need the money more than I need the information," pressed Kaiba. "If you don't disappear soon, Paradias is going to come after you. You were just one of my threads. If I hit a dead end here, I can easily pick up somewhere else and find those lunatics and deal with them. It's win-win for me. You don't have that luxury."

"Fine," muttered Schweinstigger, and settled himself onto a seat. Kaiba sat opposite him. The two of them ignored the sounds of the girl taking pictures while the elderly couple continued to squeal in delight.

"The man who contacted me never revealed his identity. The first time he paid me, he contacted me by an anonymous number, and told me that my payment was in a briefcase by the chair in a restraunt. I was paid in uncut diamonds. It was a similar procedure for the second payment. Loans were wired to my account from an untraceable one in the Caymans. Once, after a particularly good couple of months for me, I told me that his boss wished to meet me. I was met at the airport by an individual who made me board a private jet.

"I had no idea where we went, but I estimated the flight time at about six hours. When we landed, I was forced into a vehicle inside the plane itself, with covered windows. I never knew where I was. Eventually, I was taken to a dining room where I was met by the President of Paradias."

At this, he stopped. Beads of sweat were beginning to form on his skin.

"You have no idea, Kaiba, really, none at all, about what kind of man he is. I can hardly imagine a more heartless man. He is the personification of crime. His life revolves around his company. Not long ago, he was Vice President. The kind of pent-up energy he had to keep beneath the surface while he was not calling the shots seems to now have been released, and he wishes to unleash a wave of crime upon the world the likes of which has never been seen before."

"You met Reflect?" said Kaiba, surprised.

"I never really got his name," put back Schweinstigger. "I can't tell you too much about him. He didn't speak too much, but when he did it was mostly in a subtle manner, hinting about how my continued liaisons with Paradias would eventually benefit us mutually, and also how they did not meet betrayals kindly. I'd put him about fifty-eight, sixty, but he was in good shape. He had expensive taste. The dining room was lavish, and he had a pretty classy suit on. He mostly wanted to know what I was doing with their money, because the loan I had just asked for was pretty big, about five million Euros."

He paused. "After that, Pegasus wrecked me. That five million went down the toilet, and I went incognito. You now how it took place then. The poker tournament happened, and, well, you now how things happened after that."

There was silence following that. "I've talked, Kaiba. Now where's my money?"

"In a safe place," replied Kaiba, unperturbed. The capsule had completed about one-third of its journey.

"Tell me where it is, Kaiba," growled the German. "We had a deal."

"Yeah," said Kaiba matter-of-factedly. "The deal was that I get information, you get your money. But, you haven't given me information. You haven't given me a damn thing."

Schweinstigger snarled openly. "Don't go there. I want my money _now_."

"You'll get it when you give me information," was the CEO's calm reply.

Schweinstigger's eyes flared momentarily. "If that's the way you want to do things…." Suddenly, he pulled out a handgun from a satchel he was carrying. He dropped the satchel and walked over to the tall, blonde girl. He grabbed her, ignoring her screams, as well as those of the Chinese couple, and placing the barrel to her head.

"It's up to you, Kaiba," he breathed. "She dies, or you give me my money."

Kaiba stood up. He had not expected this. Immediatley, he went into damage-control mode. "Don't do this, Schweinstigger. You shoot her, what happens then? You won't escape. You'll just go to jail, or maybe even death roll. Paradias may find you, who knows where this might go?"

The couple were shrieking so loudly it hurt his ears.

"Do try this crap with me, Kaiba," he chuckled. "I've killed before, I will again. It doesn't break my heart to take this young woman's life. My conscience will be clear…. Maybe because I don't have one. But you'll have an innocent's blood on your hands, only because of your petty revenge."

Kaiba was about to say something, when the entire capsule shook. He nearly lost his footing and had to place a hand on the chair so steady himself. There was a slow, creaking noise as it shuddered to a stop.

"What's going on?" he growled.

"I swear to God, Kaiba, if you've pulled something here…." began Schweinstigger.

"Idiot!" he spat. "What could I possibly gain from being stuck in the London Eye with a psychopath with a gun and a few weepy tourists!"

Evidently the people in charge of the rescue operations in case something of this sort ever happened were already taking quick action, as a helicopter was buffeting its way through the evening wind towards their capsule.

"Of all the days…" muttered Schweinstigger to himself, stilling holding his weapon firmly against the head of the pale girl.

"It's up to you, Kaiba. She dies, or you give me my money."

Suddenly, a giant form leapt towards the capsule from the helicopter. For a moment, it looked like someone had fired out a huge shell at them from a cannon of some sort, but on looking closer it appeared to be an extremely tall man who had landed neatly on the edge of the capsule. As he was moving incredibly fast, the details could not be made out very clearly. A giant arm grasped the handle of the door, and to the shock of those inside the capsule, it was ripped out with ease.

This gave them there first real view of the assailant. It raised shrill shrieks in the mouths of Schweinstigger's hostage and the tourists, and even forced a sour scowl onto Kaiba's face. It was a man, but barely looked like one. He stood perhaps seven feet tall, and had a very muscular body, like that of a professional wrestler. His scraggly black hair grew down till his shoulders, and his jaws seemed to contain a set of extremely sharp fangs. The upper half of a wolf's skull was set over his head with the eye-sockets providing a measure of vision for him. The rest of his body was covered by a heavy black spandex.

"Mr. Reflect wishes to speak with you," he growled in a feral voice. A look of shock came upon the German's face, and he immediatley raised his gun, ready to fire. The giant snarled, and when he did, it seemed like he was more wolf than man. He leapt forward and landed right next to Schweinstigger, causing the entire capsule to shake, and ripped the gun out of his hand.

He grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, before turning to face Kaiba.

"You…." he snarled in a low voice. It sent a shiver down Kaiba's spine. The man looked like he was on more steroids than a whole team of college football players together.

"Mr. Reflect insisted that you should die as well. In fact, that was my job. This cur was supposed to belong to the kid…."

"_The kid… That's either Kevin or James._"

"As much as I'd dearly like to break you in two right here," continued the huge man, "I can't do that. I was paid to follow a plan set down by my boss, and since I personally don't really give a damn about this situation, I'll do that. Here's the deal: you were followed to your pathetic little safe house by a couple of the Corporation's agents. We know you took Cassell, and Mr. Reflect wasn't too happy about that. At the moment, I'm guessing Cassell and the other agents will be taking that kid to the planned spot."

Kaiba did a double-take. They had taken Kyle?

"We also know you need to keep Schweinstigger alive for information. So, you're going to have to come to Marble Arch today at three a.m., alone, if you want to see your friend alive ever again, and if you want even a tiny chance of getting some information from Schweinstigger."

"Why the hell aren't you just planning to kill me right now?" demanded Kaiba.

"Pretty big reason: seventy-two million bucks," said the wrestler, a sick grin of glee appearing on his face. "We want you to bring that terminal down there with you. Schweinstigger can enter the password, and then we'll see how it goes down. You can just not show if you want, but remember: you'll have no help from Schweinstigger, and your friend will die….. _Very _painfully."

Kaiba could feel a tinge of desperation creeping into his mind as the giant dragged a kicking and screaming Schweinstigger to the edge of the open capsule, as police cars gathered beneath. "Who the hell are you?"

The helicopter had positioned itself directly beneath them. Before jumping off with the German, he replied, "El Lobo Diablo."

The words were ringing in Kaiba's ears even after he had jumped. It was Spanish for 'The Demon Wolf'.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Marik and Ishizu were both terrified. Never had they expected something like this to happen to them in their own home, and so suddenly at that. The moment they heard the sound of gunshots, they had holed up in one of the storage rooms, barricading the door with furniture. Ishizu had attempted to call the Cairo Police Department, but the phone-lines had been cut. Neither of them was a match for any kind of assailant at the moment. Everything depended on Odion.

Marik was sitting on a stool, holding an antique knife in his trembling hands. Ishizu's head was low, and she seemed to be praying. Both were horribly confused and frightened. Five years ago, Marik would have strode out and fought them all hand to hand. But in his current mental and physical state, it would be suicide.

Suddenly, they heard a knock on the door. Marik took a sharp intake of breath, but he heard Odion's distance voice choking through. "It's me, Master Marik!"

As quickly as they could, the two siblings tore down the makeshift barricade they had put up, and opened the door.

Odion was a fearsome sight. His shirt had been reduced to tatters, so he had taken it off to reveal his toned body. He held a blood-soaked antique sword in one hand, and a revolver in the other. His entire body heaved with exertion and there was a sort of primal desperation in his eyes.

"There are…. intruders," he gasped. "I do not know how many…. I've already killed four who intercepted me. They are almost certainly after you…"

He paused and groaned. Ishizu gasped and caught him as he staggered forward, only to notice a gash on his side. It was not very deep, but if it kept bleeding, he would need urgent medical attention.

"It's just a scratch…" he breathed.

Ishizu shook her head. "No… This must be attended to at once." Despite Odion's protests, she immediatley soaked a piece of cloth in a tap located at the far side of the room, and pressed it against his wound. His breathing slowed considerably, and the rate of flow of blood seemed to have lessened.

"We must not waste time," he growled, standing up. "The house is big, and they seem unaware of the layout, which works to our advantage. If we can make it to the jeep, we can drive to the warehouse. The guards there will help us."

Ishizu nodded, and looked over at Marik. "Let's go."

The trio silently pattered down a corridor leading to a side staircase down to the garage. Odion's words were true. Had it not been for the fact that the layout of the house was so complicated and filled with extra passageways and staircases, the assailants would have soon found them.

Within a couple of minutes, they were in the jeep, with Ishizu driving, and Odion and Marik in the backseat. It was built for the rough desert terrain, but it still made a lot of noise. The winds were high, and the moon barely visible. These two factors insured that they would be safe from bullets, at least for the time-being.

"Don't worry…" breathed Ishizu, as he pressed her foot down on the accelerator. "We'll get through this…."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Andrei spat his contempt as he saw the jeep rolling off into the darkness from the window of the hall. "They're gone!" he snarled.

The leader merely smiled. "Intriguing… But not something I would lose sleep over. There is a warehouse not too far from here. Judging by the direction they have chosen to drive off into, I would assume that is their destination. Alert the others, we will follow them now on foot, as our vehicles are too far. I can judge the distance at about three miles, and if you consider the horrible terrain, we are barely a few minutes behind them."

His subordinate nodded and darted away, snarling in Russian to the others. Only seven men were left, and sadly, those were the four the leader had chosen to come with him. The Egyptians were more deadly than he had expected, and he was sure that the Cairo Police would soon be on their way as well. No matter, seven men were all he needed to finish this particular job.

He trotted down the staircase, whistling a merry tune to himself.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It took the Ishtars about ten minutes to arrive there in the darkness and terrible driving conditions. They leapt out of the jeep, heaving and panting, and ran towards the night guard's cubicle. To their shock, it was empty.

"We can at least call the police," put in Ishizu, choosing to do just that.

The person working at the switchboard told Ishizu that in such horrible driving conditions, the best thing for them to do was hide in the warehouse while the department sent out some of their men. But it was eleven miles out, and it would take some time.

"Our lives are in danger!" spat Ishizu furiously.

"I understand that, ma'am," replied the woman patiently. "But we cannot do much about natural conditions. Your vehicle was specifically suited to driving on sand. We will first need to have use of such vehicles authorized, and only then will our squad be able to deploy. Do not worry, ma'am, the warehouse is extremely large, and it will be easy for you to hide there for some time until our men arrive."

"Bureaucracy," she growled and slammed the phone down.

The woman was right, unfortunately. Without the correct kind of vehicle, it was downright impossible to navigate one's way through the desert right now. That, however, gave them a small advantage in the fact that it would still be a long time till the assassins sent by Paradias arrived as well.

Odion grunted from a small distance away. "I have found an unlocked door," he called, and grunted once more as he kicked it open. "Come on."

Ishizu and Marik looked at each other once more, silently, before walking in after him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It took the assassins a little longer than they had expected to arrive at the warehouse. The wind had picked up further, blowing a lot of sand around the place. The desert was far more rocky then they had anticipated, not to mention a number of annoying snakes and other kinds of animals they had encountered along the way. It took them a good thirty-minutes to reach there, along with all the other obstacles. The jeep was still there, however, meaning the Ishtars had holed up in the warehouse.

The leader allowed himself a brief smile. "Rather foolish," he murmured to himself. "It is impossible for them to hide forever, however big this warehouse is. They have sealed their own fate."

He looked at his remaining six men. "Spread out," he intoned. "I have no interest in prisoners this time around. Kill them on sight."

They nodded, and the group filtered into the warehouse through the broken door. They stopped short at first. It _was_ really very big. The ceiling disappeared into the darkness, and the occasional screech of a bat sounded harshly in their ears. Stretched across them was a sea of wooden boxes covered with cloth. It was almost like a shipping yard, with the boxes lined up neatly in a grid.

The leader licked his lips. This was going to be fun.

"Go."

The seven of them spread out in different directions fluidly. They had their weapons at the ready, wary especially of the giant, having seen what he had done to their associates back at the house. Within seconds, they had lost sight of each other amongst the giant shadows thrown down by the towering boxes.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Andrei was calm and confident. Unlike his dead comrades, he knew what he was facing now. If he came across them, the plan was simple. Kill the giant first, with a shot to the head. The other man would be the next target. That left the woman. He smiled at the thought. She was exceedingly beautiful. Maybe he could afford the temptation….

His thought process was cut short by the sound of a swish of air. He halted and looked around. It sounded like a giant bird had just flown past him. He stood there momentarily, wondering if he was hearing things. Then, he shrugged and began to walk away, before his path was interrupted by a flash of black.

He stopped short once again. That was definitely too big to be a bat. There was another swish behind him. He gasped and whirled around, gun at the ready. But there was nothing behind him. Nothing at all.

Fright crept into his features, and his movements became edgy. He took a step back, but seemed to have stepped into a huge form. Once again he turned around to see nothing.

"WHERE ARE YOU?!" he bellowed in terrified desperation.

A calm, cold voice sounded behind him. "Here."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The leader was busy whistling that same merry tune to himself, when he heard a muffled shriek some distance away to his left. He paused, and spoke into his comm.-link.

"Everyone, check in. It appears one of us has gone down."

Within seconds, five assassins had responded to his words. He frowned at the absence of Andrei's voice. "It seems Andrei has been incapacitated."

Before anyone could reply, another muffled roar of agony echoed throughout the entire cave, followed by a crisp snap, which could also be heard over the comm..-link.

"Tomas?" There was no reply.

The leader frowned, and spoke again. "This is not the target. I repeat, this is not the target. There is an external factor present in the warehouse that is eliminating our comrades. Rendezvous at the entrance."

It was a simple matter for the remaining five to retrace their steps to the door they had found broken open.

"This kind of damage could not have been inflicted by any of the three targets, even the large one," said the leader calmly. "This means there is a fourth hostile within this warehouse, one whom we must deal with in a more aggressive fashion. We will now proceed forth as a unit, and if we come across this individual, he dies immediatley."

The other four nodded, and each of them checked their magazines. The leader scowled, as they had just reloaded them before leaving the house. It was a sign of nervousness.

They started forth once more. They moved in single file, with the large Dmitri in the front and the nimble, yet deadly Carlos bringing up the rear. They began to comb the grid of containers by moving across them from the left to the right and then turning to check the next one. They strained their ears to check for any sounds on their dead comrades' comm.-links, but found nothing.

Suddenly, the leader stopped, and listened hard. "It's either Andrei or Tomas," he breathed. "I heard the sound of the woman's voice."

They looked at each other. If they split up now, it would have to be two and three. They were all seasoned mercenaries, but the thought of whatever had snapped Tomas' neck like a twig after having silenced Andrei forever disconcerted them slightly.

"Andrei went west from the entrance," said the leader, looking around him. "Tomas was right next to him. We will check him first. I don't think the targets would be able to move very fast in this maze, especially with the injuries to that large individual."

It was a tough job, because if they followed the path open to them by the way the boxes were spaced, it would have taken them at least ten minutes to reach Andrei's body. So they were forced to climb over the lines of containers, and use them as vantage points to find something. Within five minutes, they came across Andrei's corpse.

The leader bent down and checked for a pulse. It was absent. The man had been killed with a blow to his head so powerful that it had not only snapped his neck but nearly taken his head off. Whoever, or _whatever_ had killed him was a force to be reckoned with.

The leader nodded wisely. "It's Tomas, then."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Odion was on his knees. The agony of the wound was finally catching up to him. He couldn't go any further, and his breathing was becoming erratic as blood continued to soak the ground beneath him. Ishizu and Marik had desperately tried to grab each one of his arms and half-carry, half-drag him forward, but for once, his imposing stature worked against them. He was too heavy.

"Maybe if you two just stop annoying us, we can make it quick for him," sounded a snide voice from behind them.

They turned in horror the see the Japanese leader of the assassins standing there with his arms folded. His remaining four men had their guns at the ready, bloodthirsty grins on their faces.

"Your men seem to have a hard time respecting the natives of this country, even for tourists," said a deep voice from behind them.

The five of them turned around as a group to see an extremely tall demon, dressed in black armor with thin, yellow eyes.

The leader raised his eyebrows. "And who might you be?"

"My name is Zeruge Mitsunashi," replied the demon in a grim voice.

The leader smiled back pleasantly. "I apologize for our rudeness, Mr. Mitsunashi, but we were not sent here for formalities. However if you would kindly step aside and allow us to dispose of our targets you will not be harmed...that is until our superiors command otherwise," he said casually.

"Won't you reconsider putting yourself in unnecessary risk? I read Sigma's report about you, and it seems to me that you are quite an intelligent demon. Surely you realize how poor the odds are since there are five of us and only one of you."

Zeruge looked at him for a moment before nodding and giving a small sigh. "You have a point, the odds do seem rather...unfavorable for me," he said but before the group's leader could reply he continued giving him a smile that showed off more then a few of his fangs.

"If I was to actually consider you lot a challenge there would need to be three times as many of you as there are, and with far better weapons then those modern toys of yours, so yes the odds of a fight being anything more then a waste of time is indeed poor."

"You are indeed confident," replied the leader evenly. "But it seems to me Sigma was more then a match for you in physical combat, and you were only able to defeat him at this primitive little game. I have no objection to seeing how you would fare against us…. I will however, give you one last chance. Leave now, or die."

Zeruge didn't even bother looking at him. He turned back to look at the Ishtars. "Your brother seems rather injured," he said to Ishizu in his deep voice. "My advice would be for the three of you to contact the Cairo Police once more and request a helicopter, as immediate medical attention would alleviate his condition considerably."

One of the men there lost his temper with the flippant manner in which Zeruge was treating them. He took two steps forward and lashed out at the demon with a massive punch. It caught him on the side of his head. It would have broken a normal man's neck then and there, but Zeruge did not react. A grim smile formed on his face.

"Go now," he said to Ishizu, before shifting his head away from them and turning to face the man.

"You crossed a line when you came here," he said calmly, yet coldly. "These people never harmed anyone, and yet you chose to murder them. For that you must pay."

Then, he moved so fast that it seemed like a hurricane had suddenly fallen upon the two men closest to him. With just one, huge step towards his first attacker, he slammed his elbow into his throat, killing him at that second. He pivoted on his front foot, swinging his other leg around to catch the second man with a powerful roundhouse kick in the chest. It was a little less accurate than he had hoped, and instead of stopping his heart right then, it instead shattered his ribcage.

Before Zeruge could turn his attention to the other three, the injured man, gasping and wheezing, ripped out his gun and fired a quick bullet towards Zeruge. A faint smile appeared on his face, and his right hand darted out of nowhere, snatching the three projectiles from the air.

The assassins stopped short. Zeruge raised the fist in which the bullet was clutched, and gripped it tighter. A tongue of flames encircled his fist, and it seemed to glow red hot. The leader's smile widened. It was as if he was intrigued by this sudden show of magic.

Zeruge then swung his arm like a pitcher in baseball, and the bullet in his hand, now heated to over five hundred degrees Celsius, was snapped outwards towards the man who had fired it. It slammed into his head, and he could not even scream in shock before it exited the other end, leaving a gaping, smoldering hole in the head of his dead body.

The leader seemed thrilled, while his subordinates were shocked. "Bravo, Mr. Mitsunashi!" declared the leader. "Clearly, Sigma's report fails to do your abilities justice. That fire technique… Wherever did you discover something so deadly?"

Zeruge glared at him. "I fail to see the reason I should explain anything to a man who not only has been sent here to kills people who have nothing to do in the present conflict, but doesn't even show concern for the safety of his subordinates. And by the way you can lose the smile; I've dealt with many would-be assassins so I can tell it's an act by how your expression contrasts with the tension in your stance."

He pointed to his ears. "I could hear your muscles tightening the moment your companion shot me."

The leader of the bunch was silent, then with a sigh of his own his cheerful expression vanished, and then he looked up to reveal narrow cold brown eyes. They were the eyes of an experienced mercenary and one who was not afraid to take a life.

"I can see you're not going to make this easy for us Mr. Mitsunashi. Your accusation is not far off from the truth. I use my other expression to lower the guard of those around me, be it an accomplice or a target. You'd be surprised how far even a false smile can go to make others easier to deal with. But for people like you who can't be threatened or coerced….."

He nodded to this remaining men. They dropped their guns, and pulled out weapons of a different kind from their jackets: Duel Disks.

"I've never really grown tired of killing someone in a Shadow Game. I'll let Dmitri, Marcus and Alexi have a shot at it first. If you can survive all three of them, then I can honor you by actually taking you on myself."

"This will make things faster, for sure," muttered Zeruge. A Duel Disk flashed into existence on his arm. It was a shimmering brown in color, and shaped like the frill of a lizard. He activated it, and the holo projectors landed on opposite sides of him. The three assassins lined up opposite him in a kind of arrow-head formation.

"We will give you a handicap for this: each of us start with eight thousand life-points, while you have a grand total of twelve thousand," intoned Marcus, as he drew his opening hand.

Zeruge shrugged. "It hardly matters."

(Marcus: 8000, Dmitri: 8000, Alexi: 8000, Zeruge: 24,000)

Marcus spoke imperiously. "I will make the first move. I set two cards facedown, and summon Panther Warrior (2000/1600) in attack mode."

A towering, purple panther appeared on his field. It was bipedal, and dressed in heavy green armor. It carried a scimitar in one hand and a shield was attached to the gauntlet on its' other.

"My turn is over," he muttered.

Dmitri's motions and voice contained some more flair.

"I summon Marauding Captain (1200/400) in attack mode." A blonde swordsman in green and teal armor appeared on the field, holding out a rather sharp sword.

"When he's normal summoned or special summoned, I can special summon a level four or lower monster from my hand. I choose another Marauding Captain." The blonde swordsman was joined by another one, which was completely identical to him.

"Make your move, Alexi."

The final assassin glanced at his hand. "I summon Gagagigo (1850/1000)!"

A two-legged, green reptile like being came from a mud puddle in the ground, rising up and flexing with its large muscles. Several pink-like spikes stuck out of its arms, legs and back as defensive mechanisms. It had a fairly small, bald head, with pink fang-like teeth. It had a type of yellow cloth wrapped around both of its forearms, held shut with a pink band.

"Then, I will place two cards facedown and end my turn."

As Zeruge drew calmly, Alexi tapped a button on his Duel Disk. "I activate two copies of Zoma the Spirit!"

A dark, phantom-like creature began to ascend onto the field, bringing about an odd fog with it. It appeared to have skeleton-gray armor, and a dented, rusted sword. Soon, another one appeared right next to it (1800/500) (x2).

"A trap monster," observed Zeruge. He looked at the field, and a faint smile appeared on his face.

"My turn, then," he declared.

"First, I activate Graceful Charity, to draw three cards and then discard two." He quickly pulled three cards from his deck, before selecting two from his hand and shoving them into the graveyard.

"I remove Mezuki (1700/800) in my graveyard from play. When it is removed from play I can special summon another zombie-type monster in my graveyard. I choose Crow Tengu (1400/1200)!"

The translucent form of a large, ox-like warrior materialized on Zeruge's field. He was very well-built with a toned physique, and had the head of an enraged ox. In his two, large arms, he held a long axe. Silver gauntlets were clapped over his wrist. He had a scrappy gray loin cloth that came about halfway down his hooved feet.

It disappeared, and was replaced by the form of a large crow, whose black feathers had gained a dull shine. It looked like a normal crow, other then the presence of two, four shining orbs jutting out of its torso. It gave a loud screech, echoing throughout the emptiness of the warehouse.

"Then I normal summon Gozuki (1700/800)!" Another, undead beast of a monster appeared next to the zombie crow. It looked a bit like a lion, except for the fact that its fur was black, and far more muscular then a normal lion. In fact, its forelimbs were tipped with paws that looked more like hands, for they were gripping a very large hammer. Its thick mane lifted up in the night wind.

The other three duelists did not seem to be the type who usually commented much on their opponent's moves, so Zeruge just continued without looking at them.

"Since I have two zombie-type monsters in play, I can special summon a monster called Kasha (?/1000) from my hand."

Suddenly, the darkness of the warehouse was lit up by an explosion of flames from above Zeruge. The monster that was appearing was a chariot, with wheels made of fire. It had two green arms extended out from the ceiling of the chariot, while a demonic face was attached to its bottom. It seemed as if the entire thing was _alive_.

"Undetermined attack points…." commented Alexi.

"They will be determined very soon indeed," replied Zeruge calmly. "I activate the quick-play spell card DNA Booster, which acts as a one-turn version of DNA Surgery. I choose for every monster in play to be treated as a zombie monster for this turn."

Kasha began to glow.

"When Kasha is summoned, I can trigger its effect to send all zombie-type monsters on the field back to their owner's hands. For each monster sent, Kasha gains one thousand attack points."

The three assassins gasped in shock as the part demon-part chariot exploded with flames, enveloping the entire field in a bright glow. When the glow vanished, all monsters were gone, their owners having reluctantly plucked them off their Duel Disks. Meanwhile, Kasha (8000/1000) was now far more powerful than any monster in the game.

"I set one card facedown and end my turn."

The leader of the group looked on, impressed. "_Indeed, Mr. Mitsunashi is far more powerful than Sigma made him out to be. There seems to be something different about him_….."

As Andrei was about to draw, Zeruge raised a hand. "The duel is over. Ring of Destruction, activate."

A large ring with many explosives attached on its sides then appeared. It then flew up and stretched out to squeeze over one the length of the chariot. It clamped down, stopping the flow of flames outwards. There was a final roar from Kasha, followed by the explosion. Zeruge stood stock-still and unperturbed, while his opponents were all blown of their feet, as their leader watched in excitement.

"_Such power_…." he thought, as the light consumed them all. "_Such an incredible FTK… I would relish the opportunity to duel him_."

(Marcus: 0, Dmitri: 0, Alexi: 0, Zeruge: 16,000)

"Incredible, Mr. Mitsunashi!" he cheered as the light died down. The other three duelists lay unconscious in front of him, while Zeruge maintained an emotionless exterior.

"This will not be a duel that will soon be forgotten," he continued, as a Chaos Duel Disk appeared on his arm.

"Indeed," replied Zeruge darkly.

"In any case, I don't think I introduced myself. Rather rude of me. You can call me Oujia."

(Zeruge: 8000, Oujia: 8000)

"I summon The Six Samurai - Irou (1700/1200) in attack mode!"

Zeruge's next warrior was dressed in a black, flowing battle robe. Glowing purple armor was clapped all over his torso and arms, and a green cape was draped over his shoulders. A blindfold covered his eyes, while long, thin black hair fluttered in the cold wind coming in from outside the parking lot. He held a sheathed sword in one hand.

"Then I will set three cards facedown, and end my turn."

A trio of brown-backed cards appeared in front of the warrior.

Oujia drew, his cold exterior remaining steady. ""I shall begin by summoning my Summon Priest (800/1600)!" A by a wizened old man dressed in a blue robe. He had a long beard and his face was hidden by a blindfold. He wore a small cap. He wore a completely dark-blue robe, and had golden and green-plated cufflinks. He held his hands inside the sleeves of the opposite arm, concealing them entirely.

"Plus, I can discard one Spell Card from my hand to use his effect, and summon a Level 4 monster from my deck!" It was a large crane with wide, white wings, and a sphere-like body. It had a long, thin, black neck, and red hair that flew behind it. It had two black eyes, and a long, beige beak.

"Behold, my Sacred Crane (1600/1000) in attack mode! But, since I special summoned it, I can draw one card." His exterior did not change as he added one more card to his hand.

"Then, I set two cards facedown and end my turn."

Zeruge spoke before drawing. "I will activate my continuous trap card, Swiftstrike Armor. If I draw a Six Samurai monster at the beginning of my turn, I may then special summon it to the field immediatley."

Zeruge snapped the top card off his deck, and looked over his opponent's field. "_That was a good move. I can tell that this individual is a skilled duelist. Therefore, I may need to use that power which I acquired when Lady Life unlocked my original skills_."

"I just drew The Six Samurai – Yaichi (1300/800), which means he can immediatley summon him to join Irou!" A tall and lean man materialized onto Zeruge's field. He was dressed in light gray armor that looked yellow. A tall, hat-like helmet was perched strangely on his head, and he held a bow in one hand, with a quiver of arrows in the other.

"Once per turn, I may skip Yaichi's battle phase in order to destroy one facedown spell or trap card on the field. I will target your second one."

The samurai raised his bow, and fitted an arrow into it. With that, he fired it towards the card on the left. It struck it in the center, and it shattered with a mild explosion.

"You just destroyed my Sakuretsu Armor," grumbled Oujia.

Zeruge paid no attention to his opponent's words. "Then, I will activate another continuous trap card: Swift Samurai Storm! Now, during each battle phase, all Six Samurai monsters in play will gain three hundred attack points until the end of the turn after the first time one Six Samurai monster attacks. Irou will attack Sacred Crane!"

The masked Six Samurai drew a razor sharp, extremely long katana from his scabbard. With a nod to Zeruge, he leapt into the air, the very picture of a classic Japanese assassin. His sword fell towards the bird, and sliced its head off at the neck. The remains of the crane's body and head remained floating in the air momentarily, before they exploded into hundreds of tiny pixels.

(Zeruge: 8000, Oujia: 7900)

"Now, I cannot attack with Yaichi, as I sacrificed her attack for the turn anyway. Therefore, I will set one card facedown and end my turn."

"It's my move now," declared Oujia.

"I will sacrifice Sacred Crane in order to summon Magical Marionette (2000/1000) in attack mode!" What seemed to be a jester dressed in robes of numerous colors immediately appeared. It held several strings which suspended a tiny blank-faced puppet that were armed with two knives each.

"Then, I activate Pitch-Black Power Stone. When this trap card is activated, it gains three spell counters, one of which may be moved to another card each turn. I will choose to move one to Magical Marionette, who incidentally gains two hundred attack points for each spell counter."

The Marionette (2200/1000) looked up evilly at Zeruge.

"Now, my Marionette attacks your Irou!" The puppeteer snapped its arms upwards, and its puppets dashed forward, encircling the warrior with its strings. Irou struggled to break lose, but it was downright hopeless. Magical Marionette raised its hands, and a jolt of electricity erupted from its gauntlets, coursing through the strings and slamming into Irou. The samurai screamed in agony as it vanished into darkness and dust.

(Zeruge: 7500, Oujia: 7900)

"Then I will switch my Summon Priest to defense mode, and set one card facedown." The wizard fell down onto one knee.

"My turn ends here."

Zeruge drew, his face the picture of calm despite the fact that Yaichi was alone on his field and sorely outmatched.

"I special summon Great Shogun Shien (2500/2400) from my hand, as I already have a Six Samurai monster in play!"

A tower of flames erupted out of the ground directly in front of Zeruge. As the crimson fire began to recede, a burning form was visible within it. A towering marauder stepped out onto Zeruge's field, dressed in red hot crimson armor, and clasping a thin, glowing katana in one hand. A blue cape fell over his shoulders, obscuring from view a number of spikes that were present on his armor. His helmet did not obscure his face, which had a cold, hard expression to it. A symbol depicting fire was present on his chest plate.

"First, I will use Yaichi's effect to destroy the facedown card you just set," declared Zeruge. The samurai notched another arrow in its bow, and fired it off towards the brown-backed card, which shattered immediatley.

"You destroyed Recruitment of Arms," intoned Oujia. "When this card is sent to the graveyard, I may add one Equip magic card from my deck to my hand."

He quickly pulled out his deck and rifled through it before finding the card he wanted.

"Do continue."

"Great Shogun Shien will attack your Magical Marionette!" The lord of the Six Samurai raised his katana and fixed the puppeteer with a burning glare. With that, he took off towards it and slashed outwards in a long arc.

"Activate my facedown quick-play magic card, Negation Zone! I can choose to either prevent you from declaring any attacks this turn, or using any magic or trap cards, at the cost of allowing you to draw one card for every monster you have in play."

Shien's sword slammed into an invisible barrier surrounding Oujia's field, preventing him from advancing further. Meanwhile, Zeruge grudgingly added two cards to his hand.

"As Negation Zone is a spell card, Magical Marionette (2400/1000) gains another counter." The puppeteer glowed lightly once more.

"Fine then. I set one card facedown and end my turn," concluded Zeruge.

Oujia drew. "Now, the fun can begin… I discard one spell card from my hand to use my Summon Priest's effect. Arise, Marionette Kuriboh (300/200)!"

A wooden marionette, resembling a Kuriboh, appeared in front of him, dangling from a set of strings.

"This card allows me to sacrifice it and pay one thousand life-points in order to fill up my entire field with Marionette Tokens (0/0)!"

A trio of white marionettes appeared around the Magical Marionette. Each bore a pair of daggers larger than their own bodies, and sets of glowing strings connected them to the larger monster's outstretched fingers.

"Once per turn, during my first main phase, each of these tokens will generate and transfer one spell counter to Magical Marionette."

The puppets glowed, and sent pulses of energy back to the Magical Marionette through the strings connecting them to the other monster (3000/1000).

"Then I activate Time Jump, which sends the turn count ahead by three. Therefore, each Marionette Token will have generated and transferred three additional counters to Magical Marionette! Also, I can transfer the last two counters from Pitch-Black Power Stone, boosting it further!" An immense aura surrounded the puppeteer (5200/1000), and incredible waves of power flowed into from the tokens. Zeruge, however, did not really seem worried.

"I may remove two counters from the Marionette to destroy one of your monsters. Therefore, I will remove four in order to smite both Shien and Yaichi!"

He cast out his arm, and the Marionette (4400/1000) raised both of its own, summoning a fifth and sixth puppet which flew towards the two Samurai. "Mystic Puppet Slayer!" The puppets' blades flashes, and the warriors fell apart before bursting into crystalline bits.

"Now, I switch Summon Priest to attack mode. Both my monsters will attack you directly!"

Zeruge's calm exterior did not disappear as the puppeteer threw its strings around him, and a sphere of blue energy appeared in the hands of the priest. The Marionette lifted its hands, and hundreds of volts of electricity shot through the strings, and slammed straight into Zeruge. Almost at the same time, the priest let the sphere of energy lose, which slammed into the demon at the same time. The simultaneous attacks resulted in a large explosion.

Oujia had to raise his hands up to buffet the smoke away.

When it finally cleared, however, he saw to his shock that both Yaichi and Shien were present on his opponent's field, with his life-points nearly untouched.

(Zeruge: 6500, Oujia: 7900)

"Explain yourself!" snarled Oujia.

"I merely activated my facedown trap card, Mirage Ruler," responded Zeruge. "After the damage step, it allows me to special summon all monsters sent to the graveyard this turn back to my field, and then return my life-points to their original value before the attack, before paying a thousand life-points as the cost for this powerful effect."

"You tread on dangerous ground, Mr. Mitsunashi," hissed the Paradias agent. "You have already defied the Paradias Corporation once. You were lucky to escape, but to challenge us again borders on foolishness."

"Actually, the foolishness is on your part," rumbled back Zeruge. "After I defeated your organization's strongest agent, and then acquired newer abilities, do you really think a group of amateur assassins who barely know the bare essentials of this game would last even a few minutes against me? Had you possessed even the slightest ounce of wisdom, you would have left the innocents alone and fled. You pursued them, however, and for that, you will pay a great price."

"Your talk amounts to nothing besides self-flattery," fired back Oujia. "Back it up with your cards."

"If you insist," replied Zeruge calmly, and drew.

He looked at his newest card and smiled briefly. "I summon Onmoraki (1200/1000) in attack mode." The monster that appeared next to Shien and Yaichi looked for all the world like the most hideous phoenix to have ever lived. Its feathers were black, with orangish-red, clawed feet sticking out from beneath its body, large wings flared out. But its eyes were the scariest part, as instead of normal eyes, it looked like someone had lit a fire inside the sockets. All one could see was a burst of oily red fire flaring from within the holes as the bird screeched out at the two monsters.

"I fail to see how this helps you," growled Oujia. He was evidently a lot more talkative than his defeated subordinates.

Zeruge ignored him. "When I have a face-up fire attribute monster, I may special summon a certain monster from my hand…. Arise now, Goka, the Pyre of Malice (2200/1900)!"

There was an explosion of flames across Zeruge's field. The other three monsters looked on in amazement as a massive, barrel shaped object descended from the darkness, made completely of brass. It had the symbol of a fan engraved on its side, and a thick rim screwed onto it on both the top and the bottom. From its opening, however, appeared a burst of flames. On looking closer, one would actually be inclined to think the fire was alive.

The truth was that it was a truly demonic creature that resided within the barrel. It was so consumed with flames, however, that no part of its body besides its eyes were visible. More fireballs flew through the air around it. Even Shien looked impressed.

"When Goka is summoned, I must destroy one fire attribute monster on my field. I am sorry Onmoraki, but I must sacrifice you for this cause."

The crow gave a mournful cry and then disappeared.

"So you have one monster with twenty-five hundred attack points, one with twenty-two hundred, and one with thirteen hundred. None of them seem to have game-breaking effects, which is what you would require to stand up to my Magical Marionette at this point."

"You seem to have forgotten that your Marionette is hardly your only monster," chuckled Zeruge. "Great Shogun Shien, annihilate his Summon Priest with Flaming Samurai Strike!"

Zeruge's strongest monster drew his sword and charged across the field. He swung outwards upon reaching the devious spellcaster, and his blade easily cut through the thin skin tissue and flesh that connected his head to his body. The unfortunate monster's body fell to one side as Shien sheathed his katana smoothly and returned to Zeruge's field.

(Zeruge: 6500, Oujia: 6200)

"Next, I will use Yaichi and Goka to destroy two of your Marionette Tokens!" The samurai notched an arrow in his bow and fired it towards one of the puppets. It literally tore the token apart and destroyed it, while the newest Yokai monster suddenly let its aura flared outward, resulting in a large sphere of flames crashing into one of the puppets and incinerating it.

"I do not know what supposed greater power you have acquired," whispered Oujia to the demon standing across him.

"But I assure you, against this deck it will not help you."

"That shall be decided in time."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The king of the undead stood unmatched on Panik's field, ominously stretching his arms out as far as possible, as if to display his strength. Deep within his eyes was a look of sickly glee as he surveyed the trio of monsters on Jason's field as if they were his prey, to be finished off at leisure.

"_Three thousand attack and defense points as a fusion of three specific monsters, which also means that it is sure to have a powerful effect_," thought Jason silently as a tense silence settled on them. Horus was in the center of his three monsters, and it seemed to have locked its own, glistening black eyes with the cold, dry ones of Dracula.

"Now then, let us see what power this Dracula of yours will bring to the table," he exhaled softly.

"Your calm exterior betrays your true feelings," chuckled Panik. Dracula seemed to agree with a sickly smile. "You're terrified, Jason. I can sense it."

Jason felt a growing sense of apprehensiveness. He had never felt so tense about a duel. Not even his duel with Yugi. Even up against Dracula, which was sure to be a powerful card, he had no worries about being able to outplay the former eliminator. Then what was that nagging feeling in the back of his mind right now?

"Whatever it is, perhaps Dracula will terrify you more," continued Panik, as if reading his mind. Jason did not reply. In his place, however, Horus snapped its neck forward and snarled a loud challenge towards the lean vampire.

"This is the end for your Armed Dragon LV10," declared Panik, pointing at it. "Dracula attacks with Symphony of Sorrow."

Jason began to hear some notes of haunting music echoing in the darkness. Along with Carla's sobs, it was the only thing that broke the silence. He began to feel beads of sweat running down his face, and he clutched his knuckles tightly, willing himself to block out the music. It was truly ominous, and try as he might, the music began to grow louder. Meanwhile, even the Armed Dragon seemed to be getting more frustrated. It shook its head from side to side, groaning in pain. Dracula lifted its hand, and squeezed its fist. The Armed Dragon was lifted into the air by a magical force, and its breathing seemed almost none existent. The music grew louder and louder, and simultaneously, the dragon's groans increased in volume too. Dracula suddenly pounced forward and landed on the dragon's body, his powerful arms securing him on the spines protruding from its back. His jaws snapped open to reveal a flash of razor-like canines before they were buried in the dragons' neck. At that instant, the music stopped, and so did the Armed Dragon's heart.

Jason could barely stand as he felt a deep pain in his side. "_How is this even possible… Dracula didn't get a direct hit_." The dragon exploded, showering both sides of the field with ash.

(Panik: 1300, Jason: 2250)

"When Dracula destroys one of your monsters in battle, I can deal you an additional four hundred points of damage."

Dracula raised a hand, and a small sphere of black energy appeared on the tip of his finger. With another sickly smile, he fired it off towards Jason. It hit him in the stomach, almost knocking him off his feet. He felt another wave of searing pain through his middle. Grimacing, he staggered upwards again, keeping a wary eye on Dracula.

(Panik: 1300, Jason: 1850)

"The glory of the undying vampire will kill you," roared the former Eliminator. "Surrender now, and spare yourself the pain of having to battle it. It will even give me a less injured body to use when I finally take over you."

Jason acted as if he hadn't even heard Panik speak.

Suddenly, Dracula raised his hand once more, and a patch on Panik's field began to glow. There was a shrieking sound, and a titanic form erupted out of the soil. For a second, Jason didn't recognize it. To his horror, however, he soon saw that it was a monster almost identical to Armed Dragon LV10. However, its scales had taken on a pale black shade, and its eyes were a deep crimson. It looked almost like a puppet, dancing on strings controlled by Dracula (3000/2000).

"What have you done?" growled Jason.

"Frightening, isn't it?" chuckled Panik. "A man such as you, scorned by society, depends on those close to him. What else could be your greatest fear other than having your closest allies turn on you? Dracula brings those nightmares alive by special summoning a Zombie Slave token to my field every time he destroys a monster on yours, with the same stats as that destroyed monster. However, the token lacks an effect."

"_Indeed, Dracula is a powerful card_," thought Jason, clenching his fist. "_But I _will _defeat it, and prevent it from turning any more of my monsters against me_."

"Unfortunately the token cannot attack on the turn it is summoned," chuckled Panik. "Therefore I will end my turn now."

Jason drew, and took a moment to think to himself.

"_We both have two monsters with three thousand attack points apiece. I could suicide them all now, but that would only result in Panik summoning another token with three thousand attack points by itself. So to begin with, I can't afford to attack Dracula as long as I run the risk of having one of my own monsters destroyed in the process. That leaves the token. It doesn't make sense to sacrifice a monster to destroy it, as both Horus and Hyper Psychic Blaster are both powerful and useful. Even if I don't choose to suicide a monster into the token, it's still the only option he'll have later. It makes sense to wait and let it play out as it will_."

"I set one card facedown," continued Jason, as a brown-backed card appeared behind the giant dragon and large machine. "That will conclude my turn."

Panik allowed a deep rumbling laugh to escape his mouth. "It is time for Dracula to destroy you on his home turf! I activate the field magic card Bran Castlevania!"

The cave around them was enveloped in a wave of light, causing both Daniel and Jason to cover their eyes, while Carla squealed in terror again. As the light cleared, Daniel realized they were in a familiar place.

They were right on the top of a hill, with an inky black sky visible above them. Behind Panik was a dark, shadowy castle, with an endless forest stretching out below them. Occasionally, the moon peaked out from behind a cloud, but otherwise their long range vision was largely obscured by the darkness as well as an ever present mist. Dracula smiled in a sadistic manner once more. He seemed right at home here.

"I assume that the activation of this card cannot be negating, judging by the ineffectuality of Horus' effect," conjectured Jason calmly.

"You are very right," rumbled Panik. "And its other effects are just as powerful! To begin with, I can select one effect per turn, and I choose to increase the attack points of one monster with the word 'Dracula' in its name by five hundred during my Main Phase 1!"

The man smiled darkly once more as energy washed over him (3500/3000). Meanwhile, the undead dragon next to him let out a soft growl.

"Dracula will soon cause you pain, but until then, I will choose to use my Zombie Slave token, which has the rather useful effect of being able to attack you directly even if you have monsters in play!"

Jason's eyes widened as the pale, hollow-looking dragon opened its jaws blankly and unleashed a wave of black flames in his direction. They washed over the pair of powerful monsters on his field, leaving them untouched as they slammed right into him. Ignoring the burning sensation of agony, he tapped a button on his Duel Disk.

"I activate Dark Wall of Air." As he spoke, black winds erupted out of nowhere and slammed into each other, fending off the wave of black energy from the dragon.

"All damage done to me by direct attacks is reduced to zero this turn," intoned Jason. "Regard me foolish if you wish, Panik, but I expected such a maneuver."

Panik shrugged. "I do not need direct attacks to defeat you. After all, watching the look on your face when Dracula tears your pathetic creatures to bits and then bestows this dismal imitation of life on them is something I can never tire of laughing at. Dracula, target Horus the Black Flame Dragon and destroy this fool!"

Once again, Dracula's Symphony of Sorrow began to echo in Jason's ears. With the elegant yet haunting castle looming over him, the experience was even more eerie. The vampire licked his lips and began to pace towards the twitching dragon. All of a sudden, he pounced forward and landed on its body, his spider-like hands latching into its scales as his dark mouth snapped open once more and closed over Horus' neck. As the music grew louder and louder, Horus' roars of agony became even more prominent. Suddenly, it exploded even while Dracula was holding onto it, spilling pieces of bone, skin and blood all over Jason's field as he watched in shock.

(Panik: 1300, Jason: 1350)

"Now the monster closest to your soul has fallen, Jason!" shrieked Panik in laughter. "Just like your Armed Dragon LV10, he has become a mere meal for Dracula. Your entire existence in this duel is now meaningless, for at the rate at which we are going, even your Hyper Psychic Blaster will be gone and you will be left to face the wrath of Dracula all alone, unable to hide behind the skirts of greater monsters!"

Jason closed his eyes. "_Sticks and stones your bones but his words will never hurt you_." He knew that he had to stay calm and in a steady frame of mind if he was to combat Dracula effectively. It was a very powerful monster, but it was really all he was facing, for Panik's words meant nothing.

"_Kill Dracula, kill Panik_."

"Now, my turn ends!" boomed Panik as a pale version of Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV8 (3000/1800) began to form on his field. It was a lot gaunter than the original dragon, and its eyes looked dead. Its face was disfigured in a vicious snarl in Jason's direction, who seemed to be doing well in ignoring it.

The ghastly pale version of the Armed Dragon LV10 exploded, as Panik explained grudgingly, "Once it attacks, the Zombie Slave token is destroyed in the end phase."

Jason drew. His hand seemed to be trembling slightly, and drops of sweat were dripping off his head, inciting a grunt of laughter from Panik.

"Jason…" called out a concerned Daniel. "Are you all right?"

He got no reply. Jason had bowed his head, and his bangs were throwing a shadow over his face. He simply slid a card into the magic/trap card zone, and gestured lightly towards Panik for him to take his turn.

Panik drew. "First, Dracula powers up thanks to the effect of Bran Castlevania!" The giant vampire cackled in glee once more as his body glowed all over with terrible, black energy (4000/3000).

"Then I will attack you directly with my Slave Token! Stare into the face of defeat, Jason as the ghost of your own favorite monster cuts you in two! GIGA DARKNESS FLAMES!"

Lifting off of the ground, the dragon opened its jaws, revealing black flames in its mouth. It roared and spewed them out, and even as Daniel took a concerned step towards his companion while Carla continued to wail, they washed past the Hyper Psychic Blaster and headed straight towards Jason. Just as they seemed like they were about to hit, the individual whom they were targeting pressed a button on his Duel Disk.

A card flipped up, followed by a sneer from the man standing behind it.

A bolt of lightning erupted out of nowhere and struck the dragon. It shrieked in pain and suddenly shattered into millions of tiny pieces, causing the incoming flames to disappear as well. Silence reigned over the field for a moment, before Panik roared out in anger.

"What is the meaning of this?!" he snarled.

Jason looked up. When he did, Panik took an involuntary step back.

Jason's eyes were green. Not completely green, but the pupils had turned a light shade of emerald. That was hardly the only different thing about him. What was first the emotionless look of indifference, which had changed to a stressed and frustrated grimace was now a sadistic, easy smirk. It was as if all the stress of the duel had been lifted off his shoulders in those few seconds.

"What… What the hell are you?!" gasped Panik. He was unable to keep his eyes off the green spark in Jason's own.

"Activate, Psychic Defender. By removing a Psychic monster from my graveyard, I may destroy one monster on your field and immediatley end your battle phase, which means that even your precious Dracula will be unable to have another crack at me before I send him to Hell."

Even his speech patterns had changed. Panik did a double-take, and was about to say something, before he suddenly noticed the same, calm, cold Jason Becker standing there in front of him. The green spark was gone from his eyes.

Panik blinked. "_What just happened_?"

"Proceed with your turn," intoned Jason.

Panik frowned. "I set this one card facedown and end my turn." The newest Zombie Slave token on Panik's field exploded, by virtue of having already attacked.

Jason drew, and his eye twitched. "I switch Hyper Psychic Blaster to defense mode, and set one card facedown. Turn end." Panik watched him seethe as the towering machine crossed its arms across itself and lowered its cannons.

"_Hyper Psychic Blaster should really not be in defense mode, but against Dracula there's not much I can do right now_."

Panik looked back at his opponent, and tried to turn his attention away from that spark of green he had seen in Jason's eyes. It had sent a chill down his spine.

Suddenly, he noticed a wicked smile on Dracula's face. As he continued looking at the monster, Dracula inclined his head slightly back towards his master. The smile was still present, and it was accompanied by the faintest of winks.

Panik gasped, as sweat began to pour down his forehead in rivulets.

"_Dracula is doing this to me! It affects not only my victims, but me as well!_"

His hands were clenched into fists as his mind began to wonder wildly. "_This means that the stress of trying to control a being of Dracula's power is carrying over some side effects! I had not planned for it to be _this _difficult_!"

He shook it off and looked back at Jason. "_I can't afford for him to tell I am not in control here… Not that it needs to last long, because I am going to end the duel right here and now with this next move_!"

"I activate my facedown card, Monster Reborn, in order to special summon one monster from my graveyard. I choose Vampire Bat (800/800) in attack mode!"

A supersonic howl was heard from the darkness, and an undead version of the world's only flying mammal appeared from the darkness. Its wingspan was far greater than that of a normal bat, almost three feet wide. Its head was long, with rotting crimson flesh visible on a number of places underneath bone-colored skin.

Jason continued to watch silently as Panik lifted his arm in a grand flourish.

"Now, I will reveal to you why Dracula is truly deadly! By the effect of Bran Castlevania, I can send Dracula as well as Vampire Bat to the graveyard, and then merge the two together to special summon from my fusion deck another, even more powerful form of Dracula…."

The bat shrieked and exploded in a puff of purple smoke, which began to wash over Dracula himself. His fangs suddenly became a little more pronounced, and horrible cracking noises were eerily audible as he keeled over, twitching and groaning. His eyes flared an extra deep shade of crimson momentarily before he suddenly gasped and went rigid. A pair of furry ears had grown out on either side of his head, while his fangs were now protruding out on either side of his mouth. His hands were still boney but had some hair on them now. However, most frightening was the sound of cloth ripping as a pair of gigantic wings burst out of his back. Black blood dripped to the ground as he finally straightened out, spreading his black, bat-like wings completely and casting a giant shadow over the field.

"I have called upon Dracula, Horror from Above (3000/2500)," chuckled Panik with a sickly smile.

Jason didn't say a word, but only glanced from Panik, to Dracula's new form, to Hyper Psychic Blaster, and then back to Panik, as he began to assess the situation.

"As I already used one of Bran Castlevania's effects to special summon this new form of Dracula this turn, I am unfortunately unable to increase it's attack points," continued Panik. "However, its own solid score and effects should be more than enough. Since you so kindly changed your Hyper Psychic Blaster to defense mode, I will take advantage of that and attack it with Dracula!"

The now more muscular vampire began to beat its wings, and took off towards the unfortunate machine at a torrid pace. Before the Blaster could do anything, Dracula had slammed into it at such a high speed that he had literally ripped it in half at the first pass. He continued on and came out the other side, leaving smashed up remains of the machine on Jason's field. He grinned once more and raised his hand, unleashing green flames upon them and incinerating them within seconds.

"Now, the fun begins," intoned Panik. "Dracula, Horror from Above deals Piercing Damage."

(Panik: 1300, Jason: 850)

Jason clutched his torso in agony as Panik continued. "Also, Dracula gains one Terror counter whenever he destroys a monster in battle. During your standby phase, he will deal you one hundred points of damage for every Terror counter on him. So the longer you last in the duel, the longer you are prolonging your own torture."

He trailed off with another shady laugh.

"I will end my turn on that note. I hope you are up to the challenge of surviving a couple of more turns against Dracula, as I am finding your agony quite enjoyable."

Jason drew slowly, and when he looked up again, Panik saw a flash of green in his eyes, followed by a grim frown. It was really just a flash again, and even though he was sure it was Dracula that was doing this to him, he couldn't stop his breath from quickening momentarily.

Suddenly, Dracula cackled and a vampire bat flew out of the darkness and attacked Jason. He slammed his fist into it, but it had already bit him, doing the damage that the Terror counters were meant to.

(Panik: 1300, Jason: 750)

His voice was even harder and more venomous than before, if that was even possible.

"You are truly an abomination. I cannot, in good conscience, permit you to spend a fraction more time in existence than has already occurred." Even though his words were confident, his exhaustion was apparent. His stance was weak and his knees were bent, in sharp contrast to his stock-straight posture in the beginning of the duel. There were cuts and bruises all over his body, and sweat continued to pour down his forehead.

"I activate my facedown Call of the Haunted, which allows me to special summon one monster from my graveyard as long as it remains in play. I will return Psychic Commander (1400/800)."

With this, a saucer-shaped formation made its presence known, designed with chrome metal and small antenna-like towers revolving around the base. Out of the top-center hatch emerged a green-army-dressed individual, with white gloves on its hands, and a black visor over its head. Four, glaring, red eyes could be seen from the visor. At the front of the saucer, a long, dark-metal cannon with a green barrel deployed.

"That Psychic monster is pathetic," scoffed Panik. "It cannot match up to Dracula."

"You are wrong," replied Jason, raising another card. "Normal summon, Solar Flare Dragon (1500/1000)!"

His field seemed to explode with flames. In the thick of it was a single dragon, about fifteen feet long. One could not tell the difference between the dragon itself and the fire that surrounded it. Its head was blackened and the skull seemed to be partially exposed, with horns on either side. Large, fiery wings opened from its back and it roared at Panik.

"Then, I will tune Solar Flare Dragon with Psycho Commander."

Panik gasped as the Psychic monster vanished into two spheres of light, and was soon joined by a third after the dragon evaporated as well. They formed a triangle, and the entire field was enveloped with light. When the light began to dim, a tall, draconic form was towering over Jason's field as lightning flickered around it, and a low wave of fire washed over the ground.

It was a mechanical-looking dragon, but one could see it was still living and breathing. Parts of it were had a shade of metallic crimson, especially its wings, which flared out behind it to such an extent that they were nearly as large as those of Dracula. Its claws looked like they had been made of metal, and each one was as long as a sword. As one went lower down, it began to look more and more machine-like, with the barrels of flamethrowers visible and spitting out small spheres of fire. The lower part of its body was completely mechanical, with its machine-like body open and a mess of wires and circuits hooking it to the ground. It roared out at Dracula, and the aura of flames around it flared outwards. It had a large brain visible on the back of its head.

"I have Synchro summoned Solarkinetic Dragon (2500/2300), which requires a fire monster as one of its tuners," declared Jason.

"It's still useless to you, as it is far weaker than Dracula," growled Panik.

"I would not say so," said Jason, pointing at the vampire. "Its powers are enough to end the duel right here and now. If my life-points are lower than yours, Solarkinetic Dragon gains attack points equal to the difference between our life-points. Last time I checked, yours were five hundred and fifty above mine, meaning that it is _just_ strong enough to edge past your Dracula."

Panik's eyes widened in shock as the towering dragon (3050/2300) gave a deep roar as Jason continued.

"What's more, when it destroys a monster on your field it will deal you damage equal to the attack points of the destroyed monster divided by two. Since Dracula has three thousand, you'll be dealt fifteen hundred points flat, meaning that the duel ends here. Solarkinetic Dragon, attack Dracula with Solar Psychogenesis!"

Solarkinetic Dragon ominously raised its forearms, and its brain glowed. A jet of flames washed out of the flamethrowing cannons on its sides, and encircled Dracula. Just as the flames looked like they were going to fly inwards and consume the vampire, Panik reacted.

"I activate Bran Castlevania's final effect! During your battle phase, I can sacrifice Dracula, Horror from Above and remove one Vampire Bat in my graveyard from play, in order to immediatley special summon to my field the original Dracula, the Immortal Vampire (3000/3000), and end your battle phase!"

The winged vampire vanished with a sick smirk as the ring of fire shrank around him. The flames slammed into each other, and with nothing to burn, the fire dispelled with seconds. Once again, silky strands of darkness began to swirl together to form the gaunt, tall and horrifying visage of the original lord of the vampires.

Jason frowned. This was not going as planned. "Very well. I set one card facedown and end my turn." The Solarkinetic Dragon roared at Dracula, as if to make up for its master's lack of aggression.

Panik drew shakily. "_That was close_."

"I now use Bran Castlevania's effect to increase the attack points of Dracula by a further five hundred!" The king of zombies grinned eerily at Jason once more (3500/3000).

Panik seemed to be regaining his confidence now.

"Dracula, attack his Solarkinetic Dragon with Symphony of Sorrow!"

When Jason tried to block out the haunting music this time, he was completely unsuccessful. It was truly agonizing, and try as he might, the music continued to pierce his deepest consciousness. Dracula continued to smile as he walked forward. The flaming dragon was trembling, even more so when Dracula placed a hand on its side. Slowly, almost gently, he eased forward and sank his fangs into its neck. The pair of them remained frozen momentarily, before the dragon exploded into millions of pixels.

Jason fell down onto one knee, his wounds pounding with pain. The music remained in his head even though Dracula's attack had ceased.

(Panik: 1300, Jason: 300)

"Very soon, your Solarkinetic Dragon will return to my side of the field as your enemy," chuckled Panik.

He looked down at his hand. "I end my turn on that note. Your time is almost up, Jason." A ghostly version of the fallen Solarkinetic Dragon materialized next to Dracula, with black flames spurting out of its flamethrowers rather then orange ones (2500/2300).

Jason drew in a labored manner. "I set one monster in defense mode, and add one facedown card. That will end my turn."

Daniel watched on, worried. "_I don't know how much longer he can last against this kind of punishment. He's got just three hundred life-points left, which says volumes about the number of attacks he's taken. I don't doubt his ability to win the duel through his skill in Duel Monsters, but I wonder if he'll be able to last long enough to do so_."

"Draw," intoned Panik, as Dracula's power increased once more (4000/3000).

"This is the end, Jason Becker. Solarkinetic Dragon will attack you directly. Solar Psychogenesis!"

Once again, the dragon's brain glowed, and a ring of fire shot out of its flamethrowers, encircling Jason, who was now barely visible among the fire. Before he was completely consumed, Panik could swear he saw another green glint in the man's eyes before the ring shrank completely with a giant explosion. However, all doubts were squashed when he looked at the life-point counters.

(Panik: 1300, Jason: 0)

Daniel looked on in horror as smoke consumed the Eagle agent's field. Panik broke out into wild laughter.

"Yes, it is indeed over! You were foolish to _ever_ challenge me, Jason!"

Daniel took a step forward, while Carla continued to hide behind his legs in terror.

"It's not over yet," he said harshly, raising his Duel Disk. "I will challenge Dracula now, Panik."

"No, you will not," replied the former eliminator, with a sickly grin. "The terms of the duel were that my victory would result in me taking over Jason's body, and leaving you two to rot in little Carla's nightmare for an eternity. I won fairly, and now Jason's body belongs to me!"

"_Wrong_," said a harsh voice from amongst the smoke.

Panik turned to see that the smoke had begun to dissipate, and Jason Becker was standing there, his eyes emblazoned green and his body emanating an aura of a similar color. His face was the picture of hatred, and all cards on his field were still present.

(Panik: 1300, Jason: 1000)

"I activated Fated Turn, which sets my life-points at one thousand if they were reduced to zero. On my second standby phase after activation, I will lose the duel."

Daniel looked on in shock as the green aura grew brighter. The look in his eyes… It was exactly like what he said seen in those of Belial. What the hell had just happened?

"This is the end for you, Panik," he sneered. "Finish your move now."

The eliminator growled. "Fine! Attack his facedown monster now with Symphony of Sorrow."

Even as the haunting music began to play in the background, the card flipped up to reveal a demented man with blue skin, dressed in a brown trench coat and black trousers. His head was dotted with spikes, and his teeth were a filthy yellow. His screech of agony was barely audible as he burst into millions of tiny pixels. Jason, however, seemed unaffected by the music.

"You destroyed Psychic Jumper (100/1500), a monster whose destruction leaves me unaffected."

Panik growled. "Very well. I set one card facedown and end my turn." The abomination of the Solarkinetic Dragon on Panik's field gave a low growl and exploded into millions of tiny pixels.

A ghostly version of the Psychic Jumper appeared on Panik's field in defense mode as he drew at a furious pace. He fixed Dracula and the Zombie Slave token with a hatred-filled glare.

"Your end is nigh, Panik. I activate my facedown Silent Doom, which allows each of us to special summon one monster from our respective graveyards in defense mode. I choose Solar Flare Dragon (1500/1000)."

The flaming dragon, about fifteen feet long, once again appeared onto Jason's field in a burst of fire.

Panik considered. "I choose Zombie Werewolf (1200/1200)."

A distant howl could be heard from the distance. Coming bounding into the cave from one of its deeper crevices was a bipedal, ragged wolf, with scraggly gray fur and a pair of green trousers. Its claws were each well over five inches long, while its eyes shown a deep yellow.

Jason acted as if Panik had not even played a card. "Then I will chain Inferno Reckless Summon, which I can only activate if I have special summoned a monster with fifteen hundred or less attack points. By doing so, I can immediatley summon two more copies of that monster."

As fast as the words flowed out, two more flaming dragons materialized next to the first one (1500/1000) (x2).

"Whatever you seem to be setting up, I'm sure that it will not be enough to defeat me in the next two turns," taunted Panik.

"Like I said, this is the end," fired back Jason. "Believe what you want, but I am ending the journey of your soul here. First I will activate Sacrifice of Brethren. If I have one LV monster in my graveyard, I can send all other LV monsters of that same series to the graveyard as well, and draw one card per monster sent."

He held up another card. "I will do so by activating this: Volcanic Fusion!"

Jason's eyes gleamed, and numerous towers of flames shot up into the air. They went high enough to disappear into the dark clouds, but it didn't really matter, because the clouds hung extra low in the city, for some reason. The three columns slowly began to move towards each other, and the fire began to meld into one, single tower which began to grow wider until it stretched the length of Jason's field.

"_Is he summoning that Supernova Dragon again_?" wondered Daniel in apprehension. "_That was nearly strong enough to defeat Yami. If he's using it now, when he really seems to have gone off the loop, who knows what kind of damage it could do_!"

"Feast on the soul of that pathetic excuse for a duelist!" bellowed Jason, the emerald glow in his eyes brightening.

"Solar Chaos Hydra (?/?)!"

The flames condensed up and began forming into a strange body. A large, core-like body with seven writhing extensions sticking out of it zoned into the field. It was a deep crimson, with blotches of flaming orange. If one looked closer, they would come to realize that the extensions were actually the heads of the beast, and that each one had callous black eyes with razor sharp spikes running down their necks. It had a giant tail resting on the ground at the other end. Its scales shown in the moonlight of Bran Castlevania.

"Solar Chaos Hydra is a fusion of one Solar Flare Dragon and one or more fire attribute monsters," growled Jason. "It gains eight hundred attack points for each fusion material: three Solar Flare Dragons, each of Horus the Black Flame Dragon's forms, thanks to Sacrifice of Brethren, and lastly, Solarkinetic Dragon. That's a total of seven."

Solar Chaos Hydra (5600/5600) roared out so loudly that the entire hill seemed to tremble. Even Dracula looked terrified.

"The duel ends here. Solar Chaos Hydra, attack Dracula!"

"You seem to have forgotten that I have one last trick up my sleeve!" bellowed Panik. "I use the effect of Bran Castlevania to sacrifice Dracula and Zombie Werewolf to call out his most powerful form: arise, Dracula, the Lycan Emperor (3000/2500)!"

Each of the Solar Chaos Hydra's writhing heads had been charging up spheres of crimson flames, and just as Jason finished ordering it to attack, each head let it lose in a massive storm of blazing fire. Just as it was about to hit Dracula, he was pulled into a vortex with the werewolf, and the wave of flames hit the ground in his place, leaving a burn mark there.

Appearing in his place was a taller, hairier Dracula. His jaws were longer and more snout-like, while his hands were more like paws now, with long, razor sharp claws jutting out, looking like terrible knives. It snarled out at the seven-headed dragon, saliva dripping from its jaws as his hulking body stretched his black robe to the limits, and even tore it in some places.

"The Lycan Emperor gains five hundred attack points for every monster with Werewolf in its name in my graveyard!" declared Panik. "I have three, meaning it gains fifteen hundred attack points!"

Dracula's newest form snapped out at Jason (4500/2500). "Now the battle will replay… Before you begin, I activate the quick-play spell card, Last Chance from the Shadows! Each of us can now activate one magic card from our hands, regardless of whether they are normal, equip, continuous, or field. I choose United We Stand, and I will equip it to Dracula!"

Energy flowed from the Werewolf towards Dracula as the vampirish-werewolf raised his arms in delight (6100/4100).

"Now even your Solar Chaos Hydra cannot defeat Dracula!"

"You are a fool!" fired back Jason. "You sealed your fate by playing Last Chance from the Shadows."

The darkness of Dracula's lair started to crumble around them, much to the delight of Daniel and Carla. The sky did remain of space and stars, but it was now generally covered with a dark-blue overtone, rather than a completely inky black one. The surface they stood on was pure white, shooting across as far as they could see in any direction. Panik now found himself level with Jason who held his hand down. In front of him materialized a rainbow heavily favoring the three primary colors.

"I've activated the Field Spell known as Relativity Field. With this card in play, when a player's Life Points are decreased by a source of damage, the attack points of his monsters are decreased by the same amount."

"And just how do you plan to decrease my life-points?" growled Panik. "My Zombie Slave token is in defense mode."

"Solar Chaos Hydra, attack his Zombie Slave token!" ordered Jason, ignoring Panik's words as the green glint in his eyes shown even brighter than before. The seven heads opened their maws simultaneously as before releasing giant streams of flames in the direction of the demented, pale blue man. The massive wave of fire hit him directly and seemed to roast him alive within seconds. Soon, they faded away, and only a pile of cinders remained in their place.

"When it destroys a monster, Solar Chaos Hydra deals you five hundred points of damage."

The seven-headed dragon spat out a wave of flames in Panik's direction, hitting him in the torso and bringing him to his knees.

(Panik: 800, Jason: 300)

"It doesn't matter," said Panik desperately, though he had a growing sense of apprehension that he did. "Dracula (4800/3300) may have been weakened, but you cannot attack it. Now, the effect of Fated Turn will destroy you!"

"NO!" thundered Jason. His voice seemed to resonate throughout the endless abyss of the Relativity Field.

"You are scum, and do not deserve to inhabit this planet. I promised myself that I would take you apart piece by piece when you dared to step in my path. For that, you will pay. Solar Chaos Hydra can attack every monster on your field. This duel is over, and your life is as well."

Panik took a step back in terror, as he new full well that whatever the consequence of the duel was as decided by Chaos, he was not immune to monster attacks as Schrodinger was. The very real power of the Solar Chaos Hydra would leave not a trace of him behind. While Schrodinger could easily save himself from attacks and pull punches against other duelists to keep them healthy for the purpose of Chaos' game, Jason seemed to have no intent of doing so.

"You… You can't do this!" he choked. "You are nothing but a murderer!"

"I am no murderer," said Jason coldly. "I am your executioner."

With that, the giant dragon let lose its final wave of flames which slammed into Dracula and eclipsed the entire field in flames. In the chaos, a vortex opened and pulled a shocked Daniel into it, while another opened and sucked in Jason. Carla was left screaming momentarily, but then she disappeared.

When the flames ceased, all that was left was a burn mark on the ground where Panik had been.

(Panik: 0, Jason: 300)

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

In a small town, tucked away deep in the Midwestern United States, and at least a couple of hundred miles from Indiana, a young girl screamed in her bed and shot upright, sweat pouring down her forehead.

Her parents rushed in to see what the matter was, and tried their best to comfort her as she recounted the story of a horrid nightmare to them in between tears.

"It's ok, Carla, it's ok…" soothed her mother. "It was just a dream."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Brian could taste blood in his mouth. It felt like he had been knocked on his head with a baseball bat. Rolling over, he groaned. His vision was still bleary, and his hearing was not much better. Far away in the distance he could hear a distinctly familiar voice calling out, "Brian! Get up!"

He staggered up as his eyesight cleared up a bit to see Tea Gardner bending over him, an impatient look on her face.

He looked around him then, to see that they were in a vast, marble-plated room. The ceiling was shaped in a dome, and the entire room was painted a stark white, with absolutely no specks of dirt visible anywhere. There was no furniture, and only a single, heavy door located at one end.

"What happened?" he wondered.

"I don't really remember," she admitted. "We jumped into the Abyss, and I just drifted into unconsciousness then. Then, I remember some kind of gut-wrenching sensation and then I was just falling….. And I woke up here."

"It was something similar for me," replied Brian. He stood up, and the two looked around for a moment.

"Well, we ain't getting nowhere just standing here," he sighed. Together, they began to walk towards the door. Before they had taken even two paces, the doors swung open to reveal a blinding light. "What the-…." swore Brian as he raised his hands to cover his eyes.

Tea was too busy shielding her own eyes to reply. They had to continue like that momentarily, as the light continued with its intensity. Finally, slowly, it began to dim.

Brian looked up to see a tall man dressed in white robes. In the still bright light, he couldn't make out much. But he could hear him perfectly well.

"Mr. Palmer. Ms. Gardner. A pleasure to make your acquaintance. I brought you here."

"Who… Who are you?"

The man smiled briefly. "Many people could describe me in many ways. I am the embodiment of equivalence. I am the Heart of Balance. My name is Lord Order, and I am a member of the Infinity Council."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Hope you enjoyed that. Hell of a big chapter, and parts of it were very hard to write. I have two weeks off from school now, and though I need to study a lot, I'll try and write as much as possible. Thanks for continuing to follow my works, everyone. Just please review more!!!!!!!!!**


	28. Dark Prospects

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN: Dark Prospects

**Ha, here I am, back in just two weeks ********. Sadly I got just three reviews, but I'm grateful to you all the same.**

**Candyman123: Good beta's…. I'm not really sure, as I don't use them. But from what I know, Metal Overlord 2.0 does a mean job, but he's supposed to be extremely busy. Thanks for the review anyway, my friend.**

**MichaelDJ54: Glad you finally caught up and reviewed ********. Nice to see you enjoy my fic, hope to see more of yours in the near future.**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: Thanks a lot, man. As always I appreciate your ideas and criticism. You seem to have dropped off the entire FF thing lately, we should talk on AIM in a bit, I have a few devilish things spinning around my mind :). **

Rikuo strode brazenly through the corridors of Kaiba Corp.'s New York Headquarters, a look of absolute fury on his face. He had been waiting in that blasted room with a few of Kaiba's employees and the rest of them for nearly two hours while the guards searched the building, but he was unable to hold himself back any longer. Whichever fool had entered the building with the aim of disrupting their mission would pay dearly.

Next to him walked Deondre. Yami Bakura had grudgingly agreed to remain back with the Eagle agents and the pair of Duel Academy students in case of a surprise attack. Using thermal imagery, one of the technicians had determined the presence of four unaccounted for individuals in the generator room. One had a strong signature, one was fainter, while the other two barely remained at all.

With increasing trepidation, Deondre and Rikuo grew faintly aware of the fact that it was likely that Siegfried, Joey and Serenity were represented by the fainter signatures.

They arrived at the boiler room, and looked at one another. Anyone who had seemingly handled Siegfried so easily was now someone to be trifled with.

"You take him on the left. I'll go right. Let's cut that son of a bitch in two," growled Rikuo.

Deondre nodded. Rikuo raised a fist, but before he could make another move, a devastating pulse of energy slammed into the door, crushing it and ripping it from its hinges before the pair of Demon Lords had an opportunity to react. They just barely moved away as it flew past the two of them, but the pulse continued, ripping them both of their feet and throwing them to their knees. It seemed like an abnormally powerful gust of wind.

Rikuo looked up to see a tall, shadowy form standing in the doorway. He was floating perhaps six inches of the floor, and it caused the tails of his trench coat to flare up a little. In the darkness, details could not be made out, but his eyes were a burning white. Strewn around him were three bodies: Joey and Serenity Wheeler, and Siegfried Reinhardt.

Rikuo lost it then and there. He roared in rage and charged towards the floating man, drawing his fist back as he went. When he was about five feet away, he leapt into the air and thrust his hand out at the same time, releasing a wave of black flames. He let his anger take over him, and the flames just kept flowing out. For a second, the lack of defense made it seem like the attack had taken out its target then and there. However, Rikuo was forced to modify his opinion as a devastating force erupted from within the flames, deflecting it back in his direction and throwing him to the ground.

He looked up in rage, but it soon changed to shock as he saw the face of his target. "Taylor…?" he gasped.

Before he could say another word, the Third Horseman of Apocalypse slammed his fist into Rikuo's gut, throwing him backwards. He twirled around on his heel to complete a powerful roundhouse kick, but Deondre charged forward and intercepted it. Sylar turned his burning gaze to the Dog Demon Lord, and raised his fist with a snarl.

Deondre felt a massive pulse of invisible energy slam into him. If there was anyway to describe it, it would be like a massively scaled-down version of the pulse of a nuclear blast. He felt his ribs compact around his lungs as he was thrown five feet away. It was like being by the hardest gust of wind he had ever felt.

He staggered upwards, to see the faint, translucent silhouette of a long, draconian, writhing neck behind Sylar.

"Demons…" whispered the Third Horseman, stretching his head up.

The silhouette faded into the background, and was soon replaced by another one. This one seemed slightly brownish.

"I have defeated one of your brethren…"

The two of them could feel the Earth trembling beneath them. Standing alert on their feet, they could faintly here his next words.

"And now I use Earth to slay you."

The floor beneath them erupted into chaos, as large parts of the ground were suddenly thrown up. Rikuo had to jump just to avoid falling into the cracks between parts of the ground. Deondre leapt towards Joey's unconscious body to prevent him from slipping down himself. Rikuo darted to avoid another gust of powerful wind that appeared out of nowhere, diving to catch the unconscious Siegfried's collar.

Sylar raised his hands, and the air currents around them seemed to be going even wilder in response.

"Die…."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Eizan gasped in shock as an aura of colorless energy exploded from around the standing tower off the coast. He himself was seated demurely in an expensive motor-boat belonging to Eagle not three miles away, but he felt the shockwave of it was well.

The Eagle employee at the controls yelped and swerved to avoid the shockwave. It was as if one of the largest storms ever had erupted from within Kaiba's tower. A growing sense of guilt began to gnaw at his mind.

Sarah and Serena were both trapped inside there. There was absolutely no way he would be able to live with it if he turned to boat around without helping them. "Keep going," he urged the man at the controls, staring ahead at the tower, which seemed to still be standing.

"_Whoever is in there will pay for what he has done_."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The storm-like explosion had thrown both demons away from Sylar against the walls. He let out a low hiss as they staggered upwards, and received a strange response in kind from the cracks in the ground. Rikuo looked down in shock to see a snake crawling towards him, its yellow eyes fixated on his leg and its fangs glaring out.

He snarled in fury and picked it up, ripping it apart with his bare hands. Even as he did so, another pair were already crawling towards him, apparently having been lurking on the ceiling and having now proceeded down the wall.

Sylar watched on without emotion as a horde of the slithery reptiles began to infest the area where Rikuo and Deondre were both seated.

"This is unreal!" bellowed Deondre, shaking off a pair of snakes that had curled around his right arm, only to find another one about to bite his left one. He grabbed it and threw it away, giving him time to spare a glance for Rikuo, who was in a similar predicament. Snakes were all over them.

"ENOUGH OF THIS!" bellowed the Wolf Demon Lord. He let out a strange howl of fury, and black bolts of energy crackled all over him, slicing through any snake that had even minimal contact with him. He leapt upwards, balanced on the tip of a rock, the fury in his eyes so great that it seemed like he was ready to eat Sylar alive.

"I AM THE WOLF DEMON LORD!" he roared, raising his clawed fist for emphasis. "I WILL NOT BE SUBDUED BY YOUR PITIFUL REPTILES! WHEN YOU DID WHAT YOU DID TO MY BRETHREN, YOU MADE A KEY MISTAKE! WE DO NOT FORGIVE, AND NEITHER DO WE FORGET. I WILL HAVE YOUR SOUL!"

With a horrifying roar, he jumped across the a gap in the floor towards the Horseman, whose lips twitched slightly. A gust of wind erupted out of nowhere as the translucent shape of a dragon's head curled around Sylar's shoulders. It would have knocked a normal man off balance completely, but Rikuo snapped his hand backward and deflected the pulse in the other direction. With that, he landed right on Sylar with a devastating blow to the face.

The Horseman had not expected his elemental attack to be warded off so easily, and had therefore not been prepared for the punch. It knocked him slightly off balance, and it was enough for Rikuo to follow it up with a powerful upper-cut to his torso. Spinning around, the Wolf Demon Lord delivered a roundhouse kick to Sylar's head which threw him all the way across the room. He would have crashed into the wall, the impact of which would have been enough to break every bone in his body, but he caught himself in mid-air, hovering like he had not a care in the world.

For a moment, his head was hung low. Slowly, he lifted it up, a sadistic, demure smile on his face. It was as if Rikuo hadn't hit him at all.

The demon was stunned. He couldn't remember the last time he had been forced to hit someone three times. Once was usually enough to break them in two. What kind of power did this individual possess?

"I am Sylar, Third Horseman of Apocalypse," he breathed. "I have extracted two thirds of my necessary revenge, and disposed of the foolish demon who dared to cross my path. If you, Rikuo Amero, would like to join him in Hell, come looking for me. But now, my work here is done. I do not intend to waste any more time squabbling like a pathetic child with you."

With that, his eyes began to burn a bright red. The image of a larger draconic head appeared behind him, and his entire body seemed to ignite. Before Rikuo could do another thing, he had suddenly erupted into flight, burning through the ceiling above him and disappearing from view.

Rikuo stood there for a second, heaving for breath, and stunned. He paced towards the spot where Sylar had been standing. He looked up, to see a human shaped hole in the ceiling, followed by another on the next floor, and the next, and the next, all the way up to the top of the building.

The Horseman was gone.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kaiba stalked past the security guards who had come enquiring about the incident on the London Eye after he had been brought down in the rescue helicopter. A simple flash of ID had made them realize who he was, and then they were only too happy to allow him to leave.

It was starting to rain. He simply stood by the dull Thames, gazing out into the rush of water as the drops began to pound down his head and shoulders.

He didn't know what to do. For the first time in his life, Seto Kaiba was feeling a tad helpless. The fact that the Paradias agents knew the location of the safe house where Kyle was staying and James had been kept captive meant that all his resources in the United Kingdom were compromised. Normally, he would have tried to pin down the leak, but right now, he was just too exhausted. What could have possibly happened?

He stood there for ten minutes, twenty, letting the rain seep into his clothes and soak him to the bone. Melancholy thoughts floated in and out of his mind. He just didn't know what to do. For all he knew, his old business acquaintance who had provided the SAS escort was in bed with Paradias, which meant his options were really down to zero.

It must have been nine o'clock when he was finally snapped out of his trance. By then, he was wetter than he had ever been in his life. Normally, he would have snapped at the person who had dared to tap on his shoulder, but now, he was just too tired.

Not too tired for surprise, however.

To his shock, the tall, blonde English girl who had been trapped up in the London Eye with him was standing there, a sympathetic smile on her face.

"You're Seto Kaiba."

Kaiba recovered himself in time to snap out of it and retort. "I know who I am," he growled.

"Funny picture, this would make," she continued. "Heartless CEO snob standing out in the rain all alone. I don't know how it would affect your stock."

She followed up with a low giggle.

Kaiba felt a growing sense of irritation. "If you took the time to recognize me, thank you. But I have a hell of a lot on my plate right now. If you've come to talk to me about the incident up in the Eye, I have nothing to say. It was a routine business meeting interrupted by an incident that did not concern me whatsoever."

"You know, that statement has so many holes, I'd be able to write a book on it," she retorted. "One, routine. Seriously? He pulled a gun on you, for God's sake. Two, I don't think believe that the incident didn't concern you. The timing that your supposed business partner was snatched by a rival corporation, incidentally about the same time that you were in a meeting with him is just too convenient. Plus, I heard what he was telling you. A friend of yours was snatched from a safehouse, and you have to go to Marble Arch at three in the morning if you want to get him back. Gee, I'd have to say it concerns you a lot."

Kaiba was speechless.

She smiled back. "Yeah, I'm a journalist. I cover the international section, so I know a lot about stuff like this. I have an ear for these kind of things, mate."

He finally replied. "Why the hell do you care?"

"I realized that Seto Kaiba would have probably torn those people apart now, if he had the resources. But the fact that you were standing like that, all alone in the rain for so long made me realize you probably had a bit of a dilemma ahead of you. I thought you could use my help. After all, that guy up in the Eye would have killed me if it hadn't been for the way you calmed him down. What's the deal?"

Kaiba was still stunned. He had never expected something like this.

"I don't understand. How are you still standing after that ordeal?"

She shrugged. "Like I said, I'm a journalist. We go through a lot worse. I went to Africa once, Sierra Leone. The things I saw there among the revolutionaries make this seem like a walk in the park. I'm fine, I really am. It's not the first time I've been threatened like that. Seriously, I want to thank you for keeping him from pulling the trigger like that. I'm guessing you're resources in the UK have been compromised, and all your friends could be your enemies. You don't have the time to pull help from any other source. I'm serious. I've made a fair few contacts over the days."

Kaiba glared at her. "How do you I know this is not a trap?"

She shrugged, and pulled up her sleeve, revealing a crimson streak on it. "He did get a shot off in the chaos," she admitted. "It didn't hit me, but grazed past. It isn't really possible to do something like that on mistake. He was really shooting to kill at that point."

Kaiba stood still for a moment, thoughts spinning through his head. Finally, a plan began to form. He allowed himself a faint smile "There's only one thing I want: zero interference from the police unless I say so. I want to make these idiots pay myself."

She shrugged. "That's fair. I guess you know what you're doing. I'll speak to my editor, he knows the commissioner personally and has a fair bit of dirt on him. But if you want that to work out then, there's one condition on my side as well."

He raised an eyebrow. "And what might that be?"

"I go with you."

"Impossible!" he spat. "The plan I've constructed is very risky, and even I'm not sure if I'll survive."

"Well, if you don't want the place brimming with cops within a minute, and them taking all of you into custody forever, you'll have to agree. The only way my editor will get the commissioner to agree is if I can get the details of this entire thing. It would really be a great story."

Kaiba looked at her disbelievingly. "Are you _serious_? This entire thing is about a _story_?!"

She nodded. "Don't worry. No names will be mentioned at all. But if I can connect the chaos at the London Eye today with a violent incident at Marble Arch later on tonight, that's a huge conspiracy staring the public in the face. Stuff like that does _not_ come along very often. This is a Pulitzer-sized thing. I'm serious. I need a break desperately."

Kaiba shook his head. "Your problem then. Come if you want, but you'll be on your own."

"I'm a girl who can take care of herself. So, final deal: you go there tonight, I'll hang around as discreetly as possible and get the details of the story. The police will stay back unless things get really bad. You deal with these guys, whoever they are, and I get my Pulitzer!"

She smiled dreamily at the thought.

Kaiba rolled his eyes. "Who are you, anyway?"

"I'm Natasha Marquand," she replied. "Call me Tash."

"Fine," he finished, turning around. "Like I said: I want the cops there, but they better hang back until my say so. Otherwise, no story."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ryu stood alone in the emptiness of the desert. In all four directions, sand was kicked up into the air by volatile air currents. He had woken up about five or six minutes ago, taking a little time to recall the events leading up to their plunge into the Abyss, and then taking in his surroundings. It was unmistakable.

He was in Egypt.

The pyramids in the distance, the sphinx not too far away, it was all so symbolic. It was like he was in a postcard.

Suddenly, he heard a roar of fright and turned to see a figure fall out of the sky. It fell behind a dune, and the sight was followed by a thump and a groan. He ran over to it, only to see his friend Daniel Pilkington lying there by himself, a sour expression on his face.

Ryu helped him up as Daniel recounted the events he had just been through.

"I'm serious…" he said. "Jason was like another person. His eyes turned a dim shade of green, and he just transformed."

"Nothing we can do about it here," replied the dragon demon grimly. "All we can do is just to try and get the hell out of this damned place, and sort out this thing when we get back."

Daniel nodded. "According to the rules of Chaos' little game, someone should challenge us quite soon…"

They stood silent in the desert wind momentarily.

Slowly, a figure emerged in the distance. It was a man of medium height, with long white hair and brown eyes. He was dressed in an expensive suit, with a Duel Disk on his right arm. His face had an easy smile on it.

"Mr. Pilkington. Mr. Zaytel," he called out. The two demons stared ahead at him, a hard look on their face.

"Interesting that I would chance upon both the Dragon Demon Lord and the hikari of the Wolf Demon Lord. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Yakou Tenma."

The name brought a faint recollection to Daniel's mind. This was the protégé of Maximillion Pegasus, and was responsible for a near-hostile takeover of Kaiba Corp. It had concluded with a showdown with Yugi before he had retreated to his home in the country, never to have been heard of again. He frowned.

"_Looks like we've all been running into unwelcome faces in this place_."

"I'm sure you know the rules. I am actually an extension of Chaos himself, but I possess all the power and characteristics of the form I have taken. The result of this duel is up in the air, and will only be decided once it is finished. However, this is special. We are playing a Duel Challenge, in which special conditions apply in exchange for certain rewards in the event of your victory. The two of you get to face me together, but if either one of you loses, it counts as a loss for the both of you."

They looked surprised as he continued. "I will have sixteen thousand life-points, as compared to eight thousand for each of you. None of us can attack on our first turns. Anything else you want to know?"

Daniel knew from his experience of Jason's confrontation with Panik that the only option they had right now was to accept. They would go nowhere without dueling.

"Fine," he said grudgingly, activating his Duel Disk.

"Perfect," replied Yakou, as the three of them formed a triangle. Their holo projectors flew out simultaneously, causing the first instance of any real noise in the silence of the Egyptian desert.

"LET'S DUEL!"

(Yakou: 16000, Daniel: 8000, Ryu: 8000)

Yakou drew calmly. "I set two cards facedown, and add one monster in defense mode." Three brown-backed cards appeared behind him. The first two were vertical. In front of them was a horizontal one.

"That will conclude my turn."

Daniel fixed him with a suspicious glare as he drew. "_I don't believe that for one damn second. From what I heard about Yakou's strategy, he was supposed to play something far more aggressive. He's planning something, definitely, such a defensive move to start is simply out of character with his deck_."

"Come now," drawled Yakou. "Surely it is not so uncommon for a duelist to play a defensive move such as that. For all you know I simply didn't have the best of opening hands."

"_Yeah right_," thought Daniel grimly as he lined up his options. It was a good opening hand for sure, enough to overwhelm most minor duelists. But Yakou Tenma was another thing….

"I activate Polymerization, in order to fuse Elemental Hero Wildheart (1500/1600) and Elemental Hero Bladedge (2600/1800) in my hand to summon Elemental Hero Wildedge (2600/2300)!"

Instantly, the tan skinned warrior in a white loin cloth and the golden warrior with rippling muscles and several blades appeared. The pair swirled together and from the swirling came a new warrior in golden armor on his left arm and right leg, with a golden helmet. The remainder of the warrior's body was bare tanned skin. On his back was a huge sword in a sheath, seemingly waiting to be used.

"Then, I'll normal summon Elemental Hero Sparkman (1600/1400) in attack mode."

A small electrical storm without warning flared up, from which the blue and gold warrior with wing like structures on his back appeared.

"Then I'll set one card facedown and end my turn. Your move, Ryu."

"Indeed," muttered the dragon demon.

"I activate the magic card Cost Down, which allows me to discard one card from my hand in order to reduce the levels of each monster in my hand by two. I will discard Repayment of Losses to this cost, which allows me to draw a further card in return."

Swiftly, he did so, before plucking another card from his hand and placing it on his Duel Disk.

"I summon Dragon Demon Lord (2400/1000) in attack mode!" A tall, humanoid dragon appeared. He was dressed in heavy, samurai armor, and clutched a four foot long saber in one hand. The demon's scales were a deep emerald, with ruby-like eyes embedded in its skull. Its sinuous head extended out of the small crevice in its armor and let out a low growl in Yakou's direction.

"Then I play Lord's Ascension, which allows me to sacrifice one 'Demon Lord' monster on my field in order to special summon from my deck an upgraded version of it. I now unleash the almighty Grand Dragon General (3000/2500)!"

The Dragon Demon Lord raised his sword skyward, and a shaft of golden light eclipsed him from the other's view. The column slowly began to expand, and when it vanished, a taller and more imposing dragon demon stood in its place. It was covered in beautiful golden armor, on which exquisite craftsmanship was visible. Its sword was longer.

"Then I set one card facedown and end my turn," he growled.

Yakou smiled sympathetically. "Such powerful opening plays," he murmured as he drew.

A broad smile graced his face. "Well, gentlemen, the floodgates have been opened. Let me show you a real game of Duel Monsters."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kevin Hunter couldn't stop himself fidgeting. Not many people in his place would have been successful in those attempts. After all, this was probably one of the most important nights of his life, for two reasons. First, the success or failure of this mission would decide his standing in Paradias. If it failed, it was very likely that he might end up in police custody tonight, which was unlikely. If it succeeded, then he would move up the ranks far more rapidly then even he had anticipated.

Secondly, it was also going to be the first time he would encounter Seto Kaiba face to face since the Tournament of Shadows. He was being trusted to keep his cool and follow the plan. He hoped that trust was well placed.

Kyle had been a problem. The irritating teenager had been behaving in an extremely annoying manner, kicking two of their agents between the legs after being captured in the safehouse while Kaiba's guards were disposed of. James was extremely frustrated with his spell as a prisoner as it was, and had decided to inject the young prodigy with a drug that would knock him out for a spell. It had worked fine up until then.

Kevin himself was waiting in a car, lazily playing with the steering wheel and watching the clock across the street.

Two fifty eight a.m. If Kaiba showed, it would be pretty soon.

Diablo was supposedly waiting in the corner of an alley, while James hung back, away from the scene, with the unconscious Kyle, who was to be used as a threat if the proceedings went sour. Reflect had firmly established the insane Demon Wolf as the team leader, and he was fairly confident that nothing of the sort would happen. Kevin secretly disagreed, but didn't voice his opinion. He didn't want to get on the wrong side of Diablo.

Two fifty nine.

Kevin stretched his neck in frustration, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel. The streets were empty, for even the people of the largest city of one of the world's most globalized countries had to sleep at some time. If any violence was required, it would be quick and noiseless. There was no chance of any law enforcement authorities getting involved.

Three a.m. Big Beg began to slowly rumble in the distance. This drowned out the sound of Seto Kaiba's footsteps as Kevin noticed his tall, gaunt figure striding up the road on his own. His features were shadowed out in the darkness, but the manner in which he walked signaled a kind of confidence which Kevin would not have expected from a man in his situation.

"_Ah, what the hell_," he thought to himself. "_All the more fun to squash his hopes_."

He smiled grimly before grabbing his Duel Disk where it lay on the passenger seat and stuffing it into his jacket. Jumping out of the car, he walked some distance and stopped. Kaiba did so himself, so that there was about twenty feet between them.

The two stood silent for a moment.

Finally, Kevin spoke. "It's over, Kaiba."

The CEO refused to reply.

"I said it's over. It's done. You have no option now. If you wanted help from law enforcement then you would have already spoken to them, and knowing you, you wouldn't have done that. This is a public place, and all the money and contacts in the world couldn't have gotten you out of the mess of litigation you would have had to deal with in this situation. So give us the terminal, and then we'll talk about Gardner."

Kaiba raised his head a little bit.

"Sorry. No deal."

"Oh?" Kevin looked surprised. "No deal?"

"Yeah. Once I give you the terminal, what's to stop you from killing both me and Kyle and making off with it? I'm not stupid."

"I don't really think you ever had a choice here," chuckled Kevin. He thrust a hand into his pocket and brandished a gun in Kaiba's direction. "Either you give me the terminal now or I retrieve it from your dead body."

Kaiba smiled, almost sympathetically. "How stupid do you really think I am? I don't have the damn thing on me."

Kevin frowned. That was probably true.

"Which means that killing me will do you no good whatsoever. Paradias wants me alive, because right now I'm the only person in the world who knows the location of each and every one of those precious seventy-two million dollars."

The Paradias agent frowned.

"Yeah, but if you don't tell us where the money is, that annoying kid will breath his last."

Kaiba smirked. "And if that happens, then you will never see a single cent."

Silence reigned between the two, as Kevin thought hard. It all came down to what Kaiba was really capable of. Would he sacrifice Kyle's life for his own freedom as well as permanent leverage over Paradias until the conclusion of this affair? Or was he just bluffing and waiting to see if Paradias gave first? Kevin had always loathed Kaiba to the very core, and had considered him to the personification of heartlessness and cruelty.

But deep down, he knew that was just his hatred speaking. Kaiba's reaction when he found out that Mokuba had been kidnapped, all that time ago during their duel in New York, showed that indeed he wasn't, at least to some extent, the selfish and cold-hearted monster that most people considered him to be.

"We could stand here forever, playing this little game of chess," continued Kaiba. "It all depends on who gives first."

Kevin smirked back. "Would you be interested to know that right now, Kyle Gardner has a gun to his head? It's very funny, you know, but I don't think you could take that guilt. Even if you could, we have other ways of pumping this kind of information out of you…"

He trailed off with an evil chuckle. The ground literally shook as the gigantic El Lobo Diablo strode towards them from out of an alleyway. Literally tucked under one of his arms was a struggling Tash. Kaiba frowned. He had told her to stay well clear of the action, and stay just close enough to observe the progression of events. Evidently she hadn't listened.

"You broke the terms of our deal, Kaiba," growled Diablo. "That will not be good for your friend Gardner's health. We told you to come alone. Now, we may break a few terms ourselves."

He literally dropped Tash to the floor. She looked up at Kaiba apologetically.

"There is nothing stopping me from killing you right now, Kaiba," rumbled the giant man. "It would cost Paradias over seventy million dollars. Agreed, that is a considerable amount of money, but things like these are only temporary. Money is not important. Your life, however is. The loss of it would be a lot more permanent."

Kaiba looked him back in the eye, with a cold, hard glare.

"We have reached a stalemate here. I can see through your pathetic bluffs, Diablo. That kind of loss would shake up Reflect quite badly. You're looking for another way to settle this compromise. You can bring Reflect back all the trophies you want, but unless he can cash a check for seventy million tomorrow, he will_ not_ be satisfied."

Diablo gave a deep chuckle, one that would have sent shivers down Tash's spine. What kind of people was Kaiba involved with?

"You already broke the terms of the deal, and that's cause enough to put you down without further ado. But that can be dealt with later. A compromise is possible, yes. We could do this, preferably, in a far more violent way, but that would be longer and far more messy. Now, we can get this over with quickly."

He threw his black cape off, to reveal that his other arm had a Chaos Duel Disk fixed onto it. His giant, toned body shone in the moonlight. Dark fog began to roll in.

Kaiba allowed himself a low chuckle. "_Wrestlers dueling? I thought I'd seen it all_."

Suddenly, they heard the crack of a bullet smashing into the concrete next to them. Kaiba swore, and saw a sniper looking over the roof of one of the nearby buildings. The police had neglected to listen to Tash's editor. It was foolish of him. What kind of influence could an editor have anyway?

Diablo looked furious. "You are going to die for this, Kaiba!"

Kevin had pulled out a gun, and was brandishing it in Kaiba's direction. "Deal with them, Hunter!" he snarled. "I'll handle the police."

He took off in the direction of an oncoming squad of cars.

Kaiba had already reacted, lashing out in Kevin's direction and catching him with a left hook to the jaw. It sent him sprawling sideways, and his gun flew away in the other direction. Kevin staggered back and avoided a brutal follow up. He jabbed Kaiba in the ribs, forcing him a step backward, before lashing out with his foot for a roundhouse kick. Kaiba caught his foot in both hands, knocking him off his feet.

Automatic gunfire sounded behind them like a storm. It seemed Paradias had its own backup waiting in the wings in case things had gone sour. It was punctuated by the sound of a grenade explosion, which seemed to rock the entire street. Tash had drawn herself away from the sounds of the battle and towards the wall of one of the surrounding buildings. Kaiba was amazed at her ability to keep her cool in this kind of situation.

He turned back to Kevin, to see he had already broken away. Kaiba's gaze followed his disappearing heels into a side-alley. He grunted. If he wanted to end this, he had no choice but to follow the other man. He quickly turned on heel and ran into the alley, only to see that Kevin had turned at another spot and gone into a second alley.

It seemed that he had acknowledged the hopelessness of settling this while the area was erupting into an all-out war zone. Kaiba, however, refused to let it go. This _had_ to stop.

Suddenly, as he turned into a third alley, he was met with a resounding punch to the face by a furious Kevin. It knocked him off his feet, and gave Kevin an opportunity to jump forward towards him, fist raised. Kaiba rolled away in time, and slammed sideways into the younger man with his shoulder, throwing him off balance. The gunshots still sounded in the background. One could only imagine how terrified the residents would be.

Kaiba danced back, panting.

"I _hate_ you," snarled Kevin. He had a feral look in his eyes, coupled with a look of such intense loathing that Kaiba had never seen it anywhere else. It was almost a bit disconcerting.

"This has to end someday, Kevin," growled back the CEO. "I thought it had. We fought Dartz together. Why are you continuing this?"

Kevin seemed like all reason was lost on him. Even Reflect's warning against dueling Kaiba meant nothing.

"One of us will not leave this alleyway tonight," he fired back, and pulled a Chaos Duel Disk out of his jacket.

Kaiba grimaced. It had to come to this eventually, he knew. He would never claim to truly understand the magnitude of Kevin Hunter's hatred towards him, but he knew that he would never stop. Kaiba was not a fan of murder, but he seemed to have no choice but to go along with Kevin. Otherwise, this would go on for an eternity.

He slid on his own Duel Disk. They were far away enough from the battle scene to be able to proceed with this themselves.

The two fired out holo projectors simultaneously. "This ends here, Kevin," growled Kaiba.

"For you," fired back the angry duelist.

(Kaiba: 8000, Kevin: 8000)

Kaiba drew first, grimacing at the sound of a second grenade explosion. "I summon X-Head Cannon (1800/1500) in attack mode."

A blue and yellow robotic creature, that was legless and hovered on a spiked ball, and had twin cannons extending out of its shoulders materialized. The robots hands were metal clawed, making it seemingly more dangerous.

"Then I set one card facedown and end my turn."

Kevin drew angrily.

"I'm going to finish you off, Kaiba. I summon Slate Warrior (1900/1500) in attack mode!"

Appearing on the field was the a tall, brown warrior. He wore a blue mask and wielded a deadly halberd. It was just barely stronger than the X-Head Cannon.

"Then I'll set one card facedown before attacking your pathetic machine with my warrior!" The powerful, muscular soldier unsheathed his weapon and charged towards the machine, drawing his blade back as he went. Kaiba allowed himself a faint smirk as he tapped a button on his Duel Disk.

"I activate my facedown trap White Soul's Sacrifice! By tributing one light-attribute monster in play, I can special summon from my deck one monster with 'Blue Eyes' in its name as long as that monster's level is not two stars greater then the monster I sacrificed!"

Kevin raised an eyebrow as the machine vanished just as the Slate Warrior completed its swing, with the blade passing through thin air.

"A level six 'Blue Eyes' monster?" he growled.

"Indeed. I special summon Blue Eyes Lightning Dragon (2400/1500)!"

A bolt of white lightning slammed into the ground in front of Kaiba. A shriek was heard and a sleek, white form appeared from within the light. It looked similar to the original Blue Eyes, but was a lot smaller. However, it was nonetheless deadly, with a ridge of pure white, bone-like spines running down its back, and lightning crackling all over its body. Staring in Kevin's direction, it let out a low growl.

Kevin frowned. "Fine. I set two cards facedown and end my turn."

Kaiba could see that the anger on Kevin's face due to his use of the Blue-Eyes monsters was extremely apparent. He had to consider exploiting it, for the angrier the teenager got, the more mistakes he would make.

He drew, and immediatley chose a card before slamming it down onto his Duel Disk.

"Then I summon Vorse Raider (1900/1200) in attack mode!"

A thick, tan, and bulky beast erupted onto the field, wielding a dark-chrome and pointed axe. It had vicious, yellow teeth, and equally disturbing, red eyes. Its war helmet barely contained the large, white horns on its head's tip.

"Now, Blue Eyes Lightning Dragon attacks your Slate Warrior! Lightning Burst Stream!" The dragon roared and opened its maw, within which a mass of crackling white electricity was present. Contrary to the regular Blue Eyes, this one's attack really did look like lightning. With a screech, the energy erupted out in the Slate Warrior's direction, ripping through the unfortunate warrior and reducing it to a mere burn mark on the ground.

Kevin grunted in pain as a sharp pain entered his abdomen.

(Kaiba: 8000, Kevin: 7500)

"Then Vorse Raider will attack you directly!"

The massive beast-warrior charged forward, a look of fury on its face as it raised its staff-like axe.

"Not happening!" declared Kevin. "I activate Ultimate Offering, paying five hundred life-points to perform a normal summon now! Come forth, Axe Dragonute (2000/1200)!"

Appearing on Kevin's field was a strange, humanoid, dragon-like creature. Its body was covered in scales. The ones on its limbs and chest were a shiny black, while the ones on its torso and neck were purple. A black helmet covered its head, and cruel, yellow eyes were visible through it. Electric black wings with two sharp pieces of bone sticking out of each end were fixed to its back. It carried a giant axe in one hand, with a bronze handle and a massive blade.

(Kaiba: 8000, Kevin: 7000)

Kaiba grimaced. It seemed like they were playing off each other's moves at the moment. The appearance of a new monster would force a replay of the battle, which of course his Vorse Raider had no chance of winning.

"Fine. I end my turn."

Kevin drew aggressively.

"I'm going to make you pay now, Kaiba. Watch as I unleash the true power of my deck by sacrificing Axe Dragonute to summon the mighty Dark General Freed (2300/1700)!"

The muscular warrior disappeared, and in his place was an equally demonic, if a little more dignified warrior. He wore silver armor, with a gold crest that stretched from one shoulder to another. Imbedded in his armor across his chest were precious rubies and an ivory belt was strapped across his waist. He had pale blue skin, and similar colored hair. In his belt was a sheathed sword. One hand rested on its handle. Blood red eyes flashed across at his opponents.

"Now, I happen to have one dark-attribute monster and one wind-attribute monster in my graveyard. I remove them both from play to call upon the might of my Dark Simorgh (2700/1000)!"

Appearing on the field was the spirit of a tall, brown warrior. He wore a blue mask and wielded a deadly halberd. It was the Slate Warrior. Next to him was the bulky, armored form of the Axe Dragonute. Soon, the two spirits converged in a blinding flash of light as a new form exploded onto Kevin's field.

It was a bird, but what a bird. It reminded one of a large, black mountain, with a bulky torso, covered with black metallic scales, upon which fickle feathers provided a little bit of decoration. It had thick legs extended down from its torso, which tapered down to three toed, reptilian feet, each one with a large, deadly looking claw. Its wings were a little less bulky then the rest of its body, but when it spread them wide a shadow was cast over the field. A large, bony and metallic ring arched over its head, which was topped with a ruby diamond. Its eyes were crimson, with a razor sharp beak. It screeched, causing Kaiba's monsters to shift in discomfort.

"_Two monsters, one with twenty-three hundred attack points and the other with twenty-seven hundred_," thought Kaiba silently. "_He seems to be using some kind of rush strategy in which he benefits from having monsters in the graveyard_."

"Now, Freed attacks your Vorse Raider with Dark General's Blade!"

The demonic man drew his jeweled sword as his eyes flashed. Within seconds of Kevin's command, he was upon the Vorse Raider, who parried his first blow with his staff. The second, however, snapped it in two and continued on to bury itself in the beast-warrior's chest, causing it to let out a roar of pain before exploding.

(Kaiba: 7600, Kevin: 7000)

"Then, Dark Simorgh attacks your pathetic excuse for a Blue-Eyes with Dark Wing Burst!"

The bird screeched, and with a single flap of its gigantic wings, which also threw up a cloud of dust, it was in the air. It flapped once more, but this time it was far harder. The powerful gust of wind crashed into the sleek dragon. For a second, it was motionless, and then the powerful air current lifted it up and threw it into the wall of a nearby building, causing it to shatter into an uncountable number of tiny pixels.

(Kaiba: 7300, Kevin: 7000)

"When Blue Eyes Lightning Dragon is destroyed, I can special summon one level four or lower 'White Dragon' monster from my deck. I choose to summon my White Dragon Hatchling (1300/1000)."

Materializing onto Kaiba's field was a small white dragon whose scales had a blue tinge to them. It looked a bit like a juvenile version of the legendary Blue Eyes, as it was barely a fourth the size of the original, with a much less bulky structure and less developed features. Its eyes shone blue as well, but lacked that frightening callousness that could make even the most experienced duelist shiver at the sight of it.

"You can continue summoning your pathetic Blue Eyes imitations all duel long, but against my monsters, it will mean nothing!" spat Kevin. He glanced over his hand once more and motioned for Kaiba to take his turn.

The CEO drew. "Now, I activate the continuous magic card Frontline Base! This allows me to special summon one union monster during my main phase one. I choose my White Dragon Rider (500/500)!"

Appearing next to the miniature Blue Eyes was a man dressed in shining white armor. He had a crystal helmet covering his face, and a pearl-colored sword in one hand. A silver shield was fitted onto the other, while a flowing, snow-like cape stretched out behind him the wind.

"Now, I'll union White Dragon Rider and White Dragon Hatchling to call upon White Dragon Knight (1800/1500)!"

The two monsters began to glow, and floated upwards into the air. The rider floated higher and settled itself on the dragon's back, as a saddle and reins appeared beneath him. He clutched them in one hand while his sword transformed into a spear in the other. The dragon itself seemed to grow a little more mature and larger.

"It's still quite weak," growled Kevin.

"For every 'White Dragon' monster in my graveyard, White Dragon Knight gains two hundred attack and defense points. Blue Eyes Lightning Dragon counts as one, just to inform you, so I have three, meaning White Dragon Knight gains an additional six hundred attack and defense points!"

The union monster was struck by three streams of white energy from within Kaiba's graveyard (2400/2100).

"Now, White Dragon Knight attacks your Dark General Freed!" declared Kaiba. The dragon let out a low growl, and took off towards the demonic, grizzly man, who snarled in return. Its rider raised his spear and flung it in Freed's direction striking him in the chest. Before he could react, the dragon continued on, slamming into him and shattering him into hundreds of tiny pieces as the rider picked up his spear from the corpse before flying back to Kaiba's field.

(Kaiba: 7300, Kevin: 6900)

"Then, I'll set one card facedow-…."

"No you won't," interrupted Kevin. "As long as Dark Simorgh is in play, you can't set any cards Thanks to that, you will be unable to set up defenses of any kind, because that means no set monsters to hide behind or cheap traps to use against me!"

He broke off into maniacal laughter.

Kaiba was unperturbed. "You think I planned to use White Dragon Knight against your Dark Simorgh. You're really more foolish than I thought, if that's really the case. I activate this normal magic card, Blessings of the White Goddess! By sacrificing one White Dragon monster in play, I can special summon one Blue Eyes White Dragon (3000/2500) from my deck!"

Kevin gasped in shock as the rider and hatchling vanished from his sight.

A hole burned in the sky, and through the opening emerged an enormous light-blue dragon with white tones about it, and dark-blue eyes. It had very short, thin arms, but immense and flapping wings. It had large legs, barreling down to sharpened, white nails for feet. The dragon mightily hovered about in midair, flaunting its mighty teeth in Kevin's direction. It flapped its wings forward, blowing a heavy gust toward Simorgh, which it regarded with distaste.

"_That monster_…." Kevin was literally shaking with fury.

"That's right, Hunter," taunted Kaiba. "I am the keeper of the greatest monster in the game. You can dream about possessing it for an eternity, but it will remain mine and only mine until a duelist worthy enough is able to take it from me. Coincidentally, not one such individual on this planet fits that bill, and you certainly don't."

He smirked. "Then I'll end my turn."

Kevin drew, and glared at the dragon. "I activate the equip magic card, Dark Invigoration! This boosts the attack and defense points of one dark monster on my field by three hundred, and gives it an additional ability to sacrifice its attack for the turn in order to special summon one level four or lower dark monster from my graveyard!"

Simorgh (3000/1300) roared out the Blue Eyes. "Since I don't plan on suiciding our two monsters, I'll sacrifice Dark Simorgh's attack to special summon Dark General Freed (2300/1700) once again from my graveyard, but in defense mode."

The savage general materialized next to the towering bird, holding his sword across his chest diagonally.

"With that, I'll set one card facedown and end my turn."

Kaiba drew confidently. "I summon Torrent Dragon (1800/1200) in attack mode."

A bluish-black dragon materialized onto his field. It was a lot less majestic and sleek then the Blue Eyes, and seemed to be permanently mired in a puddle of dark water. Its wings were large, but were folded over its body, with its beady eyes staring out at Simorgh.

"Once per turn, Torrent Dragon allows me to sacrifice his attack to force one monster on your field into defense mode."

Kevin snarled in anger as the dragon stood up and spread its wings. A storm appeared on Kaiba's side of the field, and strong winds and a mass of rain buffeted against Simorgh, forcing it to cross its wings over itself defensively. Kaiba smirked and pointed at it.

"Blue Eyes, destroy it now! White Lightning!"

The dragon roared and opened its mouth, letting lose a bolt of shining white energy in the direction of the massive bird. It slammed into the shield provided by Simorgh's crossed wings, and its path was stayed momentarily. However, with another roar from the dragon, the breadth of the blast expanded and slammed right into Simorgh, shattering it into millions of pieces as it roared in agony.

Kevin snarled in anger at the destruction of his monster as Kaiba declared, "That should do it for this turn. Go, Hunter."

Kevin drew angrily. "I set one monster in defense mode and end my turn." Along with the facedown card in his magic and trap zone was another just a little distance from it. Axe Dragonute remained in defense mode.

The CEO drew confidently.

"Now, I sacrifice Torrent Dragon to summon Luster Dragon #2(2400/1400) in attack mode." Rising up onto the field was an emerald colored dragon with powerful wings, clawed hands, feet, and a tail. The dragon let out a soft roar, as if trying to look intimidating.

"Now, Luster Dragon #2 will destroy your Dark General!"

The dragon roared and opened its mouth, within which a sphere of green energy was forming. Jerking its head forward, it unleashed the attack in the direction of Freed, who didn't even have an opportunity to react before he was engulfed in the energy, and burnt away into nothingness.

"Then, my Blue Eyes attacks your facedown monster!" commanded Kaiba. "White Lightning!"

The majestic dragon roared, similar to its comrade but far louder and more imposing. A literal storm of faint, bluish-white energy shot out in the direction of the facedown card, which just flipped up in time to reveal a giant black blob, covered with purple stains. The second the blast hit it, it was reduced to nothingness, leaving Kevin's field empty but for his facedown card.

"You destroyed my Giant Germ (1000/100)!" declared Kevin. "Now, you're dealt five hundred points of damage and I can now special summon two more of them in face-up attack position!"

Kaiba grimaced as he felt a spasm of pain wrack his body, while two more disgusting germs materialized onto Kevin's field (1000/100) (x2).

(Kaiba: 6800, Kevin: 6900)

Kevin drew, and smirked at Kaiba.

"I warned you not to take me lightly, Kaiba. I hold one of the most powerful decks ever made, and with it I will make you pay."

"It's not so much the deck that matters, but the duelist," snapped back Kaiba. "A World Champion would still be elite even if he used a deck with cards like Snapestatch and Bolt Escargot in it. But someone as pathetic as you, who doesn't even have it in him to stand by his own monsters and true deck, will remain weak no matter what kind of cards you possess."

Kevin squeezed his fist tighter. "You're all talk and no action, Kaiba! I'll prove you wrong right here and now by special summoning Dark Armed Dragon (2800/1000) from my hand, since I have exactly three dark monsters in my graveyard!"

Through nearly blinding darkness, a tall and scaley black dragon started to ascend. It had deep spikes sticking out of the end of its snake-like tail, though the tail fattened out at the peak. Blade-like wings were on the back of the monster, and sharp claws were its hands and feet; it wore spiked bracelets on its forearms. Its head had dark horns, with its face containing shadowy eyes and a dark-smoke-snorting nose. The teeth were nearly flashing white, but were noticeably sharp as well.

"Now the real duel begins!" declared Kevin, pointing at the Blue Eyes. "Once per turn, Dark Armed Dragon allows me to remove a dark monster in my graveyard from play to destroy one card! So I'll remove Giant Germ and Dark General Freed in order to destroy your Blue Eyes and your pathetic Luster Dragon #2!"

Kevin pocketed the pair of cards, and the Dark Armed Dragon began to shake violently. It swung its tail, striking first the green dragon, which roared in agony as its body began to crack. However, before it had disappeared completely, Kaiba reacted.

"I activate my quick-play Protection of the White Dragon! By sacrificing another dragon-type monster in play, I can prevent my Blue Eyes from being destroyed in any way until the end phase of this turn! So your Dark Armed Dragon was for nothing!"

"Not quite!" responded Kevin, tapping a button on his Duel Disk. "I activate Magic Jammer, discarding a card from my hand in order to negate and destroy one magic card. Therefore your Protection of the White Dragon has been rendered worthless, and that Blue Eyes is reduced to nothingness!"

Indeed it was, as the Dark Armed Dragon swung its tail around once more, unleashing a hail of needles in the direction of Kaiba's only remaining monster. It gave a low growl in pain, and seemed ready to charge up one last attack in revenge, but it simply collapsed and exploded into a puff of smoke, meaning Kaiba was wide open.

"You should not have done that," said Kaiba in a dangerous voice. "Since Protection of the White Dragon's first effect was negated, its second effect automatically activates, allowing me to add one 'White Dragon' monster from my deck to my hand."

"Before you can summon it, the duel will already have ended!" laughed Kevin. "Now, Dark Armed Dragon and my two Giant Germs will attack you together!"

Kaiba stood on impassively as the dragon charged towards him, its giant claws outstretched, followed closely by the pair of dark blobs which seemed intent on simply crashing into Kaiba and knocking him off his feet….

"_Now, Kaiba, feel the wrath of Kevin Hunter_!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Zeruge and Oujia continued to stare at each other impassively. "I will set my final card facedown and end my turn," declared Zeruge.

Oujia drew calmly, observing the field. Zeruge definitely had more cards to worth with, with all of Goka, Pyre of Malice, Great Shogun Shien and The Six Samurai-Yaichi on his monster zone, with Swiftstrike Armor, the Six Samurai Storm, and another facedown card in his magic and trap card zone.

Oujia himself had only his Magical Marionette, but he was completely unworried, as it had forty-four hundred attack points, along with three cards in his hand in contrast to Zeruge's empty one.

"Magical Marionette attacks The Six Samurai – Yaichi, now!"

The puppeteer snapped its arms upwards, and its puppets dashed forward, encircling the warrior with its strings. Just as it was once more about to send waves of electricity through the entanglement and roast Yaichi alive, Zeruge reacted.

"I activate my facedown card, Honorable Judgment! It only activates if I have one Great Shogun Shien or Goka, the Pyre of Malice in play. For the duration of the turn, none of my warrior or zombie type monsters may be targeted by attacks, or magic and trap cards."

Shien took a step forward, rage burning in his eyes. He drew his blazing katana, and swung it in an arc, releasing a wave of crackling red energy in the marionette's direction. He was immediatley followed by Goka, who let lose three spheres of fire towards the same target. The attacks threw the marionette back momentarily, resulting in it being forced to withdraw its strings.

"You seem to have mounted a momentarily successful defense," growled Oujia. "No matter, I will see to it that this does not last long. That ends my turn."

Zeruge drew calmly. "I activate Twilight Renewal, allowing me to draw five cards since my hand is empty."

Oujia's eyes bulged at the fact that his opponent had suddenly replenished his resources completely. Meanwhile, the Marionette (4800/1000), grew slightly stronger.

"Then I will sacrifice Yaichi for Enishi, Shien's Councilor (2200/1200)!" Replacing the smaller samurai was a grim, elderly man. His face was so covered up by his bushy brown beard that one could barely make out his features. He wore a purple gi, covered by a green jacket-like garment. On his belt were two swords, and a small tuft of his hair was tied behind him. He folded his arms grimly and fixed the Marionette with a frown.

"I can sacrifice Enishi's attack for the turn in order to destroy one monster on your field! This is the end for you, Oujia!"

The aging samurai's eyes flashed, and he drew both swords. He threw them both forward, and they slammed into the Magical Marionette in an 'X' shape, leaving deep wounds. Blood began to leak out as the magician groaned and shook the swords off. Enishi leapt forward, caught both blades, and with a single, surgical blow, beheaded Oujia's monster.

"Now, you're wide open!" declared Zeruge, pointing at the Paradias agent. "Shien and Goka will both attack you directly!"

Before Oujia could respond to the statement that would nearly end the duel, Shien charged forward, drawing his katana as he went. He swung it outwards in an arc, carving through Oujia's body armor and leaving a deep wound. Goka followed it up by letting lose a stream of flames from the large barrel that made up its body, consuming Oujia and causing an eruption of smoke which obscured Zeruge's view.

(Zeruge: 6500, Oujia: 1500)

The smoke slowly cleared to reveal a furious Oujia. His face was the image of indescribable rage and frustration.

"You will pay for that…" he breathed heavily.

Zeruge shrugged. "Make your move."

Oujia drew, and smiled faintly. "I summon Maha Vailo (1550/1400) in attack mode." A magician in a blue hat, blue cape, and blue clothes appeared. It had blonde hair and green eyes. Red jewels were on each side of its head, attached to its blue hat. It glanced up with a look of patience.

"Weak though it may seem at first, I now equip it with this: Axe of Despair!" A large, shadowy axe with an unforgivingly razor sharp and flat blade materialized within the hands of the mage (2550/1400).

"And here's something even better: Maha Vailo gains five hundred attack points each time I use an equip magic card on it!"

The mage glowed momentarily (3050/1400).

Zeruge did not even look impressed.

"Now, its target is obvious: destroy that fool Enishi!"

Shien clasped the aging man's shoulder and nodded to him, as if to say that he would be avenged. The two friends looked at each other for a moment, before the latter stepped forward with a grim smile on his face. If he was going to go down, he planned to do so fighting. However, it was futile. Even as he drew his sword to parry Maha Vailo's first blow with her axe, the weapon shattered. The mage swung the weapon around, slamming it into the samurai's side and reducing it to millions of tiny pixels.

(Zeruge: 5750, Oujia: 1500)

"This duel is far from over," snarled Oujia.

"Indeed it is," replied Zeruge in genuine agreement. "The result was decided the second the duel actually began."

Oujia looked even more angry. The demon was actually insinuating that he had been stringing him along all this time?

"Your arrogance blinds you, demon," he spat. "I set one card and end my turn. Show me if you have it in you to defeat my Maha Vailo."

"Indeed I will," replied Zeruge evenly.

He smiled at the sight of his next card. "I have withheld my truest power for four centuries, Oujia. It seems that this is finally the time for me to do so. I gave you the chance to repent and be spared this, but you chose not to. Therefore, it is essential that those who pray upon the innocent, such as yourself, be punished immediatley."

"What are you prattling about?" snapped Oujia.

Zeruge ignored him and raised a card. His body seemed to be shining. "I activate Polymerization, to fuse Great Shogun Shien and Goka, the Pyre of Malice, in order to summon my soul monster: arise, Infernal Swordsman (3800/2800)!"

The leader of the Six Samurai looked at the flaming demon, who represented the ultimate power of the Yokai. In that moment, they were both sucked into a chaotic, spinning vortex, which blinded Oujia and forced him to raise a hand across his face. The vortex shook violently, and a tall, muscular, and imposing humanoid form emerged from within it. A genuine smile was present on Zeruge's face.

Oujia finally looked up at to have a look at Zeruge's monster. Strangely, it resembled the demon himself almost identically. He was a fearsome, demon swordsman, with Japanese features and raven hair that came down till his neck. He was dressed in crimson armor, which had two openings in the back which allowed a pair of gigantic, black, bat wings to burst out behind it and cast a shadow across the field.

His hands were covered with heavy gauntlets up until his shoulders, with claw like fingers sticking out and grasping a flaming sword. He looked up at Oujia with an absolutely emotionless glare. It sent a chill down the Paradias agent's spine.

"Thirty-eight hundred?" choked Oujia.

Zeruge nodded. "Now, I will use him to attack your Maha Vailo with Yokai Judgment!"

The swordsman raised his flaming zanbato and took a step towards the axe-wielding mage. Suddenly, he just phased out of the duelist's vision, and was gone momentarily. Oujia looked wildly in all directions, when suddenly he reappeared right in front of Maha Vailo, his sword outstretched. He was in the process of stepping forward, and as he finished it, his sword passed through the mage silently, cleaving its body in half. The two pieces floated separately for a moment, before vanishing.

(Zeruge: 5750, Oujia: 650)

"My monster…" choked Oujia.

"What's more, my Infernal Swordsman allows me to cut his attack points in half until the end of the turn in order to attack you one more time."

He smirked at the Paradias agent as the fusion's power dropped (1900/0), and it disappeared. "That's game."

Just as the monster reappeared in front of Oujia, an explosion of black wind appeared around him, throwing him back.

"Dark Wall of Air reduces all battle damage from direct attacks to me to zero for this turn," snapped Oujia. "I'm not done just yet."

Zeruge smiled almost sympathetically.

"Very well. I end my turn."

Oujia drew. "You may have summoned your ultimate fusion. Well, I think I'll follow your example for that and summon mine! I activate Monster Reborn, to special summon Maha Vailo (1550/1400) back to my field!"

The blue-robed mage materialized in front of Oujia. However, it seemed dwarfed by the Infernal Swordsman.

"Alone it may be weak, but once I complete this play you'll be finished!" he growled.

"Then I activate Double Spell, discarding Repayment of Losses from my hand to take one magic card from your graveyard. I choose Polymerization, which I immediatley activate in order to fuse Maha Vailo with Armed Samurai Ben Kei (500/500) to summon the lord of equip cards: Arcane Samurai Ben Kei (500/500)!"

Appearing next to Maha Vailo was the spirit of a miniscule samurai dressed in white robes, with a katana strapped to his back. The pair of monsters swirled together in a vortex, with a new form erupting from within it after a moment or two. His features were identical to that of Ben Kei, but he was dressed in heavy green samurai armor, with a pair of blue orbs on his shoulders and knees, similar to the Skilled Dark Magician (1900/1700). Nearly a dozen swords of varying length were attached to its waist and shoulders, along with a few scrolls. It glared fiercely at the Infernal Swordsman.

"Now, I activate the equip magic cards United We Stand and Mage Power! I'm sure you know what these cards do, but I'll explain the effect of Arcane Samurai Ben Kei: it gains one thousand attack points for every card equipped to it, and one additional attack as well!"

The samurai (4300/2300) drew its longest sword, which glowed red.

"This is the end for your Infernal Swordsman!" roared Oujia. "Attack!"

Ben Kei charged towards him, its blade raised. The Infernal Swordsman raised his eyes and held up his own to parry the blow. There was an incredible explosion, filling the entire warehouse with smoke momentarily.

When the smoke cleared, the swordsman was gone, leaving Zeruge's field empty.

(Zeruge: 5250, Oujia: 650)

"Your monster is finished."

Zeruge smirked. "Not true."

Suddenly, the towering demon swordsman materialized back onto his field, his flaming blade raised higher than ever. Oujia took a frightened step back. "How is this possible?!"

"It's rather simple," chuckled Zeruge. "When he is destroyed in battle, Infernal Swordsman allows me to remove a warrior or zombie type monster in my graveyard from play in order to special summon him back to the field. When I activate this effect, all other cards in play are destroyed."

The swordsman swung his sword in a wide arc. As he did so, small streams of flame came away from it and formed a scythe-shaped wave of fire, which continued onwards towards the samurai in front of a dumbstruck Oujia. It slammed into the armored man, first melting his armor away before reducing him to ashes within seconds.

The Paradias agent fell to his knees, a shadowed look coming over his eyes. "Have… mercy…"

"Did you have mercy upon so many of the innocents who met their ends at your hands?!" bellowed Zeruge. "You came here to kill three people who never harmed you, and would have succeeded in doing so had I not intervened! Such evil cannot be allowed to remain among us. The Paradias Corporation itself is evil, and it is merely my duty to ensure that you and your colleagues do not harm innocents!"

He pointed at the agent.

"Infernal Swordsman, direct attack!" he commanded.

The swordsman leapt forward, swinging its sword outward and slamming it into Oujia. The force of the swing knocked him off his feet and into a storage box lying nearby. He slid down, and didn't move.

(Zeruge: 5250, Oujia: 0)

"That's that," breathed the demon.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Kudos to my friend Metal Overlord 2.0 for inventing Zeruge and his badass ace card Infernal Swordsman, as well as Arcane Samurai Ben Kei. Sorry if the end seemed a little rushed, but I realized that I needed to move forward with the story if I'm to finish the amount I targeted prior to my 10****th**** grade finals in March.**

**I'm glad Kaiba is finally dueling again, and the Daniel/Ryu vs. Yakou duel will be a blast to write. Blessings of the White Goddess belongs to Master of the Library. Expect a lot of cool CACs for Kaiba from me and him.**

**Most importantly, the user character of my good friend Mei1105 finally makes her appearance! Thanks a lot for letting me use Tash, I hope I kept her in character and that I will be successful in my future use of her. **

**Anyway, not much else to say. Hope everyone is wrapping up tight, as I'm hoping for a great winter ahead!**


	29. Will of the Wicked

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT: Will of the Wicked

**Hah, sorry it took so long. I've been crazy busy with school and stuff, but I finally got it done today.**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: Yeah, Kevin/Kaiba is one of the discs of the backbone that is this series. It's a long standing rivalry filled with hatred and a number of complexities. Yeah, Yakou vs. Daniel and Ryu will be epic. This first part was just so much fun to write in itself ****.**

**Starlight AT: You really hate Sylar, don't you?**

**MDJ54: Yeah, Tash was planned for a while. **

**Candyman123: Rikuo vs. Sylar? Ha, now that'd be one for the ages!**

**Master of the Library: Sylar pwns!**

Yakou stared at Daniel and Ryu, both of whom had confident smirks on their faces. They had a right to: after all, Ryu had just summoned Grand Dragon General to add to their arsenal of monsters, which already contained Elemental Hero Wildedge and Sparkman. Both of them had played cautious defenses as well, with two facedown cards.

Meanwhile, Yakou himself had only one facedown monster and two facedown cards. However, he didn't seem worried at all by his opponent's flamboyant moves.

"I flip summon my facedown monster. Show yourself now, Dark Angel Hera (1000/1000)."

Materializing onto his field was a woman dressed in a flowing black robe. Her hair was white-blonde, and her skin extremely pale, even in the glow of the hot Egyptian sun. In one hand she held a rolled up scroll, her finely shaped nails curling around just as a smile appeared on her face. In the other, a small sphere of black lightning was crackling.

"Dark Angel Hera, when flip summoned, allows me to special summon a level three or lower dark attribute, angel type monster from my hand. I summon Black Crystal Sentinel (1400/1200)." A humanoid figure made completely of icicles appeared on Yakou's field. Within its transparent body, black steam appeared, making it seem like the icicles that composed the body of the monster themselves were black. It held a small crystalline dagger in its right hand, with a triangular icicle sticking out of its head as a featureless face.

Daniel and Ryu looked on impassively. So far, Yakou's weak monsters had failed to impress them.

"Then I activate my facedown card, Crunch Maneuver! If I have Black Crystal Sentinel in play, I may special summon White Crystal Sentinel (1200/1400) from my deck, in defense mode!"

Materializing next to the icicle-formed man and Hera was another being made of icicles. However, this one slowly glowed a bright white, letting off a dim aura of white light to counteract the shadow cast by its counterpart. Instead of a dagger, it held a spear tipped with a crystal blade in its right hand, with a white cape flowing down its shoulders.

"That will end my turn."

Daniel drew confidently. "I summon Elemental Hero Stratos (1800/1300) in attack mode." Appearing on his field was an armored, futuristic man, dressed in a blue suit and helmet. A sky-blue visor came down over his face, while metallic wings stuck out on either sides, fans whirring on them at full speed. He had silverish knee pads.

"Once per turn, I can choose to activate one of his effects. I choose his first, which allows me to destroy spell and trap cards on the field equal to the number of Elemental Heroes in play. I already have three, but I only need to destroy one: your only remaining facedown card!"

The flying superhero raised both fists, and thrust them forward. As he did so, a blast of wind seemed to erupt out. It slammed into the brown-backed card, flipping up to reveal a card displaying the image of a man kneeling down underneath a rising storm in a servile manner. Within seconds, it shattered into countless pixels.

Yakou sneered inwardly. "You destroyed the trap card known as Forbidden Secret! Now, I can add one field magic card from my deck to my hand!"

He quickly searched through his deck and found the one he wanted. Then he looked pack expectantly at his opponents.

Daniel shrugged. "This is it. Wildedge can attack each and every monster on your field, meaning you'll be left wide open to be hit by Sparkman and Stratos. Attack with Barbarian Scimitar!"

Rushing forward, the tanned warrior with gold armor pulled his sword out of its sheath and brandished it in his right hand. He charged forwards, and first reached the Dark Angel Hera. Just as he was about to slam his sword down onto her, he was stopped by a kind of invisible barrier. He paused momentarily, before shifting to the White Crystal Sentinel. However, his sword merely bounced off the icicles, leaving a blunt cut.

"What happened?" growled Daniel.

"As long as White Crystal Sentinel is in play, it will become the target of all your attacks. At the same time, Black Crystal Sentinel prevents it from being destroyed in battle. That means I have an excellent lock which you will be hard pressed to break down."

Daniel bit his lip. He had just rendered their powerful attack force useless.

"Fine. I end my turn then."

The dragon demon snapped the top card off his deck, slowly spreading his gaze over his opponent's field while trying to come to a mental consensus about how to tackle Yakou's currently unbeatable defense.

"I activate Graceful Charity," he declared. Quickly, he snapped the top three cards off his deck, before choosing two and sliding them back into his graveyard. He smiled faintly as he slid another card into his magic and trap card zone.

"Now, I'll activate the effect of Grand Dragon General. Once per turn now, I may special summon one dragon-type monster from my graveyard. I choose the one I just sent to the graveyard with Graceful Charity: Gaius the Earth Dragon (500/2200) in defense mode."

The wyrm that appeared resembled a boulder more then a living creature. Its skin was a pebbly gray, and its entire torso was about the size of a large car. It had two medium sized wings, as well as four stumpy limbs. It roared softly at the trio of monsters on Yakou's field.

"Then I sacrifice it to summon Crystallis the Ice Dragon (2200/2000) in attack mode."

Materializing onto Ryu's field was a dragon which seemed to be made completely of ice. Its body shone in the strong light of the desert, while a row of icicles ran down its spine and tail in the form of spikes. Unlike its predecessor, its bulk was spread out over its body and it seemed like a normal dragon otherwise.

"That ends my turn," muttered Ryu.

Yakou drew with an irritating, ever present smile on his face.

"Now, the fun begins. I activate Polymerization, to fuse Black Crystal Sentinel with White Crystal Sentinel to summon Completion Crystal Paladin (2000/2400)!"

The two men composed of icicles slammed into each other in an explosion of white light, which seemed to flare out over the entire field and blinded Yakou's opponents momentarily. However, soon the light receded to reveal a man about eight feet tall, and dressed in crystalline, transparent armor. However, a human face was visible underneath his helmet, while a nexus of multicolored energy seemed to swirl around him.

"I then activate my field magic card I added to my hand by the effect of my Forbidden Secret: Phantom Zone!"

Although the desert around them did not disappear, the sky got a good deal darker. Lightning began to crackle, and the sand beneath their feet seemed to get a little hotter. A strange, translucent mist filled the air, and ghostly forms materialized around them, floating in random directions around them.

"Completion Crystal Paladin allows me to activate one of two effects during my main phase one: I am allowed either one extra draw, or I may sacrifice one monster on my field in order to prevent my opponent, or in this case, opponents, from attacking me during their next battle phase. So, I will send Dark Angel Hera to the graveyard in order to prevent you from targeting me now!"

The pale woman glanced at Daniel and Ryu, before crumbling into sand and becoming just another miniscule part of the desert around them. The knight on Yakou's field raised his hand, and the sand rose up into the air, before melting into a wall of glass which formed a temporary barrier between Daniel and Ryu's monsters and Yakou's field.

The two demons frowned. That meant for the next round, they could continue to build up an attack force that would remain useless for the time being, while Yakou would use that time to build on whatever plan he had hidden up his sleeve.

"I will add one facedown card, and then end my turn." A brown-backed facedown card materialized behind his Completion Crystal Paladin.

Daniel drew, and a look of frustration crossed his face. There was nothing they seemed to be able to do against Yakou's unusual dueling strategies.

"I end my turn."

Suddenly, one of the phantoms hovering around the field erupted towards Daniel and slammed into his torso. He went down on one knee, and his breath caught in his mouth as a bout of searing agony coursed through his body.

(Yakou: 16000, Daniel: 7000, Ryu: 8000)

"On a turn when you do me no damage, Phantom Zone will deal you one thousand points of damage as a penalty," chuckled Yakou, tapping another card on his deck.

"Then I activate the trap card Dark Blessings. When my opponent is dealt effect damage, I may special summon one monster from my deck whose attack points are less then or equal to the attack points of the damage dealt. I summon Blackheart Soldier (600/800) in defense mode."

A pale demon materialized onto Yakou's field. He was dressed in ordinary black robes, while spider like hands tipped with long nails were visible underneath his large sleeves. His callous black eyes looked imperiously over the field, unaware of his own weakness in the belief that he would lord over those present before him.

"When Blackheart Soldier is special summoned, I may automatically special summon two more copies of it, although they must remain in defense mode for my next two standby phases." Another pair of the demons materialized on his field.

"_His entire deck is based on these intricate combinations_," thought Ryu. "_He uses cards like his Sentinels and Completion Crystal Paladin to hold us off, while dealing damage with Phantom Zone at the same time. Then he swarms the field with the likes of Dark Angel Hera and Dark Blessings… I don't understand what he's playing at_."

"It's your move, dragon demon."

Ryu drew, hoping for a card to break the deadlock, but found none. He sighed. "I end my turn."

He immediatley braced himself for the crash of one of the floating phantoms against his body. It came, and nearly knocked him off his feet. He caught himself before he could fall, but his life-points were already in worse shape then before.

(Yakou: 16000, Daniel: 7000, Ryu: 7000)

Yakou drew, and a grim look crossed his face. "The time for play ends here."

The sky above them began to darken a little.

"What's happening?" wondered Daniel.

"Triple sacrifice," intoned Yakou, as the three Blackheart Soldiers vanished. Ryu and Daniel's eyes widened.

"_Three sacrifices?_" thought Ryu in shock. "_What's he summoning? Only the Gods and a select few monsters that don't really fit his deck require that number. Unless he has something we don't know off…"_

Without warning, a massively large white bolt of energy slammed onto the field. Emerging from the lightning slowly was a pair of black skinned wings with white outer trim, followed by two massive arms that apparently had a large white bone on the outside of them, with ivory colored spikes sticking out from each elbow and two from the top of it's hand. The remainder of the two arms was green and extremely muscular. Slowly, the waist of the creature was revealed to be rather muscular with similar looking legs. At last, the creature's head was revealed, seemingly encapsulated within a white bone helmet that appeared to demonic horns, with a dark green face. Fully onto the field at last, the creature released a mighty howl, causing the wind to immediately gust across the field and pound against the opposing monsters.

"Arise now…" breathed Yakou, raising his hands in a triumphant flourish. "Wicked God – Dreadroot (4000/4000)!"

"Wicked _God_?" muttered Daniel, as various images flashed through his mind. Obelisk, Slifer, Ra, Yamidra's Apocalypse Dragon, the Destroyer…. None of them had looked quite so evil as this one.

"Dreadroot is not really a divine monster," replied Yakou. "It is the exact antithesis of Obelisk the Tormentor, a concept developed by me and made a card with the intent of defeating Yugi Moto. It is truly the opposite of the tormentor in all ways…. Especially in that while Obelisk gains strength from its own allies, Dreadroot will weaken its enemies!"

With a grand flourish, followed by a roar from Dreadroot, he bellowed, "Fear Domination!"

Suddenly, each and every monster on their fields began to shiver. Within moments, they were all moaning and screeching in shock and pain as Daniel and Ryu watched in shock (1300/1150) (800/700) (900/650) (1500/1250) (1100/1000).

"What in God's name…" snarled Ryu.

"Dreadroot will suffice, thank you," taunted Yakou. "As long as Wicked God - Dreadroot is in play, the attack and defense points of all other monsters are halved."

Daniel gasped. "_That means in order to destroy it we would theoretically need a monster with over eight thousand starting attack points_!"

Yakou was beginning to laugh in a crazed manner, raising his hands up to the now overcast sky as Dreadroot's overbearing presence continued to force their monsters to their knees.

"Dreadroot, attack and destroy Grand Dragon General with Dread Fist!"

The demonic deity roared and drew back its fist, while the golden armored beast merely stood there, a growing look of resignation on its face. Normally it would have fought back, but its fear held it back against Dreadroot, who took two giant steps forward before slamming its giant fist into the General, who howled in agony as he was crushed against the sand beneath him. Dreadroot held its fist there momentarily, before the howling ceased and the general's corpse vanished.

(Yakou: 16000, Daniel: 7000, Ryu: 4500)

The dragon demon was shaking with rage. His physical avatar had been destroyed.

"You will pay for that," he seethed.

Yakou shrugged. "It is up to you to make me to do so. Before you get such an opportunity, I will use Completion Crystal Paladin to destroy your Elemental Hero Sparkman."

The crystal armored knight (1000/1200) raised his hands again, and they began glowing with rainbow colored energy. He thrust them out forward, and a jet of the energy erupted out in the weakened Elemental Hero's direction. He didn't even fight back as the energy consumed him. He was incinerated within seconds.

(Yakou: 16000, Daniel: 6800, Ryu: 4500)

"That ends my turn."

Daniel drew angrily, and looked at his newest card. He didn't really want to use it, but he didn't have an option right now.

"I activate De-Fusion, to split Wildedge back into its fusion materials Wildheart and Bladedge and special summon them back to the field in defense mode."

The barbaric monster growled and vanished into a sphere of energy. That sphere separated into two smaller spheres, which transformed into the tribal warrior and the taller one respectively (750/800) (1300/900).

"_At least this will act as a better defense_," he thought silently.

"Then I switch all my monsters to defense mode, before setting one card facedown and end my turn," he declared.

Once again, one of the floating phantoms slammed into him, reducing his life-points further for not having dealt Yakou damage. Dreadroot roared in sadistic appreciation of his pain.

(Yakou: 16000, Daniel: 5800, Ryu: 4500)

Ryu was still furious with the destruction of Grand Dragon General, but he forced himself to calm down. Dreadroot would not be destroyed easily, and it was essential for him to keep his cool in the process of planning a structured counterattack against the beast.

"I switch Crystallis to defense mode and add one facedown monster. My turn ends there."

He too was forced to grimace in pain as one of the floating spirits slammed into him.

(Yakou: 16000, Daniel: 5800, Ryu: 3500)

"_He's picking us apart_," thought the dragon demon silently.

Yakou drew with a grim smile on his face. "You are not shaping up to be the challenge I had hoped for, demons. I think I will show my displeasure at this farce by having Dreadroot attack and destroy your pathetic Elemental Hero Stratos!"

Dreadroot roared once more, and took a heavy step towards Daniel's field. The other Heroes, who would have normally stood by their comrade till the very end, stepped aside with looks of utter horror and sadness gracing their faces. The dark god slammed his fist into the unfortunate hero, who shrieked in agony as the dark energy of the deity began to burn him to cinders. Daniel looked on in sadness as the hero disappeared within seconds.

"Then Completion Crystal Paladin will destroy your facedown card, dragon demon."

The warrior once again raised his hands and charged up a sphere of energy, which he hurled at the facedown card. It flipped up to reveal a small dragon with rusty red scales. It tiny wings flared out in an attempt to scare off the attacker, but they didn't help any more then the metal mask on its face. It was hit by the sphere, and died instantly.

"By destroying Masked Dragon (1400/1100), you allowed me to special summon a dragon with fifteen hundred or less attack points to my field. I will summon another Masked Dragon." A dragon identical to the one that had been destroyed materialized next to Crystallis (700/550).

"I will set one card facedown and end my turn. It's your move, Pilkington."

Daniel closed his eyes and muttered a silent, desperate prayer. He snapped them open and grinned at his newest find. This was lucky.

"All right! Now I sacrifice Sparkman to summon the man himself: here comes my favorite monster, Jinzo (2400/1500)!"

The hero was replaced by a tall-standing cyborg, with its brains visible through a transparent type of helmet. It had dark-green goggles on its face, and pink skin. It wore a black and yellow-patterned full-body suit.

Suddenly, it groaned in pain and stooped a little as its stats fell (1200/750).

"Your machine will now merely be another snack for Dreadroot," taunted Yakou. "Why torment your favorite monster so by summoning it, only for it to suffer so much?"

Daniel ignored him. "Then I play Fusion Recovery, to add one Polymerization and fusion material monster from my graveyard to my hand. I'll take Elemental Hero Stratos (1800/1300), and immediatley summon him back to the field."

Materializing in the middle of Daniel's Heroes and Jinzo was the blue-armored man, who immediatley stooped lower in pain and let out a low groan (900/650). Daniel gave him an encouraging smile. "I'll use his effect to destroy your Phantom Zone, meaning that even if we don't deal you damage from now on, we're safe!"

The hero swung his arm around, and an explosion of wind erupted out and shattered the darkness around them.

"Now it's time to fight back!" snarled Daniel. "I activate Polymerization, fusing Jinzo, Stratos, and Bladedge to summon one of my most powerful Elemental Heroes!"

The trio of monsters slammed into each other as Ryu watched in amazement. A veil of light covered his field, and a towering form erupted out in the center of it. As the light cleared, one could see it was a mostly robotic warrior, covered in green armor similar to Jinzo. Its head was that of Stratos, barely visible underneath a helmet and a black visor. On each of its arms were massive black gauntlets, with a pair of blades sticking out on either side. A pair of large, mechanical red wings cracked out behind it and cast a shadow over the field. It was nowhere near the size of Dreadroot, but it was certainly powerful enough to be a fair match for it. An aura of golden energy was coming off from it, literally burning an impression into the ground below it.

"This is Elemental Hero Psychotic Bladestorm (3600/3000)!" declared Daniel.

Yakou stared impassively ahead at Daniel's answer to Dreadroot.

"An impressive monster, but now Dreadroot weakens it to the point where it is a truly weak and useless monster. Fear Domination!"

To his surprise, the newest Elemental Hero did not keel over like his comrades. Instead, he looked on impassively at the giant god standing on Yakou's field.

"Why was it not weakened?" snarled Yakou.

Daniel chuckled. "By sacrificing one Elemental Hero on my field, I can increase Psychotic Bladestorm's attack points by that amount until the end of the turn, and allow it to be unaffected by magic, trap, or monster effects until my next standby phase. I obviously choose monster effects."

Wildheart vanished, and the only remaining monster on Daniel's field raised his fist (5100/3000).

"This is the end for Dreadroot!" declared Daniel, pointing at the Wicked God. "Psychotic Bladestorm, attack now!"

The fused Hero swung both his arms outwards. As he did so, they began crackling with energy, and a hail of blades erupted out. Within seconds, a storm of arc-shaped blades was flying through the air towards Dreadroot, who roared and swung outwards with his massive fist. But it didn't seem to help, as the blades continued on unimpeded, ready to slice him to shreds.

"Not on my watch!" growled Yakou, tapping a button on his Duel Disk. "I activate the continuous trap card, Desecrated Divinity! This can only be activated if I have a Wicked God monster in play, and immediatley acts as an equip card on that particular monster. The equipped monster cannot be destroyed in battle, and as long as this card is face-up I gain one thousand life-points every standby phase!"

Daniel watched in shock as the hail of blades slammed into Dreadroot one after the other, opening bleeding gashes all over it, but unable to fell it permanently. The Wicked God roared in agony as the blades kept coming, but other then that it did not react. Finally, when they stopped, the wounds seemed to reseal and heal themselves.

(Yakou: 14900, Daniel: 5800, Ryu: 3500)

Daniel frowned to himself. First, it seemed he would need to destroy Desecrated Divinity before he could attempt to target Dreadroot.

"Fine then. I end my turn."

Ryu drew. He knew he would be hard-pressed to match a move as explosive as Daniel's, which was the first productive move either of them had made throughout the duel. Therefore, it made sense for him to simply play it safe and back up Daniel's move.

"I sacrifice my second Masked Dragon to special summon Infernus the Pyro Dragon (2200/2000)!"

The wraith like form of a dragon appeared on the field. It seemed to be made completely of flames, and was easily about as large as Gaius, other then the fact that its bulk was not spread out all over its body, and it seemed to be a regular dragon.

Immediatley Infernus growled in pain as the thick mist around it began to slow it down. It shook its head in frustration as its power dropped (1100/1000).

"I'll have it attack Completion Crystal Paladin!"

This time, the weakened monster had no way of protecting itself as the dragon opened its maw and released a wave of searing flames in its direction. Soon, all the crystal had melted away, leaving nothing but a hot smelting of melted glass in its place, which had resulted in the formation of a burn mark on the sand.

(Yakou: 14800, Daniel: 5800, Ryu: 3500)

"Then I set two cards facedown and end my turn."

Yakou drew, and glanced over the field as his life-points increased.

(Yakou: 15800, Daniel: 5800, Ryu: 3500)

"_I could perhaps attack Ryu and finish him off permanently. He foolishly summoned Infernus in attack mode, making it easy prey for Dreadroot. But that would mean Daniel will continue to have his fusion monster on the field, meaning he would easily be able to summon another Elemental Hero and strengthen his monster by sacrificing it. If he is able to destroy Desecrated Divinity, then that means I will have lost Dreadroot as well as control of the duel. Still, leaving Ryu along with both his elemental dragons on the field may be a mistake_…."

Finally, he snapped his eyes towards Ryu.

"I can be allowed to take a chance on Pilkington," he chuckled. "As long as Desecrated Divinity remains in play, I need not be afraid of losing Dreadroot. You have no cards in your hand, Pilkington, and one draw could predictably end up with two possible outcomes in your favor: either a spell or trap card removal, or a monster to sacrifice to your Psychotic Bladestorm. I'm not worried about a little damage as long as Dreadroot remains in play. That means I will choose to obliterate you, dragon demon!"

Ryu did not reply.

"I activate the magic card Evolution of God, which increases the attack points of one monster on my field by one thousand. This attack increase is permanent, and cannot be modified."

Dreadroot (5000/4000) roared at the hero and the pair of dragons facing it as its attack points skyrocketed.

"This is the end! Dreadroot, attack Infernus the Pyro Dragon with Dread Fist!"

The Wicked God raised its crackling fist and charged towards the unfortunate dragon on Ryu's field. As Dreadroot approached, Ryu reacted.

"I activate my trap card, Dragonic Gauntlet! I can use this card in order to prevent one dragon-type monster on my field from being destroyed in battle, as well as reducing the life-point damage done to zero. Also, I am allowed to special summon one dragon-type monster from my deck whose original attack points are equal to, or less then the damage that I would have been dealt by your attack, regardless of summoning conditions. I call upon one of my most powerful dragon monsters ever, Dragon of the Storms – Typherious (2900/4000)!"

There was a massive roar. All monsters and duelists looked up into the blinding light of the desert sky, to see a small dot floating above them. Soon, as it descended, it began to grow larger and larger, until it hit the ground with a thud. It was a gigantic, wiry dragon; an easy match for Dreadroot in terms of size. Its scales were a shining emerald, with a line of spikes running down its back. All around it, small storms and tornadoes began breaking out. They gathered in front of it, as if to protect it. Its power fell, but it barely seemed to notice (1450/2000).

"Once per turn, Typherious will destroy all your magic and trap cards!" shouted Ryu, as the dragon flapped its wings hard. A torrent of icy winds slammed into Yakou's field, shattering Desecrated Divinity. The master of the Wicked Gods frowned.

"That is irrelevant. All your monsters are still too weak to combat Dreadroot, who now has five thousand attack points!"

"That's what you think," chuckled Ryu. He looked at his team-mate. "Daniel, take it away."

"With pleasure," he chuckled, and drew, before immediatley sliding it into his Duel Disk.

"I activate Monster Reborn, to special summon Elemental Hero Stratos (1800/1300) from my graveyard!" The futuristic superhero immediatley reappeared, and Daniel continued with a smirk.

"First, I'll use his effect to add Elemental Hero Neos Alius (1900/1300) to my hand. Then, I'll sacrifice him to Psychotic Bladestorm in order to once again boost his attack points!"

The hero vanished into a sphere of light which entered the fusion. Yakou watched in shock as its attack points suddenly went through the roof (5400/3000).

"No, this is impossible!" he gasped. "Dreadroot cannot be defeated!"

"It just was," chuckled Ryu. "In fact, I'll also activate my facedown Guardian Shield, which I'll use to increase the attack points of Psychotic Bladestorm by Typherious' defense points until the end of the turn!"

"That's what I'm talking about!" exclaimed Daniel, pointing at the Wicked God. "All right, Psychotic Bladestorm (7400/3000), do your thing!"

Once again, the fusion raised its arms, and an unstoppable barrage of arc-shaped blades erupted out towards Dreadroot, who stood there, roaring in shock. It swung out once more with its giant fists, but it was no use. The blades first sliced off its fists, before continuing on and piercing right through its body, leaving gaping gashes all over, from which black blood leaked out. The giant beast stood there momentarily, roaring in agony, before it exploded into nothingness.

Yakou fell to his knees in pain, clutching his torso as the dust around them began to settle with Dreadroot's destruction.

(Yakou: 13400, Daniel: 5800, Ryu: 3500)

"And that, as they say, is that," finished Ryu.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sarah, Serena, Rikuo, Deondre, Kyle, Bakura, Zane, Alexis, Eizan and Roland sat silently outside the infirmary in Kaiba's tower. No one had said a word yet because they were really unsure of what to say.

Roland began by clearing his throat. He spoke nervously.

"Uh…. I would suggest the best course of action to be informing Mr. Kaiba of this development."

No one paid attention to him. After all, his presence was only a substitute for Kaiba himself. It wasn't as if he really had any experience in matters such as these.

Rikuo growled, looking in Eizan's direction.

"The Council drew us all along," he spat.

Eizan shook his head. "Mr. Amero, I can assure you that from whatever contact I have had with their liaisons, the Council _never_ expected a _Horseman_ of all things to attack this building."

Rikuo stamped down on the ground, and swore. "They're in charge of the whole frickin' Universe and they can't protect this damned building! No wonder so much crap happens!"

Eizan looked down. "Don't blame me," he muttered. "In fact, it'd be best not to blame anyone. We cannot afford to argue among ourselves at this stage."

"Don't blame anyone?!" he roared back. "TWO OF MY BRETHREN ARE NEARLY DEAD BECAUSE OF THIS! TWO DEMON LORDS, OLD MAN! TWO DEMON LORDS!"

There was silence. Bakura spoke up.

"Listen to me, Amero. Whether or not we were prepared for that Horseman is irrelevant now. We now lead to shift our location to a safer place which is truly fortified against such enemies, and from there, set out to destroy them one by one."

Eizan nodded. "Zerato is on his way here as we speak. An entire chunk of the Council's resources have been transformed into damage-control mode. Its their only option."

"_Their_?" sneered Deondre, standing up for the first time. "You speak as if Eagle is not involved at all."

"The only reason I'm here is because two of my agents were staying in this building," lied Eizan.

Another lie. Of course, he could never tell _any_ of them the truth about Li's plans. He had almost forgotten about the old codger in the aftermath of Sylar's attack. Truly, he was almost glad of it in a bit of a cruel way, because it meant that he would be able to widen the gap between Jason and Li once he returned. _If_ he returned.

Alexis gave a hollow laugh. "This building became insecure the moment Jaden was kidnapped. You left it till too late."

Eizan raised his hands. "Don't blame me. Eagle's working with your group primarily in the field. I had no idea of the security arrangements."

Everyone except Sarah and Serena looked at him incredulously. "You're nothing but a bureaucrat," snapped Deondre.

Eizan frowned but didn't say anything. He wouldn't expect them to understand how delicate the situation was.

"We will get nowhere like this," he sighed. "Zerato should be here soon. He will inform you of the Council's plans."

"What about Joey, his sister, and Siegfried?" snarled Rikuo, motioning towards the infirmary.

"The doctors said what they did," replied Eizan. "For Mr. Reinhardt and Ms. Wheeler, nothing can be done. Their souls have been trapped in the Shadow Realm, and that's really all there is to it. I'm sure you must be familiar with this, having been involved in many such battles yourselves. If Sylar is defeated, then they will be freed. Until then, I am sorry."

It sounded cold-hearted, he knew. But they had to move on. He was sure Rikuo, at least, would understand that they were casualties of a war that had to be fought. It was a general's job to pull his troops back together, pick up his weapons and get right back into it.

Roland spoke up, having just finished reading the report on Joey.

"As for Mr. Wheeler, the venom is unlike anything they have ever seen. It is literally rotting away every organ in his body. They were keeping the heart going with massive doses of adrenaline, but the moment his lungs fail, there's nothing they can do. It's a very unusual kind of poison, one that is not designed to kill quickly, but instead cause a great deal of pain. But as far as modern medicine goes, death is imminent."

"Zerato will try his own methods," finished Eizan. He didn't expect much of a reaction to this, because none of those present really had much to do with him, other then the fact that he was the Phoenix Demon Lord.

Rikuo snarled, and kicked the ground. Eizan closed his eyes and turned to the window. It was a bright afternoon, only compounded by the shining green light provided by the Jade Star, as it grew ever larger as it approached Earth.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kaiba looked on calmly in the face of the incoming attacks as Kevin continued to laugh maniacally. "This is the end for you, Kaiba!" he bellowed. "Once this is done you'll barely be able to stand!"

Kaiba didn't say a word, but simply held up a card in his hand. "I discard the White Dragon – Summoner (400/1600) I just discarded. That allows me to reduce battle damage from one attack to zero, as well as special summon from my deck one level four or lower White Dragon monster!"

A barricade of bluish white energy erupted over Kaiba's field, blocking the incoming attacks. Try as they might, they were unable to overcome it, and slowly faded away. From behind it appeared a dragon about ten feet long. Its scales looked like they were composed of diamond, and gave off an incredible aura of light. It had a line of almost violet hair running down its back, which were in sharp contrast to its piercing blue eyes. It growled lightly.

"This is my White Dragon – Paladias (1300/1300), which gains two hundred attack and defese points for every one of my White Dragon monsters in the graveyard, of which I have five!" declared Kaiba.

Kevin looked on in scathing fury as the dragon's stats began to increase (2300/2300).

He snarled. "I end my turn."

The CEO drew with a smirk. "All right. I'll activate the magic card Banner of War. If I have Paladias in play, I can pay five hundred life-points in order to special summon White Dragon – Galedias (1600/1600) from my deck!"

Materliazing next to Paladias was another dragon of about the same size. Instead of having shining diamond-like scales, this one seemed to be absorbing all the light around it into its silky body which looked like it could be moulded with one's hands. Its eyes were also a piercing blue, but the strands of faint hair on it were a light crimson instead of violet.

"Galedias' effect is somewhat the opposite of Paladias, and he will gain two hundred attack points for every White Dragon on the field, including himself!"

Galedias (2000/2000) and his ally both roared once more.

"Now, Paladias and Galedias will attack your two Giant Germs!" roared Kaiba.

Simultaneously, the pair of smaller dragons opened their maws and let lose streams of flowing, multi-colored energy. The two blasts swirled together and slammed into both small, biological blobs. Kevin looked on in fury as they exploded, showering both him and the Dark Armed Dragon with streaks of their remains.

(Kaiba: 6300, Kevin: 4600)

"STOP DESTROYING MY MONSTERS!" howled Kevin.

Kaiba chose not to respond, except for a telling smirk. "_That's right, Kevin. Keep getting angry. The angrier you get, the more mistakes you'll make, and I'll be ready and waiting to make you pay for them_."

"I set two cards facedown and end my turn," he drawled.

Kevin drew furiously. "I WILL KILL YOU, KAIBA!" he bellowed. Glancing at his new card, he continued agressively.

"I summon my Dark Crusader (1600/200) in attack mode."

A man wearing a dark, blood-red cape leapt onto the field and drew out a short, but thick buster sword-like weapon. He wore dark, metallic armor, and had shoulder pads that were large semi-spheres. He had blood-red short hair on his head, and a golden-painted design across his forehead.

"When he's summoned, I can discard one dark monster from my hand to the graveyard in order to increase his attack points by four hundred. I will discard my Shadow Archer (1200/700), who allows me to add one level four or lower dark monster from my deck to my hand when he's sent to the graveyard."

Kevin located the necessary card as the Dark Crusader (2000/200) grew in strength.

"Then I'll special summon the monster I just added to my hand: arise, Dark Creator (2300/3000)!"

Kaiba looked over at Kevin's field in surprise as a sphere of darkness formed over it. Slowly, ever so slowly, it began to take the shape of a metallic giant that stood far higher then any of the other monsters on Kevin's field. It was roughly humanoid in shape, with gigantic crimson wings spreading out on either side. Its body was a rough metallic shade, with a facemask that had many of scratches. Slowly, it raised its hands and a sphere of darkness began to form in it.

"Dark Creator can only be special summoned if I have five or more dark attribute monsters in my graveyard. By his effect I can remove one of them from play to special summon another!"

Kaiba watched in surprise as the translucent sillhouete of one of the Giant Germs appeared. Then it disappeared into the Dark Creator's sphere, which began to grow in size as he spread his arms wider. Soon, the sphere floated out and took the shape of a giant, dark bird with which Kaiba was all too familiar.

"Dark Simorgh (2700/1000)…" he realized.

Kevin nodded, laughing fanatically. "You won't escape this time! I have nearly ten thousand attack points worth of monsters in play, more than enough to send you to Hell! But I don't even need it, because I'm going to use Dark Armed Dragon's effect to send your pathetic dragons to the graveyard! I banish my last Giant Germ and Shadow Archer… Begone!" he commanded.

The Dark Armed Dragon snapped its tail around, even as Kevin continued. "Then my monsters will all attack you directly! Die, Kaiba! DIE!"

Dark Simorgh flapped its wings hard, and a gust of heavy black air suddenly picked up and began heading directly for Kaiba. Meanwhile, the Dark Crusader drew his blade and ran towards him as well, as if in a race with Simorgh to see who could reach Kaiba first. Finally, the Dark Creator let lose a gigantic sphere of black energy into the mix, which consumed the entire field and eclipsed it from view. All that the senses were privy to was Kevin's laughter.

As the smoke slowly began to clear, he noticed the life-point counter. "WHAT?!" he bellowed in shock.

Kaiba's face was partially visible through the smoke. He had a huge smirk on it. "I activated my facedown quick-play magic card Instant Fusion. This basically acts as a Polymerization which I can use at any time I choose."

"What did you fuse?" growled Kevin.

"My only two monsters," muttered Kaiba, raising a hand as a titanic blue form flapped its wings and blew all the smoke off his field. Standing there was a humanoid dragon , dressed in crystal blue armor which shone brightly in the darkness of the London night. A similar colored helmet covered his head, shaped in the upper jaw of a Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Underneath it, the face of a stern warrior with sapphire-colored eyes was visible. On either shoulder were actual draconic wings, which were flapping lightly to keep him floating a few inches above the ground. Belted to his waist in a sheath was an blade with a gold filigree handle in a long scabbard.

"This is White Dragon – Lord of War (?/?)!" declared Kaiba.

"It's stats…" muttered his opponent.

"White Dragon – Lord of War has attack and defense points equal to the added up ones of his fusion materials: Galedias and Paladias!"

The humanoid dragon glowed in a shimmering aura (4300/4300), while Kevin shrugged. "Attack points won't help you. I can easily just destroy it with Dark Armed Dragon."

"That's only if your Dark Armed Dragon is still around to do that," chuckled Kaiba.

"What do you mean?" growled Kevin, narrowing his eyes.

"When White Dragon – Lord of War is successfully fusion summoned, I can either destroy each and every one of your face-up monsters or your magic and trap cards." Kaiba's eyes flashed vehemently as he flourished dramatically.

"My choice is obvious."

Kevin howled in shock as the Lord of War drew his sword, whose giant, thick blade began to glow blue. Blue lightning began to swirl around it, and the dark monsters on Kevin's field could only growl in dismay as it grew larger and larger. With a grunt, the fusion slammed his sword down onto the ground, causing a wave of lightning to explode outwards and slam directly into the four monsters on its master's opponent's field. They simply howled in agony as the power of the blast began to eat away at them. The aura caused by the attack began to brighten further, resulting in both duelists being temporarily blinded. When it cleared, Kevin's field was empty.

"You… will pay for THAT!" screamed Kevin, sounding hoarse. Kaiba said nothing, but simply stared grimly at him.

"Finish your move."

The Paradias agent glared at him. "I set one card facedown and end my turn."

As he spoke, Kaiba pressed a button on his Duel Disk. "I activate Interdimensional Matter Transporter, which allows me to remove a monster on my field from play and special summon it back on the next end phase."

The Lord of War vanished.

Kevin narrowed his eyes. "Why would you do that?"

"Simply because White Dragon – Lord of War is destroyed by his own effect on the end phase of the turn he's summoned otherwise. Now, I'll take my own turn."

Ignoring Kevin's seething glare, Kaiba drew. "I summon Blade Knight (1600/1000) in attack mode." A metallic-blue-armored warrior with a curved and thick sword rose onto the field. He wore a protective, knight-like helmet with a diamond-shaped and closed visor. He had blue, double-layered shoulder pads, and his black-gloved hands grasped his almost glowing sword, and a gray and black shield. The sword had a red handle, with a green and circular gemstone embedded at the center of it. The warrior had diamond-shaped, blue, metal kneepads, and black velvet-like pants, leading to his blue-colored and metal boots.

Kaiba pointed at Kevin. "Blade Knight will attack you directly!"

The warrior drew his sword and charged towards Kevin. He groaned and fell down onto one knee as the blade slammed into his chest, leaving a large gash. It retreated back to Kaiba's field quickly, as he smirked pointedly at Kevin.

(Kaiba: 6300, Kevin: 3000)

"Then I'll end my turn, allowing me to special summon White Dragon – Lord of War back to my field." The draconian titan materialized next to the Blade Knight again, sword in hand and a confident smirk on its face.

Kevin drew with a heave. His face was the picture of frustration and anger.

"I activate my facedown card, End of Darkness! By sending up to three dark monsters from my deck to my graveyard , I can draw an equal number of cards from my deck."

He quickly found the necessary cards in his deck, before holding them up to show them to Kaiba, who looked in shock to see that they were The Left Leg of the Forbidden One (200/300), The Right Leg of the Forbidden One (200/300) and a monster called Dark Horus (3000/1800).

"Exodia pieces?" choked Kaiba.

A smug smirk graced Kevin's face. "That's right, Kaiba. Worried?"

A heavy snarl formed on the CEO's face as Kevin continued. "I guess you must have something special against those cards, right? After all, it was the Exodia cards that ended your ninety-nine duel winning streak since you entered the professional circuit. Every duelist knows that story."

Kaiba spoke through gritted teeth. "It was a matter of luck and timing. You have no hope of beating me with those cards."

"We'll see then." Even as Kevin's spoke, Kaiba felt like he had entered a trance. "_Where did he get those cards from_?"

Kevin chuckled at the three cards in his hand. "I then activate Heart of the Night. By removing one level six or higher dark monster from my graveyard, I can draw one card for every one thousand of its level attack points. I choose Dark Horus, which happens to be a level eight monster."

He slid the card into his pocket, before drawing three more cards. Then he considered.

"I set two cards facedown as well as one facedown monster and end my turn."

Kaiba drew. "_He was nearly down and out until he suddenly sprung out that load of draws. This is starting to take longer than I anticipated_."

"Blade Knight, attack his monster."

The knight charged towards the brown-backed card, and swung his sword outward. The card flipped face-up to reveal a a four-legged, violet-like monster rose up to the field, sinking its head in a downing fashion. It had a long, pink tongue sticking out from its mouth. The limbs went down to immensely thick and large, white claws. It had gargoyle-like, blue wings on its back, and blackened eyes on its face that spoke the essence of anger and darkness. The knight's sword slashed right through it, leaving two floating pieces on either side. Within seconds, it disappeared.

"That was Mad Reloader (0/0)," said Kevin shortly. "It allows me to discard two cards from my hands and draw another two."

He grinned and picked out two of them, before sliding them into his graveyard. Then he drew another two cards.

Kaiba pointed at Kevin. "It doesn't matter, because this duel ends here. White Dragon – Lord of War attacks you directly!"

"Not so fast!" snarled Kevin. "I activate my facedown Command Silencer, which will negate your attack and allow me to draw one card."

A towering totem pole suddenly materialized over Kevin's field. The dragonic man was charging up an aura of bluish-white energy on his sword, but suddenly grunted and lowered his blade with the wave of sonic energy erupted out of the pole.

Kaiba frowned. "Fine then. I end my turn."

Kevin drew. "I activate my facedown trap card, Escape from the Dark Dimension! It allows me to special summon one of my dark monsters that were removed from play in order. As long as this continuous trap card is in play, that monster will stay in play. Arise now, Dark Horus (3000/1800)!"

A large sphere of black flames appeared on Kevin's field as he began to laugh maniacally. From the flames came a large set of silverish-black metal wings, a longer tail, stronger talon legs, powerful silver arms, and at long last, a large silver head. With a massive roar, the flames dispersed to reveal a wyvern that almost exactly resembled Horus the Black Flame Dragon, except for the fact that its heavy armor was glossy black, with sharp edges pointing out in multiple directions.

"A dark version of Horus?" cringed Kaiba.

Kevin nodded fanatically, pointing at Blade Knight. "Now, I will use its might in order to crush your pathetic knight! Attack with Void Darkness Blaze!"

The giant dragon flapped its wings, lifting off about five feet from the ground. With a roar, it opened its mouth and unleashed a blaze of crackling black energy. It slammed directly into the unfortunate knight, burning through its steel armor and frying him to a crisp in so many seconds. Kaiba fell to one knee, gasping in pain with the destruction of his monster.

(Kaiba: 4900, Kevin: 3000)

Kevin continued to laugh madly as Kaiba struggled upwards.

"Lord of War still makes your monster look weak," he growled. "It's only a temporary setback for me."

"If only you understood the true power of my deck, Kaiba…" chuckled Kevin. "Well, I guess you will soon do exactly that. I set a card and end my turn."

The CEO drew heavily. Theoretically, Kevin had nothing much to gain. Lord of War could easily destroy Dark Horus and clear the field, leaving Kevin wide open for a potential direct attack the next turn. However, there was obviously a lot more to that move, and Kaiba was suspicious that it had a lot to do with his final facedown card….

However, he knew he had to attack. Otherwise, it would give Kevin even more time to build up his resources. Risks had to be taken. After all, it was very possible Kevin just wanted him to call an extremely extravagant bluff…

"White Dragon – Lord of War, attack his monster now!"

The draconic warrior raised his sword, and a hail of bluish-white lightning began to swirl around it. With a roar, it swung its sword downward and an explosion of energy erupted out in the direction of Kevin's Dark Horus. The monster simply grunted as Kevin reacted at almost lightning speed.

"I activate my facedown trap, Sacrificial Evil! By sending the top three cards from my deck to the graveyard, I can destroy one monster on your field and deal you two hundred points of damage for each card sent to the graveyard!"

A maelstrom of darkness erupted out over Kevin's field. On looking closer it seemed to consist more of an array of hissing spirits, who piled onto the shocked White Dragon – Lord of War before he could react. Soon, he was buried in the pile, and the last sparks of life vanished as his body went limp. Kaiba stood there, a snarl on his face and his fists clenched.

(Kaiba: 4300, Kevin: 3000)

"Fine. I set one monster facedown and end my turn."

Kevin drew, a gleeful smile on his face. "This is the end, Kaiba! Dark Horus, attack his pathetic facedown!"

The giant dragon flapped its wings, lifting off about five feet from the ground. With a roar, it opened its mouth and unleashed a blaze of crackling black energy. It flipped face-up to reveal a small, almost cartoon-like version of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon. It was more of a stuffed-toy than anything, and Kaiba rolled his eyes as it attempted to scamper away from the attack with a terrified screech before it was struck down.

"You destroyed White Dragon Plushie (200/300). When it is destroyed, I can special summon one Blue Eyes White Dragon (3000/2500) from my hand!"

A vast shadow fell over the field, spreading a tad bit of surprise into the other beast.. This shadow grew in size, and a faintly draconic shape appeared, and from this appeared a messenger, a fusion of light and darkness. Clad in silver armor, and with a wingspan double that of Dark Horus, the creature lifted its massive head to its full height, opening and closing its great maw. With its cold cerulean eyes it scanned the field, and once it fell upon Kevin, it gave another frightening roar.

"Another one…." growled Kevin.

"Believe me, my dragons will not stop fighting until my enemies lie defeated at my feet," sneered Kaiba with a flourish.

Kevin growled inwardly and set a card facedown. "That will end my turn then."

Kaiba snapped the top card off his deck. "When you challenged me…." He spoke in a dangerous voice.

"I'm quite sure you didn't really know what you were in for." His voice was getting louder as he raised a card in his hand.

"I activate the magic card Legend of the Blue Eyes White Dragon! If I have one Blue Eyes White Dragon on the field and at least one in the graveyard, I can pay half my life-points to special summon all others to the field!"

Kevin's eyes snapped open in shock as two gigantic columns of light slammed down on the field next to the Blue Eyes. Erupting out from within each column was an identical wyvern to the one already present on the field (3000/2500) (x2).

(Kaiba: 2150, Kevin: 3000)

"Each one of them is equal in strength to Dark Horus," growled Kevin. "I don't find it likely that you would suicide your precious dragons."

"Actually, Legend of the Blue Eyes White Dragon prevents me from attacking with my Blue Eyes on the turn they are summoned. So even if I was willing to suicide, it would be out of the question," put in Kaiba pointedly.

"Then what was the point of that move?!" snarled Kevin.

"This," muttered Kaiba, holding up a card in his hand. Kevin balked. It was Polymerization.

Suddenly, the three swirled together, blurring all three forms. A new form appeared in the three's place, and slowly came into view. It was a large three headed white metallic dragon with some kind of symbol on their foreheads, blue eyes, two powerful clawed hands and feet, massive wings, a strong tail, and a strong looking body. The dragon touched down onto the ground, causing each head to let out a massive roar that shook the ground.

"Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon (4500/3800)!" roared the CEO.

Kevin had a look in his eyes that was a cross between fear and fury.

"NO! I WILL NOT ALLOW THAT DRAGON TO HAMPER ME AGAIN!"

"It's over for Dark Horus," sneered Kaiba. "Neutron Blast!"

Each head of the mighty dragon roared loudly and opened their jaws. White energy instantly flooded their mouths and began building like lightning. In a thunderous shot, the three released a white energy beam, which formed into a larger one. The massive beam slammed into the smaller dragon. Even though it had let lose its own attack, it never really had a hope to respond effectively. Within moments, it was atomized, with a giant black burn mark the only indication that it had ever existed.

(Kaiba: 2150, Kevin: 1500)

Kevin was on his knees, gasping and panting in pain. As he slowly stood up, with the massive, three-headed dragon bearing down on him, a look was entering his eyes that Kaiba had never seen in those of any sane human being.

"I HATE YOU!" he screamed, stamping on the ground.

Kaiba simply stood silent.

"_**I HATE YOU**_!" he repeated, his hands clenched into such tight fists that his nails were cutting crescent shaped drops of blood into his palms.

"I will send you to Hell, Kaiba!" he bellowed. "I will send you to HELL! I don't care if I have to drag you down there with me, and bury you with my bare hands, I WILL SEND YOU TO HELL!"

The CEO looked on with no reaction, but mentally he was slightly disconcerted.

"_Is it truly possible for someone to have so many negative emotions within them and still retain some degree of humanity? I understand that we are on different sides, leading to the natural progression of enmity, but I truly cannot comprehend how my stripping his father of his title as World Champion can result in such primal loathing_."

Looking at it retrospectively, Kaiba was almost saddened, watching the screaming and spitting Kevin stamping on the ground.

"_This is what humanity has come to…._" In his time Kaiba had dealt with the worst of them, and knew what the scum of the world really were. It was their influence that could turn someone like Kevin, who was barely an adult, and should've been enjoying his time at college into an insane murderer.

His face hardened. Now was not the time for pity.

"I end my turn with that. Make your move, Hunter, if you have one."

The final phrase Kaiba added on seemed to spur Kevin further into a frenzy.

"YOU WILL DIE, KAIBA!" He ripped the top card off his deck.

"THIS IS IT!" he bellowed. "CONTRACT WITH EXODIA!"

Kaiba gasped in realization as five gravestones appeared on Kevin's field. Each of the gravestones depicted a piece of Exodia.

"_His entire deck was based on getting dark monsters into the graveyard…._"

Dark thunder began raining down on Kevin's field, striking each of the gravestones. A very large pentagram formed on the field, with a dark outline. Black magic began swirling around the field, and the thunder struck the pentagram, as a very large, dark and tan-skinned arm, encased by chains started to emerge from it. Soon, another arm; then, below, large feet. And finally, the head of the beast, with a strange type of head dress on its head, red and white lines running down the sides of it while the top was covered in darkness. The monster walked out of the pentagram, towering over everything. Forcing its arms and legs forward, it instantly shattered the chains holding it.

"_There it is…_" thought Kaiba quietly.

"_Exodia Necross _(1800/0)," whispered Kevin.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Brian balked.

"In…_Infinity Council_?"

Unlike Tea, who had met both Life and Death, he had never even dreamed that he would be able to come face to face with a Council member. It was an eerie experience. Order looked almost like a normal human being, but the kind of power he radiated was unbelievable. Within this one entity was the power to bend the entire Universe to do his bidding. He could do anything. _Anything_.

"I suggest you do not be intimidated," chuckled Order. "My only purpose for bringing you here was that I wished to converse with the both of you, specifically, about certain things which are important to the progression of events in the current situation."

As he spoke, a small white couch materialized behind Brian and Tea, while an armchair appeared behind Order himself. While sitting down himself, he gestured for the pair to do the same thing. Rather nervously, they did so.

"I am sure you understand the magnitude of the importance of the reason I brought you here," he continued, "if you take into account that direct interference of an Infinity Council member in the matters of another member are not permitted unless in the most extreme cases."

"I don't understand," replied Tea.

Order sighed, rubbing his temples. "The pair of you would have landed in the Abyss. That is controlled by my fellow Council member, Lord Chaos. The Abyss consists of an array of strange, random challenges which anyone who wishes to leave it must participate in. I intervened, however, using my power to bend reality to my wishes to bring you here."

Tea looked surprised. "Oh…. Where are the others?"

Order shook his head grimly. "What I need to discuss with the two of you concerns you and you specifically. I am pushing certain boundaries by bringing you here in any case, transporting all seven of you would have been unthinkable."

Tea looked at him in shock.

"You mean you actually left the other five in that horrible place while you brought us here?!"

Order looked at her testily. "I won't repeat myself, Ms. Gardner. To bring all of you here would be against the basic laws that govern the working of our Council. Had it not been for me, you would have been there yourselves and things would have proceeded according to the path Chaos creates."

"Then what could be so important for you to bring us here?" put in Brian.

Order nodded, the aura around him brightening slightly.

"Yes, that is what I need to get to."

The room around them began to darken. Two silhouettes of human forms began to materialize.

"The Universe is embroiled in a very chaotic situation. The return of Apocalypse has coincided with an increase in the hostilities between the Paradias Corporation and Eagle. On one front stands Apocalypse and his Horsemen, on another, Paradias. The Council is providing what help to Eagle and the Chosen Duelists that we are permitted to without direct interference. But, my position as the governor of Balance has given me insight into certain things."

He hesitated temporarily.

"What do you mean?" pressed Brian.

Order looked up. "This is only the beginning, Mr. Palmer. To tell you the truth of the knowledge I have gleaned of the future would come under direct interference by the Council with mortal matters, which I cannot do. However, I do know that certain events will directly influence our war with Apocalypse as well, and taking that into account, I cannot with good conscience allow such things to happen without taking even the slightest bit of action to prevent them."

The silhouettes transformed into fully fledged, translucent images of two very familiar people. They were Yami, and Jason.

"What are they doing here?" gasped Tea.

Order shook his head. "I cannot say much. However, some of this is self-explanatory. These two men are at the center of the war against our enemies. The Pharaoh is one of the greatest assets that the Council can use without deploying our own servants. We cannot afford to lose him. Therefore, I find it essential to warn you of this, Tea Gardner. The events to come will not be easy for anyone. The Pharaoh is complicit in our campaign."

"You're warning me that he's in danger?" began Tea, but was interrupted by Brian.

"Wait. I understand if something may happen to Yugi Moto, but why Jason? He's just an Eagle operative, albeit a skilled one and a devastating duelist. But I don't think that warrants him having as much importance in this war as the Pharaoh himself. He may be like a brother to me, but I don't think the Council really cares much about the personal trauma caused to mortals during the war…. Not to sound rude."

Order allowed himself a faint smile. "You are correct there. No, Jason Becker holds greater importance in the grand scheme of things than anyone could ever really imagine. There are secrets, Mr. Palmer, secrets kept locked deep away that could shake the foundation on which this side of the war is operating. I am taking a great risk speaking to you like this without consulting other Council members, but it is something I find myself compelled to."

He took a breath.

"For Becker… If it happens, promise me you will act."

Brian looked confused for a moment, but then snorted, forgetting himself in the presence of a Council member.

"Impossible. There is no way something like that could ever occur. It's been gone for the last five years."

"I understand that, but I have seen glimpses of what is to come with my power. I can't give you details, in fact, I shouldn't be telling you this much at all. But believe me, Mr. Palmer, if it happens, it cannot be allowed to continue."

"What do you want me to do?" Brian almost shouted. "_Kill _him?!"

He stopped short when he saw the serious look on Order's face. "You're…. You're not serious," he groaned.

Order frowned. "I cannot do more. In fact, I am beginning to regret even doing this much. I should have let Chaos take its path. But what is done is done. Since I have already spoken to you, please consider deeply what I am saying."

Tea looked at them curiously. "What are you talking about?"

Brian snorted in disgust. "It's nothing, it really is."

Order shrugged. "It seems a bit anti-climatic, I know, bringing you here just to give you such vague advice. But if there's a lesson to be learned from the First War against Apocalypse, it's that only the power of the Council itself can reign supreme. Had we not locked him away ourselves, nothing would have survived. Even these small hints are against the Council's mandates, but the consequences of giving you nothing at all would be worse than breaking a few small rules. Ms. Gardner is mostly a generic warning, but for you, Mr. Palmer, take what I am saying seriously, and consider the consequences if it really happened."

"You're insane…" spat Brian in disgust.

"No I'm not…" whispered Order, staring down at the ground. "I really am not."

There was a brief silence, which was broken by Tea. She was herself wondering what could possibly be so outrageous that Brian would lose his temper like that. But she could tell that they wouldn't tell her anything. That was why she chose to bring up something that had been bugging her since she woke up.

"Um…. Can you tell us what really was going on in Necropolis? Towards the end everyone just wanted to kill everyone, and I didn't really understand things."

Order smiled faintly.

"Of course. You see, when we first created the Seals of Immortality, they were randomly scattered. Besides the Council members themselves, no one had any knowledge of their whereabouts, so as to prevent them from being tempted. After all, no mortal is infallible when it comes to eternal life."

He stood up, and began pacing up and down the room.

"This Seal landed up in the hands of a demon who wondered the cosmos along with his minions for years on end. He was a member of a very prestigious family of his kind, whose ancestry has gone down in history as one of the most notorious and shadowy individuals to ever exist. He was the Dark King of the Abyss."

The two looked surprised.

"Yes, I know what you're thinking. In fact, the Duel Monsters card was based on this legend. Ha Des acquired the Seal, and through the rumors floating around so many years after the fall of Apocalypse, he had some inclination as to what purpose the Seal would serve, but no idea as to how to unlock its secrets. For many, many years, him and his crew used their means to the maximum to try and achieve success. However, one of his subordinates, the Dark Ruler Ha Des, finally tired of their lack of success, and, along with the Dark Marquis Belial, another of their group, openly revolted and took command of the group. He travelled to Necropolis, the City of the Dead."

Slowly, the heated exchanges between Belial and Angel began to make sense to Tea.

"Ha Des and Belial set up shop in Necropolis, hoping to make a breakthrough with the help of the vilest and darkest shamans and wizards helping them in the City of the Dead. However, the Dark King, furious at the betrayal, had acquired new power and led an all-out war on his enemies in the City. It was a bloody, brutal, and painful battle that lasted for ages. Those then in charge of Necropolis were wiped out in the crossfire, and it came down to a final confrontation between Ha Des and the King. Ha Des was killed, and in the process, the Dark King of the Abyss was sent as the single most powerful individual in Necropolis, allowing him to take command of the city. He used its vast resources tirelessly to work on unlocking the Seal. Thankfully, he hasn't come close."

"What about Belial?" put in Brian.

"He had his heart fixed on the Seal, he did," replied Order. "He left Necropolis for a long time, and finally returned fifteen years ago, building up a makeshift revolt from scratch. He actually did quite well against the King, as you can see from that final battle. But that revolt was all for naught, as I'm sure you can understand after seeing the power he possessed…."

"So now what?" questioned Tea.

"Right now, the Seal is safe from Apocalypse," stated the Council member. "That's obviously something we can be thankful for. It is a less than perfect situation, but at least his power cannot be augmented."

Tea and Brian remained silent.

"We are sorry you were put through such an ordeal for such a small gain. However, in a war such as this, sacrifices must be made."

He looked at Brian with piercing eyes. "You must understand that in time."

Before they could reply, he continued. "I will send you back to Earth now. Two of your comrades are involved in a duel right now. Their victory could result in the rest of them returning as well. From there, we will send you an envoy to inform you of the next steps."

Suddenly, he waved his hand, and both of them fell unconscious. Even as they fell to the ground, their body vanished atom by atom, disappearing into thin air like stardust into the cosmos.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Well, there it is. I can't say anything about the frequency of updates until I finish my life's biggest exams by the end of March, but I assure you I will devote as much time as I can spare to the story, which will**_** never**_**, I repeat, **_**never**_**, go on hiatus. Happy reading!**


	30. Apologies

Hello my friends.

Yes, I probably don't have the damn right to call you that after how cruel I've been with regards to the amount of attention I've paid to this story. Truly, I have been a real prick in this case. I can offer apologies and excuses, although I'm sure neither will make much of a difference, not that I expect you to accept them.

Still, I believe I should offer you some kind of explanation. My last update was in December 2009. I believe that was back before my first set of exams. I had a second set in January, both of which were a sort of preliminary to the big ones in March, which lasted the whole month. I was out of town right after those exams throughout Europe. I was more or less backpacking in a way, so I was really unable to pay attention to the story properly. That said, I have no excuse for the last one and a half months. I have opened the document fifteen times, and just stared at it for five minutes, unable to dredge up the enthusiasm to write.

I love my story. I love writing, and I love my readers for their enthusiasm about my story. I feel like a jerk for dropping off. I will not discontinue this story. Too much hard work has gone into it already. Can you imagine climbing Everest and stopping at 15,000 feet? Never, people, never. I will see this through.

First thing though, I need to re-read the entire thing myself. I'm no detached from the world of YGO that I need to go over my old decks, get to know my characters again, and re-understand the pace of duels. It sounds foolish, I know, but I swear to God I will plough through it. I start college soon, and that will be a pain in the ass in terms of work, but I will make time. My promises may be falling on empty ears, as I'm sure a large portion of you have forgotten about this story altogether. In a way, this is something of a reminder that I still do exist and am determined to make the finish line, however far out I am.

My thanks to Metal Overlord 2.0 for all the emails he's sent me with ideas and concepts for implementation in the story. These will be a great help in learning about the Universe of this stor all over again.

I will see you soon again, my friends. The next chapter was left in half, and I will complete it as soon as possible. I only ask that you forgive me if there is a noticeable drop off in the quality of my writing. I will make a concerted effort to return to my previous standards.

Once again, apologies, my friends.

It's good to be back.

ardee


	31. Sovereign Testament

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE: Sovereign Testament

**I don't break promises. Ever ****.**

**Yes, I know that it's been a very long time. More then a year, at my count. I can do nothing but apologize. I've had a difficult time in my personal life. I'd rather not go into details, but I've been very sick, and anyway, you're hear to read about Jason, Yugi and Rikuo, not my strange antics. Things are looking up though, I think, and the fact that I've finally come back to my pride and joy, my magnum opus, Yu-Gi-Oh! Nightrise, gives me no small joy. It took a little longer when I started work earlier in the month because I didn't want it to be substandard, and I honestly think this one's quite a cracker.**

**Atemu's Sis: I haven't disappointed you now, have I :P?**

**Sixta: I liked SolarMoon159 better :P. But still, thanks for staying by the side of this story and I hope you'll continue to join me for the rest of this wild ride.**

**Candyman123: I. Am. Back!**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: Old friend ****. Where would this story be without you. I am so happy to be back.**

**KageNoNeko: Go ahead, reread it :P. Leave more reviews if you want, I'm not complaining :P.**

**Starlight AT: Yes! I am! Somehow :P**

**Aelstha-Mental: Oh. I wouldn't mind hearing those insane ideas actually :P.**

**And here's a shoutout to a pair of dear friends, Mei1105 and Master of the Library. You guys are the best. Had it not been for them I would not have been able to return to writing, which is what I love the most. Thank you guys, so much. **

**And finally, here is, the next chapter!1 (I'm so excited it's hilarious :P)**

The remaining duelists sat with grim looks on their faces, looking directly at the newly arrived Zerato, as well as Eizan.

The Archangel spoke first. "I have attempted to heal Mr. Wheeler to the best of my efforts." His voice was slow, measured, as if he was trying to placate the furious group for what had happened to them. "He is not in the best of shape, as the poison used on him was extremely rare and difficult to cure. However, I have, by my own means, largely distilled his blood of it. Therefore no further harm can be done. However, some damage has already been done, meaning he will be comatose for some time. The length of the coma is now entirely a measure of his own willpower. If he is able to break out of it earlier, all is well. However, we have no control over it now."

"Such flippant comments undermine his suffering," growled Rikuo. "He was one of us. A Demon Lord. For what was done to him, I will not rest as the leader of the Demon Lords until retribution is taken."

"We cannot waste time arguing about it," replied Zerato calmly. "Agreed, the security measures taken were by no means enough. But playing a blame-game now will only waste precious time. Apocalypse's power grows as we speak. Therefore we have reached a point where we must now take definitive forward action. As soon as the first group of duelists return, we will send out another group to capture the second Seal."

He didn't receive an answer, so he took it as a cue to continue. "It is located in mainland China, deep in a depression known as the Valley of Spirits. The locals there keep away from it, swearing it is infected with dark magic. However, this is mostly a result of the effect that the Seal has on its surroundings. It is guarded in a castle located in the centre of the Valley, by a man called Mandarin. Mandarin's minions haunt most of the Valley and the entire castle, and it will certainly not be easy.

"Until then, however, we will move you from this location. We will get in contact with Seto Kaiba and Kyle Gardner and inform them of this as well."

"You do realize Kaiba will raise Hell on Earth once he realizes what's happened," pointed out Bakura nastily.

Eizan replied. "One can hardly blame him. But as Zerato said before, there is no use crying over spilt milk. We must take action to mitigate the fallout and then look forward. That's why you are all going to be transferred to Eagle's new headquarters, right here in New York."

Rikuo raised an eyebrow and gave a hollow laugh. "What happened to the Las Vegas one?

Eizan sighed. "We had an attack there too. It was compromised. The New York base has been fortified to a new level with the Council's help. It's located mostly underground, right under the Empire State Building. This headquarters is virtually impregnable. We won't have to worry about security breaches here. It's the best possible location for us to use to regroup as passive resistance."

He looked over at the faces of the remaining duelists. Each one showed bitter resentment and anger. He couldn't help it. This was war. Casualties happened. Surely they could understand that?

"We need to evacuate immediately. Once Apocalypse or Paradias realizes that this place is completely exposed, anyone left here would be sitting ducks. The helicopter is waiting. Please be ready to leave."

He left, uncomfortably aware of five sets of furious eyes and two sets of confused eyes staring at his back.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The very sight of the titanic black creature brought back unpleasant memories to Kaiba's mind. The only other time he had faced it was against his stepfather Gozaburo Kaiba in the Virtual World. It had been horribly difficult to defeat, but at least he knew what it was capable of now…. He looked on grimly as the demonic creature raised his arms and let out a thunderous roar.

"I'm sure you're familiar with its effects," said Kevin nastily. "It can't be destroyed in battle or by spell and trap cards, so since I've special summoned it in defense mode you can't destroy it, and neither can you deal me any damage."

Kaiba didn't reply. "_Obviously it's attack points will increase by five hundred each turn…. But that's no kind of strategy to overcome my Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon. He'll need six standby phases to pass before that happens, and by then it's conceivable that I will have likely discovered a way to either destroy Necross or even win the duel by then_."

"I end my turn," smirked the Paradias agent.

Kaiba drew, and the Blue Eyes growled impatiently. "_Patience_," he thought to himself, a wry smile creeping up his face. "_Soon Necross will fall to you, and Kevin will cease to haunt me forever_."

"I set one card facedown and end my turn."

The black titan on Kevin's field raised one fist, and its entire body glowed emerald. Its attack points began to slowly tick upward (2300/0).

The two duelists locked eyes, endless thoughts spinning through each one's mind. "_Kaiba knows that although it is indeed powerful, Necross is not the keystone of this incredible deck. No, against the might of the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon, I would require something far more formidable…. Indeed, I might even try a simple monster removal card, but he's too hung up about his bond with the Blue Eyes to leave it unprotected. Ironically, I am going to snap that very bond when I execute my plan to crush him_."

Meanwhile, Kaiba was continuing to try and discern what Kevin's thoughts were.

"_Does he really plan to play a waiting game? He seems absolutely calm and confident of his strategy. If that's true then it would be illogical for him to be playing a passive and defensive strategy, because the law of averages states that a duelist of my caliber would not allow a monster to remain on the field for six turns. That would allow me to infer that his true motive his hidden, which leaves me with a simple, but ironically, unanswerable question at the present. What does he plan_?"

"I will set a card of my own facedown," he chuckled. "Then I will turn the board over to you."

Kaiba drew silently, eyeing Necross with distaste. "There's nothing I can do right now. End turn."

Kevin snapped the top card off his deck, excitement growing on his face. He didn't even notice Necross' slight gain in attack points (2800/0). "_My plan is one step away from fruitition. Kaiba will not know what hit him_."

"I end my turn." "_One more card…._"

Kaiba snapped the top card off his deck, and Necross growled as its attack points increased (3300/0). "I play the Card of Sanctity, which allows us both to draw until we hold six cards."

"_What a fool_," scoffed Kevin as he filled up his hand. "_He thinks he's helping himself by playing that card but in truth he's giving me the chance of taking my final step to victory. He will regret playing that card very soon_."

Kaiba looked over his hand. Meanwhile, the three headed behemoth was matching glares with the dark version of the Legendary Protector God on Kevin's field.

"_The only reason I even played this card was so that I can hopefully draw a monster with a removal effect. Regardless of how pathetic his Necross is, it's effects still make it annoying._" He hadn't had any such luck yet. But still, he was sure he would draw a card that would be a viable option sooner or later. Meanwhile, Kevin's strategy seemed to be only centered around waiting for the attack points of Necross to finally surpass those of the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon. It was risky and foolish, and almost guaranteed not to work. Kaiba was almost surprised a duelist of Kevin's caliber had decided to do something like that….

"I set two facedown cards. That ends my turn," he grunted.

The Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon growled impatiently.

"_Patience_….. _Soon you will have the opportunity to annihilate him_."

It was almost as if Kevin knew what Kaiba was thinking. "Believe you me, your dragon is not going to be destroying anyone for a long time… That's because very, very soon, it will become MY dragon!" roared Kevin in delight.

Kaiba narrowed his eyes as Kevin drew. Necross was now ridiculously powerful but still nowhere near the beast on his side of the field (3800/0). "Do your worst."

He knew something was up, Kevin had an unnatural air of confidence about the cards he held that was almost unnerving…..

"This is it," he whispered. "You're dead, Kaiba. You're _dead_."

He slid a card into the magic and trap card zone of his Duel Disk. "Prepare to be ripped apart by your own heart and soul. I activate Monster Reborn, to special summon from your graveyard the one and only Blue Eyes White Dragon (3000/2500)!"

Kaiba's eyes widened with rage as the shining dragon materialized onto the field of the Paradias agent. It was almost identical to the three headed one on Kaiba's field. The amount of light coming off its body was in sharp contrast to the giant shadow cast by Exodia Necross. It was almost ironic to see them on the field together. But the supposed irony, along with any other possible emotion was lost on Kaiba. All that remained was a look of pure, searing hatred and fury.

"You slime….." he seethed. "I will well and truly finish you for what you have done. You are _done_, you sick demented son of a bitch."

Kevin met Kaiba's eyes, a small smile dancing on his face. As Kaiba ranted, he raised another card.

"You don't even deserve to _touch_ the card that is the Blue Eyes White Dragon!" roared Kaiba. "People like you deserve to be cast out onto the streets, taking things which are beyond your comprehension and you shouldn't be allowed to _look_ at-…." He paused mid-rant when he saw Kevin raise the card in his hand.

It was Polymerization.

Kaiba froze. A glazed look came over his eyes as he thought back to Yugi recounting his duel with Solomon back at the Tournament of Shadows….

"You wouldn't," he whispered.

The dragon and the demonic creature began to swirl together in a vortex of energy. Kevin raised his arms to the sky, which began to thunder a little as Kaiba looked on with a look that was a cross between horror and fury.

"Your executioner will arise now!" shrieked Kevin. His bangs had fallen down into his eyes, but through them one could see a truly feral look in his eyes. Any psychologist could come to just one conclusion upon seeing him in this state: Kevin was well and truly mad. There really was no two ways about it. He had always been teetering on the brink of darkness, using a deck that belonged to the darkest being of them all, serving a foul organization and committing all sorts of crimes. But with this one move, he had given in completely.

_'Stare not into the abyss for too long, lest the abyss stare into you.'_

At another point, this phrase would have certainly occurred to Kaiba. But now, all he cared about was dealing with whatever monstrosity Kevin was planning to call upon. He felt a shiver go down his spine as the vortex slowly stopped spinning, and a titanic silhouette emerged within it. Kevin's insane laughter continued to echo into the night sky as the being stepped out, raising its horrifying visage and letting out a thunderous roar which could have been heard a dozen blocks away.

As Kaiba was able to stare on the true face of the monstrosity, he got the growing feeling that this was Kevin's ace in the hole. It was mostly similar to Necross itself, if a lot bigger and more demonic. However, what truly set it apart was that in place of its right arm, it had the neck and head of the Blue Eyes White Dragon attached to the stump that would link its arm to the rest of its body. It's terrifying head replaced its fist, with its icy blue eyes staring out at the Ultimate Dragon and harsh cries erupting from its throat.

"This, Kaiba, is the end of you," intoned Kevin, raising a fist. "Legendary Dragon Lord – Exodia (?/?)!"

Kaiba felt numb. The temperature of the entire field had already dropped a few degrees, and an icy mist was materializing around them. The Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon growled with trepidation, but for some reason, even it seemed wary around the titanic beast that was the Legendary Dragon Lord – Exodia.

"My Legendary Dragon Lord – Exodia is the most powerful demon god to ever exist," whispered Kevin.

"You should consider it an honor to lose your life at its hands, Kaiba. This card was used by Solomon Moto against his grandson, and Marik Ishtar got hold of it again once the old man lost. However, he didn't use it against Yugi as his deck was focused on the Dark Gods, and he didn't have the fusion materials to summon it in any case. However, I took possession of it along with the rest of his deck thanks to the resources of Paradias, and knew instantly this would be the best card to defeat you with. You're finished, Kaiba, my demon god is the most powerful non-divine monster in Duel Monsters."

The Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon roared in protest at the last statement.

Kaiba nodded, a blazing look of fury in his eyes. "It shall be a duel to decide that title," he snarled. "Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon versus Legendary Dragon Lord – Exodia. I don't care how powerful you say your cheap, stolen card is, my deck will destroy it!"

"Duel?" sneered Kevin maliciously. "What duel? Legendary Dragon Lord – Exodia has one hundred attack and defense points for the combined levels of each and every monster in my graveyard. It cannot be affected by magic cards." One by one, the spiritual forms of the every beast Kevin had called upon during the duel materialized onto his field. Exodia's ultimate form flexed his right arm, which was really the Blue Eyes' neck, and the dragon opened its mouth to allow the spirits to enter its body. Its eyes lit up and turned a blinding white as its attack points began to rise through the roof (7100/7100).

"_Seventy one hundred…_" Kaiba thought grimly. "_No matter, I'm more than capable of handling it. As long as I have Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon, no monster is capable of defeating me_."

"I know what you're thinking, Kaiba," chuckled Kevin. "You're quite sure that the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon is still more than powerful enough to take down the ultimate incarnation of Exodia as long as you can keep it on the field with your tricks for a turn or two. But that's not the case… When it's summoned, Exodia will instantly destroy one monster on your field!"

The dark titan flexed its right shoulder, and the head of the Blue Eyes began to glow as Kaiba looked on in shock. It opened its mouth and a giant sphere of blue energy which crackled with white lightning began to glow in it. With a roar, it released the sphere in the direction of the three-headed fusion on Kaiba's field. With seconds left till impact, Kaiba reacted.

"I activate De-Fusion, which I'll use to send my Ultimate Dragon back to the fusion deck, and special summon all three Blue Eyes White Dragons (3000/2500) (x3) in defense mode!"

Just as the sphere was about to collide with it, the three headed dragon dematerialized into a sphere of energy, which broke into three smaller spheres, with the large attack unsuccessfully filtering through the spaces between the three. Within seconds, the spheres materialized into the legendary trio of dragons, taking up almost the entirety of Kaiba's field while howling, growling and snapping in anger at the Legendary Dragon Lord – Exodia.

Kevin hissed in irritation. He had lost an opportunity to finish the duel then and there.

"Ah well, it matters not. The secondary effect of Necross allows me to either special summon the targeted monster from your graveyard, or increase my life-points by its attack points. Since it's obviously _not_ in your graveyard, I'll have to be content with nearly five thousand extra life-points!" He broke off into a sinister laugh as his score began to skyrocket back towards its starting level.

(Kaiba: 2150, Kevin: 6000)

He returned his gaze to Kaiba's field. "Not that it matters….. My Legendary Dragon Lord is still easily capable of blowing away your dragons without breaking a sweat. Even if you summon your Shining Dragon, there is no way for you to win this duel, Kaiba," he sneered.

Kaiba ignored his taunts, instead choosing to focus on the cards in his hand, his field, and the ones he needed to draw in order to turn the tide. He was content that with his current cards, he would weather the storm presented by Kevin's hideous beast for the time-being, but it needed to go, and fast. He clenched his fist.

"_How __**dare**__ he touch my Blue Eyes and make it a part of a such a devilish creature….. I will make him pay for that_."

"Very well…." spat Kevin. "Legendary Dragon Lord – Exodia, attack his first Blue Eyes with Black Burst Stream!"

Once again, Exodia raised the neck of the Blue Eyes again and its entirety began to crackle with purplish lightning as another dark blue sphere formed in its mouth. With a single thrust of its arm forward, it let lose a storm of similar colored energy, which sailed through the air, heading straight for the central of the trio of drakes. This time there was no intervention. The blaze of energy continued on and ripped through the dragon, as it howled in agony. Within seconds, it was completely reduced to ashes, leaving a burn mark between the pair of remaining dragons.

"You will pay for that," said Kaiba hoarsely.

Kevin smirked, raising his hands as if deflecting all blame from himself. "Make me…."

He continued to laugh snidely he slapped another card onto his Duel Disk. "I summon Mad Reloader (0/0)!"

Appearing on the field was a four-legged, violet-like monster rose up to the field, sinking its head in a downing fashion. It had a long, pink tongue sticking out from its mouth. The limbs went down to immensely thick and large, white claws. It had gargoyle-like, blue wings on its back, and blackened eyes on its face that spoke the essence of anger and darkness.

"Once per turn I need to sacrifice one dark or light monster to keep Exodia on the field, such is his might. I banish my Reloader to feed the strength of my ultimate beast!" Exodia reached over with his left arm, and snatched the wailing fiend of the ground. With a single flex of its arm, it crushed the Reloader to bits, absorbing its life force into its body (7200/7200).

"My turn ends. Very soon, my Legendary Dragon Lord will obliterate you."

Kaiba closed his eyes, blocking out the growls of Kevin's and his monsters, and the distant gunshots and yells of wounded men.

He drew, and growled in frustration as he looked at his hand. At this point, it was a near impossibility to launch an offensive against Kevin.

"I set one monster facedown in defense mode and end my turn."

Kevin drew swiftly, leering at the growling, majestic dragons on Kaiba's field. "Now it is time for your second Blue Eyes to fall!" he spat.

"I activate Brain Control, paying eight hundred life-points to take control of your facedown monster, which I will then flip summon."

The facedown card floated over to Kevin's field, and flipped over. Suddenly a red, metal dragon soared down to his field. Lightning currents ran through it, and it had claw-like feet. It's turquoise eyes glowed upon it landing on the field.

"So now, I will immediately sacrifice your pathetic Y-Dragon Head (1500/1600) to call upon my devastating Darknight Parshath (1900/1400)!"

Instantly, a bright purple glow filled the field as a half angel, half horse creature appeared. The angel half wore purple and black armor, and had black wings draping across its body in different places. It had long orange hair. It didn't have a right hand, and instead had a sword attached to its wrist, while his left held a shield. The horse half was black, and had wings on its back.

"_A dark version of the Airknight_," thought Kaiba. _"His deck truly shows a lack of respect for the game. All he uses are perversions and cheap copies. I will make him pay_."

"My Darknight gains one hundred attack points for every dark monster in my graveyard. I happen to have sixteen, which means he will be stronger than even your dragons!"

Kevin laughed maniacally as the dark angel's attack points began to increase rapidly (3500/1400). "Now, your dragons are doomed! Parshath, Exodia, obliterate them!"

Parshath charged across the field, raising his hellish blade, even as the Legendary Dragon Lord took a step forward, once again thrusting the Blue Eyes' head forward and unleashing a stream of black lightning. The angel's blade made contact with one Blue Eyes' neck the same time the demon god's attack slammed into the other. Momentarily, time seemed to freeze, before one dragon had its head loped off, its body floating around momentarily, while the other was completely atomized with screams of pain.

The simultaneous destruction of both his dragons left Kaiba's field swirling with dust and smoke, as Kevin shrieked with triumphant laughter.

"You're dead, Kaiba! You hear me? You're dead!"

Even as the smoke began to recede, he saw the CEO standing stock still in the epicenter of the explosion, a furious look on his face even though he didn't say anything.

"I sacrifice Darknight Parshath to my Legendary Dragon Lord – Exodia. That ends my turn! Take your final turn, Kaiba! After this, you are finished, and my father will be avenged!"

Kaiba glared at him, his fists clenched. A noticeable twitch was coming over him. "_My Blue Eyes…._"

"My father was three times the duelist you could ever be," spat Kevin, while Exodia (8000/8000) stood silently in front of him. "You merely stole his world title away from him, and now, I will set things right once and for all."

Kaiba met his gaze, and spoke in an oddly calm voice. "Why don't I tell you the truth about Adam Hunter?"

Kevin stopped short. "The truth?" he spat. "The truth is that he was a world champion dragon duelist! He didn't steal rare cards from other collectors like you, and reached the epitome of the game before you stole it from him!"

Despite his current predicament, a tired smirk crept onto Kaiba's face. "You really are clueless Hunter….. When I first met you, I resolved never to tell you this, as it would really be too cruel to insult the memory of someone's dead father. I grew up with Gozaburo Kaiba has one of the worst fathers ever. Despite you being an absolute prick, I thought it would be too cruel to take that away from you. But now you've crossed a line, Hunter, and I'm afraid your fantasy world is about to be dispelled forever."

A touch of panic was entering Kevin's eyes. "You don't know a thing about my father!" he hissed. But it was evident that Kaiba's frank words worried him."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_(Adam: 500, Perez: 7500)_

_The commentator spoke with excitement. "Ladies and gentlemen, it seems that the former World Champion, Adam Hunter, is going to be knocked out in the round of 16 of the 1997 World Championships! This will signal the end of an era in Duel Monsters, with many people claiming that the young prodigy Seto Kaiba will take his place atop the dueling world."_

_The crowd in the stadium around him looked on with eager excitement. The twenty eight year old Mexican, Perez, had a Berserk Dragon (3500/0) face-up on his field. His opponent, Adam Hunter, was nearing defeat, and had no cards on his field or his hand. It was his turn, and he had just weathered a devastating attack._

_They were playing on a giant Duel platform. Adam stared impassively at his opponent. "Card of Sanctity, activate."_

_The crowd began to murmur in excitement. Was the former Champion going to pull off another stunning comeback? So many times, he had come back from the brink of defeat with a dazzling array of combos to completely destroy his opponent. Did the old guard have one last fight in him?_

"_I summon the Lord of Dragons (1200/1000) in attack mode."_

_A man wearing black dragon robes appeared on his field. "Then I play the Flute of Summoning Dragons, to special summon Tyrant Dragon (2900/2500) and Kaiser Glider (2400/2000) from my hand."_

_Materializing in front of its master was a dark orange dragon with a massive set of wings, powerful claws, sharp fangs, a strange skin hood around its face, and a strong tail. It gave a strange, serpentine hiss, and the air around it seemed to ripple. Next to it was a golden, reptilian beast with armor that seemed to be made of pieces that fit together. It growled in anger._

"_Not enough to take out my Berserk Dragon," growled Perez._

"_I then activate Monster Reborn to special summon Luster Dragon #2 (2400/1400) from my graveyard." A dragon that seemed to be made of green emerald materialized onto his field. The crowd was getting increasingly excited. What did Hunter have in store?_

"_This ends now. I activate United We Stand, equipping it to my Tyrant Dragon (6100/5700)." Perez took a step back in panic._

"_This is the end," intoned Adam. "Obliterate him, my dragons."_

_A hail of various colored attacks slammed into Perez's field, vaporizing the Berserk Dragon and knocking Perez off his feet as the crowd began cheering._

_(Adam: 500, Perez: 0)_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Every single duel," muttered Kaiba. "In the group stages, all the way up until the round of 16, Adam Hunter escaped from the jaws of defeat and somehow reached a triumphant victory through one miracle play after another."

"What are you insinuating?" hissed Kevin.

Kaiba ignored him. "Things changed against me, however. You see, in 1997, I had developed the first prototype of a Duel Disk. It was purely experimental, and probably had a fair number of glitches. But Industrial Illusions proposed that I used it in my duel with Hunter, almost as an exhibition. He was nervous about it when the tournament council came to him with the idea from the start. But Pegasus was completely sold on the idea. He insisted we try it out. So Hunter really didn't have a choice. But coming into the duel, he was a mess."

"Don't give me this crap!" spat Kevin.

"It was an absolute farce," continued Kaiba. "I was able to end the duel in three turns. It was as if he had played the game for the first time. His moves were tentative, and strategies non-existent. It was as if he had no idea how to use his own deck. He set up pathetic defensives, and I beat him on my third turn without losing a single life-point."

"Stop your LYING!" hollered Kevin, shaking with fury. "My father was a true champion!"

Kaiba ignored him. "As it turned out, he had been taking advantage of the fact that all the previous duels were played on a Duel Platform. He was a grifter. He's so fast at shuffling, nobody can see him rearranging his deck as he pleases. He used to use his body and the Duel Platform to hide his actions. Back then, Duel Monsters was still in its infant stages, and a lot of anti-cheating technology hadn't been developed yet. But with the Duel Disk, it was impossible. He would be shuffling in plain sight. His dueling skills were actually quite inferior, and coupled with his nervousness, I wiped the floor with him!"

"SHUT UP!" screeched Kevin, stamping on the ground with rage. "DON'T YOU DARE INSULT MY FATHER!"

A humorless smile appeared on the CEO's face.

"The tournament organizers figured it out. Thankfully for them, this duel was going to be played on tape delay, as the main arena was busy. It didn't make sense at the time as the duel was so hyped, but they thanked their stars later on. If this kind of controversy got out, it would ruin Duel Monsters. Pegasus made a deal with Hunter that if he withdrew from the tournament and retired from Duel Monsters, his deeds would never be revealed. Hunter agreed without a second thought, and a cover-up was organized. The dueling world was spared such a controversy, and only about six people ever knew the truth, including me…."

"I WILL KILL YOU!" bellowed Kevin.

"Finally, he couldn't take the pressure and shame. The idiot killed himself. Jumped out of a tenth story building. Took the easy way out. It kind of personifies what he always really was: a coward and a cheater who could never face the music."

Kevin was beyond words. He was trembling with rage, his hands were shaking. "_It's not __**true**_," he whispered.

"Keep telling yourself that," muttered Kaiba. He could see from the shell-shocked look on Kevin's face that while he was attempting to that, he was failing rather miserably. In his heart of hearts, he knew it was not in Kaiba's nature to lie about something like this. The CEO was not good at playing mind games, merely because he barely had any emotions himself. His entire life revolved around the cold, painful truth.

"You're a dead man walking…." breathed Kevin, staring at the ground impassively.

"Keep talking," hissed Kaiba, drawing. His eyes lit up somewhat, and he saw the makings of a strategy in his hand.

"I activate Pot of Avarice, allowing me to send five monsters from my graveyard back to my deck. Then I draw twice."

He selected five monster cards and slid them back into his deck, shuffling it before returning it to the deck slot on his Duel Disk. Then he snapped the top two cards off.

"_How interesting_….."

He considered. Kevin looked far too spaced out to bother watching him. "_Is it even possible…._?" he wondered.

He hadn't an option but to attempt it. The Legendary Dragon Lord – Exodia was nigh invincible, and nothing short of a Megamorphed Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon could help at this point. Unfortunately he hadn't the cards to attempt it.

"I set one monster facedown in defense mode, and add one more facedown card. Your move, Hunter."

Kevin drew silently. His eyes looked like that of a ghost.

"You will pay for everything, Kaiba. Mark my words." He slammed a card onto his Duel Disk.

"DARK GREPHER (1700/1600)!"

A dark-skinned and white-haired madman leapt onto the field. His muscles were bulging with might, matching the large, straight sword he carried. He wore black overalls with a white, spinal cord design running down the center, and black pants with faded flames to match. His eyes were bloodshot and orange.

"This ends now," he screamed, pointing at the facedown card. "Attack, Grepher!"

The freakish man drew his blade, and charged towards Kaiba's field. He warrior cleaved the card flipped up to reveal a clown with a white and black striped face, with yellow and blue-green baggy clothing, a blue vest with a white collar, a large red hat with a long pink flowing wig in half. It was immediately sliced in half.

"When Peten the Dark Clown (500/1200) is destroyed, I can special summon another one from my deck," shrugged Kaiba.

The jester was almost immediately replaced by an identical one, before Exodia unleashed a wave of dark energy and obliterated it on Kevin's command of "BLACK BURST STREAM!"

Kaiba sneered inwardly as the third one appeared on his field, which, of course, was untouchable at the moment. One card. That was really all he needed to complete what was quite possibly the grandest move ever seen in Duel Monsters.

"I sacrifice Grepher to Exodia!" The warrior's eyes widened as the ultimate incarnation of the Forbidden One picked him up and absorbed his life energy within seconds.

"You're delaying the inevitable!" roared Kevin. "You cannot speak of my father like that and expect to live!"

Kaiba ignored him and drew. "Pot of Greed." His eyes widened with satisfaction.

"I sacrifice Peten to set one monster facedown in defense mode."

Kevin was too furious to realize just how uncommon it was for Kaiba to play defensively. Something was certainly up….. This was the genius of Kaiba's plan. He knew that if he riled the Paradias agent up enough, it would be easy for him to execute his plan without interference from Kevin, who surely would have tried to stop it had he been sane enough to notice what Kaiba was trying to do.

"Then I'll activate Soul Release, removing from play from your graveyard every Exodia piece except the Exodia the Forbidden One (1000/1000) himself."

"GET ON WITH IT!" howled Kevin.

"_He'll soon be wishing that I hadn't_," thought Kaiba with a sneer.

"Then I'll set one card facedown and play Heaven-Hell. Each of us selects a monster in our opponent's graveyard, and then our opponent must add that card to their hands. I select Exodia the Forbidden One (1000/1000)."

"Take your pathetic Blue Eyes Lightning Dragon (2400/1600)," spat Kevin.

Kaiba could barely contain his grin as he added the card to his hand, before activating yet another magic card. "Then comes Exchange."

He flipped his hand around for Kevin to see. It was only one card, Smashing Ground. Kevin took it without thinking.

Kaiba's smirk broadened as he took Exodia the Forbidden One (1000/1000). Kevin had no idea what Kaiba's intention was, and frankly he didn't care.

"_As long as I have my Legendary Dragon Lord – Exodia, I am invincible."_

"That ends my turn."

"This ends now," growled Kevin. "I activate the magic card Black Inferno. At the end of the turn, it will deal both of us damage equal to half the attack points of one dark attribute monster on the field which has engaged in battle. I will survive, but the damage will wipe you out. Now, it ends! Exodia attacks your facedown monster!"

The demon god unleashed a wave of black lightning in the direction of his brown-backed card. Kaiba tensed. The timing was everything if he was to execute this move.

"I activate my facedown trap, Return from the Different Dimension! At the cost of half my life-points I can special summon as many monsters from my removed from play pile as possible. So I choose the Left Arm, Left Leg, Right Arm and Right Leg of Exodia (200/300) (x4)!"

The blast seemed to slow down as a quarter of golden limbs encumbered by chains materialized onto Kaiba's field.

"What the hell is this?" spat Kevin.

Suddenly, Kaiba's facedown monster flipped over to reveal a shaman dressed in red robes. He carried a long scythe, and had a pair of skulls floating around him. "Hade Hane (900/100)," gasped Kevin in realization.

Kaiba nodded. "When he's flip summoned I can return three cards on the field to their owner's hand. I choose the Left Arm, Left Leg and Right Arm." Three of the limbs vanished as Kaiba plucked them off the field and added them to the singular card in his hand.

"It's not enough!" shrieked Kevin desperately. "Only four!"

Kaiba smirked and tapped a button on his Duel Disk. "My final card… Compulsory Evacuation Device."

He pulled the last card off his Duel Disk even as Kevin let out a scream of utter dismay and terror. A dark smile graced Seto Kaiba's face as he turned all five cards around to face Kevin. Exodia the Forbidden One, Right Arm of the Forbidden One, Left Arm of the Forbidden One, Right Leg of the Forbidden One, and Left Leg of the Forbidden One, all in his hand.

The last time around, he had been on the receiving end of these cards. It felt good to be in charge this time around.

"THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE!" hollered Kevin.

Suddenly, immensely powerful winds began to blow all around the area, powerful enough to start lifting rubble around them into the air. After this, a light-violet pentagram warped through dimensions, completing itself on the battlefield.

"N - No!" Kevin cowered, backing off a little. "This...THIS CAN'T BE!"

He knew full well that whatever the power _his_ Exodia had, it was absolutely no match for the original. The duel was over.

The mighty golden hands and feet started to emerge from the pentagram. Finally, the head of the great, legendary one came forth, with a strange type of head dress on its head, red and white lines running down the sides of it while the top was covered in gold. The monster walked out of the pentagram, towering over everything. The legend put its hands together, cupping them and forming a bright, glowing energy attack.

"I warned you again and again," whispered Kaiba. "You never listened. Consider this your punishment. You bit off more than you could chew when you challenged me for a third time, and now you will have to face the music."

He thrust out a hand.

"EXODIA...HELLFIRE RAGE - EXODO FLAME!"

The legend let loose its immense power, engulfing a screaming Kevin and his silently standing Legendary Dragon Lord – Exodia with no able objection. The attack continued onward, shooting off so far that its origin was out of sight in mere seconds. It lit up the night sky so brightly, it almost seemed like it was noon. Kaiba stood on grimly as the dark version of the Forbidden One on Kevin's field was decimated by the beast from which it was born. The legend ceased its attack, sinking back into the pentagram, its task completed.

(Kaiba: 2150, Kevin: 0)

Kaiba stood stock still in one spot as the Duel Disks deactivated, and the remaining cards disappeared. Kevin lay prone on the ground. Kaiba didn't blame him. When he had been hit by an Exodia attack by Yugi, back before Duelist Kingdom began, it had left him unconscious for half an hour. He didn't know if it would have the same effect on Kevin, neither did he care.

He pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number. It was the agent in charge of the operation from the London police

"One of the perpetrators is down," he muttered. "I'm two lanes from Marble Arch. I'm going to find Gardner."

Before the cop could protest that he should not move in without backup, he disconnected.

It was essential to his plan that Schweinstigger and Kyle were being held in the same place. If he was unable to get the former, his entire trip to Europe meant nothing. If he was unable to save Kyle, then, well….. He would get a lot of flak from the others back in New York. He was inherently unable to admit openly that he personally wanted to see the boy live, but deep down he had developed a grudging respect for Kyle's dueling skills as well as what he had been through. If it was within his power, he would save the boy.

He reached down over Kevin's unconscious body and pulled the gun he had been using out of Kevin's pocket. He didn't appreciate firearms, but if he confronted James, he wasn't in a position to have another, extended duel.

Checking if it was in working order and loaded, he then took Kevin's cell phone, and scrolled through the contacts. Finding one listed as James, he sent him a message.

'Kaiba's down. Diablo is occupied. Bring the prisoners to the newspaper store five blocks east, we need to get out of here….. Too many cops.'

He pocketed the phone. His ruse would soon be discovered, but there could be some useful information on the phone. Grimly, he walked off into the darkness.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ryu and Daniel stared down Yakou, as the former prepared to make his draw. Finally, it seemed as if they had turned the tide of the duel on the former protégé of the creator of Duel Monsters, with Daniel's deadly new fusion, Elemental Hero Psychotic Bladestorm, destroying Wicked God Dreadroot with help from a combination of its variety of effects as well as a power boost provided by Ryu's magic card. With Yakou wide open, it seemed likely that an opportunity for the Dragon Demon to deal him a huge amount of further damage had finally arisen.

But something was not right. Ryu couldn't quite place his finger on it, but it was the look on Yakou's face that seemed to scare him a bit.

"I'll bet…." said Yakou, his voice dripping with scorn, "that you demons think you've got me right where you want me. Old Tenma Yakou, trapped in a corner without his Wicked God, with two filthy demons and their big bad oh-so scary monsters bearing down on him."

His head had been slightly bent until this point, he cocked it upwards to reveal that his eyes had gone a crimson red.

"You forget….." he murmured, licking his lips, "…..this is the _Abyss_. Anything can happen. _Anything. _I'm not Tenma Yakou, he isn't real." To their shock, he slid his deck out of the deck slot on the Duel Disk, and it began to shine.

"These cards, of course, are," he growled. "Including a certain Wicked God - Dreadroot, who, I'm willing to bet, is very angry with you right now…."

He trailed off into a very scary, maniacal laugh, and suddenly an explosion of light erupted from the deck, blinding both his opponents, his screeching laughter suddenly drowned out by the explosion.

"What the-…" swore Ryu, looking up to see a hulking form in the mist.

Daniel and he took a step back each as it cleared to reveal a shocking sight. Gone was the man in a suit, with a Duel Disk on his arm and a deck of cards in his hand. In its place was a demonic looking beast. It stood nearly eight feet tall, and was clad in jet-black armor. It seemed to the two demons that they were staring at some kind of tortured nightmare. Its arms were disproportionately large to its body, which screamed of deformity, but nonetheless this was the appearance of the demon they now looked at. Its armor seemed as if it were made of bone, with the chest-plates resembling a rib-cage. Spines ran down its back. Most frightening, however, was its face, which was covered mostly by a helmet, thankfully, but left those same crimson eyes staring back out.

It almost seemed like a human, well, almost-human version of the Wicked God – Dreadroot.

"Chaos has gone insane," snarled Daniel.

Ryu shrugged. "Well, it _is _the Abyss. Back in the day I knew _of _the Abyss, even though I was unaware of the fact that this was Chaos' realm. All kinds of weird things happen here. Meh, we could be turned into bunnies now."

The demon laughed. It was like the sound of bones rattling in the wind. "Well said, Politamus. Did you really expect this place to obey such an ordered format of things as Duel Monsters for an extended period of time?"

Black lighting crackled around his hands. "I am now one with the Wicked God deck. And you two, will soon be one with the worms that will feast on you when I send you to the Realm of Death. We may not be dueling anymore, but we are still enemies."

"This should be easier," commented Ryu flippantly. "Who wants to bother dueling?"

Daniel nodded, setting the Duel Disk down and depositing his deck back in his pocket as the holograms vanished. He moved his neck from side to side, while Ryu cracked his knuckles.

"Such bravado," guffawed this new, terrible form of Yakou.

Ryu stared at him. "You really need to shut up, you know that?"

With that, he moved so fast it would have been almost impossible for the human eye to follow. Within less then a second he had covered the distance to his opponent, and dealt him a resounding uppercut to the chin. This rocked the devilish creature back a few steps, giving Ryu time to spin around and kick him in the ribs. If he had dealt such a blow to an ordinary man, it would have probably smashed at least three and caused him to cough up blood. But of course, his opponent was no ordinary man. He bent his face down, and grinned at Ryu. There was not a scratch.

"By Bahamut-…" swore the dragon demon. Before he could complete his sentence, his opponent slammed a punch of his own into Ryu, the gauntleted fist sinking deep into his gut and throwing him off his feet. He landed on his hands and bounced backwards again, landing on his feet, thoroughly winded and gasping. The force of that punch…

He was too dazed and doubted he would have been able to react in time to another attack, but thankfully, Daniel was able to intervene in time. His eyes had turned amber and his muscles started to bulge a little. This was an obvious effect of his own demon powers. He lashed out at Yakou's face with his foot, hitting the exact same spot where Ryu's first punch had. Even then he was unable to break the skin. Rather then deter him, this only seemed to frustrate him further. He unleashed a barrage of punches and kicks in the direction of his opponent, and, infuriatingly, Yakou was able to keep up with his demonic speed and block each and every one blow in the sequence with absurd ease.

Ryu was not as winded as before. "_If my initial attack was unable to even scratch him, I doubt Daniel's will have much effect either_," he noted.

With that, he plunged himself into the melee as well. Now, Yakou had two, not one demons unleashing a sequence of lightning fast blows in his direction, but his own limbs seemed to be able to move with absurd ease. Daniel attempted to knee him in the gut, but the attempt was blocked by Yakou's own raised knee. Ryu's attempt at a fancy roundhouse kick to the face was parried by an arm. Daniel and Ryu both drew back for an instant, before plunging forward simultaneously with their fists. Both of them focused all their energy into the point of attack. A punch that strong would normally be enough to rip through titanium. Yakou extended both his arms, and caught each fist in each of his hands. They did not move another inch forward.

Yakou smirked under his helmet.

"My turn."

He let out a strange, howling noise, and an influx of dark energy left his body. The force was stunning. It threw both Ryu and Daniel off their feet and the ensuing wind dragged them ten feet in opposite directions. They hit the ground simultaneously with resounding thuds. Meanwhile, Yakou remained in that position, his hands stretched out, palms open, black electricity still crackling around his body.

Ryu and Daniel struggled upwards, and an icy chuckle escaped Yakou's lips.

"You can drop the act, Politamus."

Ryu raised his eyebrows. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me, dragon demon. You're just playing these pointless games, and it's starting to annoy me quite frankly. I'd estimate that you've used perhaps three percent of your total energy in your initial attack against me. Even I haven't even begun to tap into the vast reserves of energy of the Wicked Gods. Why bother with this useless scrimmage? We're entities of power of a whole different level. It's rather undignified to be scrapping like street thugs. You're holding back a huge amount, I know it."

Ryu shrugged. "Even if I am, so what?"

Daniel took a step back. He was a demon, true, but in terms of pure power was not in the same league as Rikuo or Ryu. If this was going to come down to a battle of magic, the Grand Dragon General was far better equipped to handle things alone. Truth be told, he wished the duel hadn't been stopped. He would feel a little less useless.

Yakou turned and faced the dragon demon, his crimson eyes penetrating the blue ones of his adversary.

"Like I said, the rules of this game we play may have changed a bit, but not completely. We still have to finish our clash for you to move forward. We could forget about the fight, and have a drink, but you'd be stuck here then. Plus this is the most powerful form that the extension of Chaos has been allowed to take up until now, I want to see how strong it really is. Who better to test it out against then the Grand Dragon General?"

Ryu allowed himself a bland smile. "Ah well. I suppose…."

He stretched his hands out to his side, and silver energy crackled around him. His hair stuck up straight, and his blue eyes went silver.

"Thank the Gods," chuckled Yakou. "I can feel it now, you're getting stronger. How strong, dragon demon, I wonder, how strong? I want a good fight."

"You'll get one," growled Ryu, and suddenly, raised his hand, and a blast of golden flames issued forth. No one knew whether or not it was going to hit Yakou. For when it had covered exactly half the distance between the two, time seemed to freeze. The expressions on the faces of all three remained the same, the positions of their bodies were unmodified. Even the singular grains of sand which had been blown up into the air by a gust of wind which happened to be blowing at that instant remained suspended in that position.

A man stepped out of what seemed to be thin air. He was dressed in white robes. He hesitated.

"I'm sorry, brother. But your power of Chaos has spiked a little too much. On the rare occasion that one Council member's powers are at work a little too much, his or her opposite may act in order to balance things out. This may be a bit of a stretch, but it depends on your perspective…. Stopping the duel and having your extension absorb the powers of his deck is a little too much I think."

Yakou freed up and growled. His voice was different, and within it resonated a million other voices.

"You're pushing it. This is my Realm."

Lord Order stared back at him.

"This is a small and isolated instance. If you were to step in every time something chaotic happened, that would ruin the balance and undermine what the Council stood for. Apocalypse would receive instant justification."

"Speaking of Apocalypse do you think we're helping the resistance against him by having key players on our side stuck in the Abyss fighting meaningless duels that may kill?"

"It's my nature, you fool!" spat Chaos. The sky began to warp behind him, and a clap of thunder was heard. "I want Apocalypse defeated just as much as you do, obviously! He is pathetic! He can't control himself, and doesn't deserve the mantle of a member of the Infinity Council! By acting here, you are showing yourself as possessing the same weakness as him!"

Order's face darkened. "You're comparing me to the traitor. Don't cross that line, brother. Ever."

The sky behind him cleared up again and the thundering sounds disappeared.

"Maybe this is too small of an instance for me to act personally, but frankly it's all perspective. Maybe it's one of the flaws of the workings of the Council, but even we can't amend that. If we were to have to decide whether or not it would be ok for me to act in this instance, we would have to have a Council meeting and vote. And we cannot have such a meeting without our sixth member."

"Which is precisely why I actually feel it's been better the last twenty odd thousand years. We've stopped interfering with each other."

Order snarled in frustration. "Just let it go this time, brother! This one time. The duelists are needed back on Earth. Time is of the essence. Suppress your own urges. Isn't that what the balance of the Council is all about? Each member suppressing his or her own extreme nature in order to maintain a perfect equilibrium?"

Chaos was a bit stumped by Order's argument this time. "Very well," he growled grudgingly. "Take them. Go."

"Thank you, brother," nodded Order, and pointed his hand at Ryu and Daniel. They both vanished. Without another word, Order himself disappeared.

"The bloody cheek," spat Chaos, and with a flourish, he too disappeared into thin air.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

There was a reason why Kaiba had become the owner of the world's largest gaming corporation. It was his sheer, cold intelligence. And it was precisely that trait that had enabled him to take over his stepfather's company, become the reigning Duel Monsters champion, and one of the world's richest men. It was also that trait which he was sure would finally help him end this madness.

The plan was almost foolproof. Cops were already in place at the newspaper store. By the time James arrived with Schweinstigger and Kevin as his prisoners, it would be over. He would have not one, but _two_ men with Paradias connections to interrogate. He grinned. He was Seto Kaiba. And frankly, he was overqualified to deal with these fools.

He was almost there. He flattened himself a building and peeked around the corner. Sure enough, James was standing by the newspaper store with a gun in hand, accompanied by two more Paradias grunts. Kevin and the German were standing with them, both handcuffed and with sour expressions on their face.

Kevin's phone buzzed furiously in Kaiba's pocket.

He pulled it out and saw a message from James. "Where the hell are you? We need to get the heck out of here, fool!"

He smirked and didn't reply.

It was only the fact that he couldn't risk giving himself away that didn't allow Kaiba to laugh out loud at the look on James' face when he didn't receive a reply over the next few minutes. He dialed Kevin's number, and the phone rang in Kaiba's hand. He let it ring.

He could hear James swear. "That jackass! How the hell did he defeat Kaiba? _How_? He's so bloody stupid!"

"Did someone say something about me being defeated ?" drawled Kaiba, and walked out from behind his hiding place. The first rays of dawn had begun to shine down on them.

James turned furiously to glare at the CEO. "You."

"Me," smirked back Kaiba.

"So I suppose Hunter can't even inflict a Penalty Game properly? Or did the fool not even initiate a Shadow Game, meaning he simply defeated you at a children's card game and nothing else? But who cares? We've got the kid, and this Nazi fool, but you're the cherry on the cake," sneered James, pointing his weapon at Kaiba and gesturing toward the other prisoners.

Schweinstigger glared hoarsely at Kaiba.

"You fool," he croaked. "If you escaped why did you come here? Paradias has won!"

Kaiba's smirk continued as James continued to rant on.

"At long last, finally, Reflect will recognize my worthy abilities. It took long enough, but, delivering Seto Kaiba to him on a silver platter…. Bigger things in my future, better things. When I think about how it all started in that pathetic detention cent-…. Ah, _finally¸_Hunter."

James was so caught up in his rant, that neither him, nor the two thugs who also had their weapons trained on Kaiba noticed that he had silently dialed a number on his phone. It was James'. James picked up and spoke into it.

"You useless idiot, where the hell are you?"

Kaiba spoke into the one he held. "Here."

James froze.

"No….. No way."

Kaiba's smirk grew wider.

"You…. You have his phone."

"And I'm sure that it's highly unlikely that he was nice enough to just lend it to me."

A deep thud echoed in the distance. No one paid it any attention though, whatsoever.

James was paralyzed with shock. Kaiba won in Switzerland. Then they equalized at the London Eye. But the CEO had actually scored the winner….

"You…. You beat Kevin."

"You're smarter then you look," sneered Kaiba. Both Kyle and Schweinstigger looked thoroughly confused.

"You set me up."

As if on cue, a squadron of SWAT team members and cops showed themselves from around the corner. James and both the thugs were lost for words. They looked like goldfish, trying to speak, but no syllables formed in their mouths.

"It's over," Kaiba spat.

"PUT YOUR WEAPONS DOWN!" roared one of the policeman. At the moment, it seemed as if the Paradias operatives would have no choice. There were maybe twenty-five armed men surrounding them. There was no way they could shoot their way out in a gun battle.

James swore. He pointed his gun at Kyle's head.

"I would have preferred to have done this with more time on hand," he hissed. "But the circumstances leave me with no choice."

He then shouted out loud.

"Hello gentlemen. How would you like the blood of a sixteen year old on your hands?"

"PUT YOUR WEAPON DOWN," bellowed the same policeman in charge. "WE DON'T NEED TO KILL ANYONE. THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM WOULD BE WILLING TO CUT A DE-…"

"SHUT UP!" howled James. "Shut your goddamn mouth, you disgusting moron! I'm going to count to three. If each and every one of you does not put their weapons down by then, I will shoot him in the brain. And if you don't obey after that, I'd be happy to do the same to this German bastard standing behind me. Got that?"

None of the cops moved.

"Have it your way," spat James, and pulled the trigger.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Tada! Cliffhanger :D. They're becoming my specialty :P. There's nothing really much else to say at this point, except that I'm really glad to be back, and I hope you guys enjoy this. I will finish this story if it's the last thing I do, that's my promise to you guys.**


	32. Ignorance is Bliss

CHAPTER THIRTY: Ignorance is Bliss

**Back again :). I'm on quite a roll here, it's been just seven days. Fair warning, no dueling in this chapter. Sorry but it didn't fit my outlines. Don't worry though, there is a LOT to come.**

**Tash: Didn't keep you waiting more than a week, did I?**

**Candyman123: Now you don't have to wait any longer :P**

**KageNoNeko: R is…..different. I like the cards, but I find the storytelling a bit odd, as well as some of the characters. Plus I like my own dark God set waaay more than Dreadroot, Avatar and Eraser.**

**Starlight AT: He's Kaiba, it goes with the job description that he can't be nice :P**

**Atemus' Sis: You will get precisely that in his chapter.**

**Metal: What a giant review. I missed these so much :P. Believe me, even I would've loved to finish that Daniel/Ryu vs. Yakou duel, but there's a lot of idiocy surrounding all that, and I'll explain all that to you. Did you get my e-mail? It would be really good to talk. Anytime, on FB chat?**

"NO!" hollered Kaiba.

It was, however, a little too late. As soon as James applied the adequate amount of pressure on the trigger, the projectile escaped from within the barrel and slammed into Kyle's head. Kaiba may have referred to the teenager as 'thick-headed' at times, but when it came down to a metallic shell moving at tens of meters per second versus a sheet of bone, there could only be one winner.

The spellcaster duelist dropped to the ground. Dead.

"That felt good," hissed James, and then pointed his weapon at Schweinstigger, who instantly paled.

"You….." hissed Kaiba.

"He had it coming to him," snarled James. "If you think I'm bad, he was the pits."

"YOU'RE A BLOODY MURDERER!" roared Kaiba. "YOU DON'T DESERVE TO WALK ON THIS EARTH!"

He stepped forward, unconscious of everything else. It was just him and James, because Kyle was dead. No it couldn't be. Kyle couldn't be dead, he just couldn't….

"DO YOU WANT THIS SCUM TO SUFFER THE SAME FATE?" shrieked James. "GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!"

Kaiba felt a cop place a hand on his shoulder.

"We will deal with this, Mr. Kaiba," he said stiffly. "That disgusting individual will not get away this. Your friend will be avenged, I promise you."

His face burning, the CEO reluctantly slid back.

"Man down," muttered one of the cops into his walkie-talkie. "We need paramedics on the spot a.s.a.p. Send hostage rescue teams too, the perpetrator has another one." This kid meant business. They would have to play ball for now.

"Ok," said the agent-in-charge, putting up his arms. "You have our attention. What is it you want?"

The two thugs behind James seemed as shocked as the cops did. They would never have known the man they were working with was capable of killing a minor.

"But sir…. He was just a damn kid," one of them mumbled. James swung with the arm which was not holding the gun, and hit him in the face with his elbow, breaking his nose.

"Shut you damn mouth!" spat James.

He then turned to the agent-in-charge, and gestured to the surrounding cops and agents.

"I want these cretin out of here now. And I mean _now_. Then I want a fully fueled plane ready for me at Heathrow, along with seventy-two million dollars in uncut diamonds. Once you fools have made yourselves scarce, I will make my way to Heathrow and tie up the German somewhere in a place where you will not be able to find him unless I tell you where. Once I'm in the air, I will call you with his location."

The agent-in-charge bit his lip. From what Kaiba had told him, the German was a material witness in a possible lawsuit against the Paradias Corporation. The entire operation was organized because they needed his testimony. If he was able to secure that, it would be a major victory for Scotland Yard: they were the agency which had finally put a dent in Paradias. Even the CIA and Interpol had failed miserably. The organization was airtight. Was it worth playing around?

"Don't do it," hissed Kaiba behind him.

"Mr. Kaiba we took your input into account but this is a hostage situation and it is highly improper for a civilian such as yourself to be present," said the agent angrily.

"Shut the hell up and listen to me!" roared Kaiba. "You will never find the German if you comply with his demands. NEVER. Do you hear me? He's a material witness against Paradias and that son of a bitch out there knows it. He will not let him live, I can guarantee it to you. And the ransom? Schweinstigger has the password to a terminal I hold, which allows one access to, you guessed it, seventy-two million dollars. For him, it's the perfect getaway. All his problems are solved. He no longer has the dilemma of whether or not he has to kill the German. If you play along now, you will regret it."

The agent considered Kaiba's words.

"Where do you have all this information from?" he asked testily.

Kaiba lost it at that. He was about to let out a furious rant, he had been holding it all in since James pulled the trigger on Kyle, but he never got the opportunity, because, without warning, a giant form descended on the crowd of cops. Kaiba recognized it.

"Diablo," he swore.

Everything broke out into chaos then. The demonic wrestler had lashed out so hard that he had thrown at least three men perhaps ten to fifteen feet away. Without waiting for orders, the remaining just opened fire.

"_That idiot_!" screamed James.

The plan was perfect. That_ fool_ Diablo had to go and ruin it with all his bloody heavy-handedness. There _would_ be repercussions for this. It was so simple. Him and Kaiba had been playing a game of chess all this time. He had just checkmated. It would have been all over. Diablo….. He gritted his teeth and ducked underneath the body of a flying policeman.

"You two," he snapped at the thugs. "We need to get out of here. Now. Take the prisoner and rendezvous at the contingency location at eight thirty a.m. We'll figure things out from there."

In answer, the thug with the broken nose lunged forward and dealt him a powerful blow at the chin.

"I'm done taking orders from you, kid," he spat. He was going to pull his gun out and seemingly take command of the situation, but James blew his head off before he could. He glared at the other thug.

"Do you want to suffer the same fate?" he snapped. The man was mortified. He had just seen this _kid_ kill two people in the span of five minutes. Unreal.

"Uhh, ok, _sir_."

He grabbed Schweinstigger's collar and began dragging him off. An agent spotted them, but before he could take action the thug shot him. Meanwhile, James was already running away in the opposite direction.

Diablo grasped the head of an agent, and threw him at another, knocking them both unconscious. He let out a feral roar and leapt up. He landed with such incredible force that it let out a wave of seismic energy of considerable force, knocking three agents surrounding him off their feet and sending the bullets directed at him awry. He glared furiously at the retreating figure of James Cassell. That foolish boy…. He had almost ruined the entire operation. Kaiba was the spanner in the works. He knew everything. If only that fool Hunter had defeated him, they wouldn't even be in this situation right now. The Armageddon duelist would have to thank his stars that Diablo had arrived to bail him out just in time.

He gritted his teeth and charged forward, slamming his shoulder into a car, overturning it and crushing two more agents underneath it. A bullet struck his shoulder, and he howled in pain. It would not affect him to the extent that it would a normal man, however, in his tired and weakened state it was far more potent then the prick of a pin that it would normally mimic.

All agents were occupied with Diablo, many of them screaming frantically into their walkie-talkies for backup. Some kind of mutated freak of a man had attacked the entire contingent and was taking them out like a frog in a swarm of flies.

And it had arrived. Someone mounted a bazooka onto his shoulder and fired at Diablo. Kaiba looked on in disbelief. Was this London or Lebanon?

Suddenly it occurred to him. His mind was in a numbed state, reduced to that level by shock at the death of Kyle, that same Kyle who had braved the Tournament of Shadows with him, who had stood shoulder to shoulder with him as they took on the Dead Duelists, who had saved his behind against the duel with Dartz, who had gotten _his_ behind saved multiple times in that same duel, who had travelled all the way out to Europe with him to _help_ him with no benefit for himself….. Seto Kaiba did not respect very many people, but Kyle Gardner ranked right up there with the few he did.

In that state, it almost did _not_ occur to him that while all the agents were occupied with the arrival of Diablo, James, the thug, and Schweinstigger had a golden chance to slip away, as the former's plan was flawed, and he knew it.

He had at this point retreated from the action momentarily, and was on his knees, a glazed look coming over his eyes as he contemplated the loss of his friend. Yes, _friend_. Seto Kaiba considered Kyle Gardner a friend. He clenched his fist. That bastard would pay. If it was the last thing he ever did.

'

He stood up and looked over into the distance. James was retreating one way, the thug and Schweinstigger the other.

The CEO had a _real_ dilemma here. Would he go after James and avenge Kyle? Or would he go after the thug who could be easily dispose of and retain Schweinstigger, the final prize that he had come all the way for, that he had defeated that insufferable imbecile Kevin Hunter again for?

But then there was Kyle. Kyle was dead. It all came down to that…. And going after the German would leave his murder unpunished.

Kyle. It really was all about him. Kaiba punched a wall in fury. The skin on his knuckles burst, and small rivulets of crimson began to leak out.

Schweinstigger….. Kyle had died so that he could live, in a manner of speaking. James could easily have threatened to kill the German first, but the shock value of killing a minor with the cops was far greater then a grown man. Of course, beneath the surface, it all came down to whatever beef James had with the teenager with wanting to get rid of him first, but all of Kyle's suffering, his death….. It was for the greater good wasn't it? So that Paradias could be defeated.

Kaiba clenched his bleeding fist again. Kyle had defeated Dartz, beginning the war to end the filthy disease that was Paradias. Kaiba would continue with it. James would burn in hell at some point, but right now, he would look at the bigger picture in honor of the younger Gardner sibling's passing.

"_I will_ not _let you die in vain, kid_," thought Kaiba to himself as he rose to his feet shakily. "_I swear to God, if it's the last thing I do_."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Klaus Schweinstigger was very honestly tired of it all. If he ever came across an opportunity to sit back and think about how these past events had progressed, he would have probably come to the conclusion that if he had avoided tangling with Pegasus, these events would never have come to occur. From the cushy casino back in Switzerland with over seventy million dollars in the palm of his hand, to being held hostage by a teenage homicidal maniac in the mean streets of London. Yes, Klaus Schweinstigger had fallen. He had fallen hard.

There were perhaps many, many more thoughts of regret and resentment that would have crossed the German's mind. However, they were stopped short by the flash of white behind him. A swift blow to the neck knocked his captor out. Schweinstigger turned to see a face he never really expected he would ever have been so _glad_ to see.

"Kaiba," he breathed.

The CEO grabbed the German by his throat and slammed him up against a wall.

"You listen to me, you scum," he hissed, "and you listen good. I just witnessed the death of a sixteen year old boy at the ends of a freak and a pathetic sadist. So did you. Now if you have even an ounce of humanity left in that pathetic body of yours, you will help me bring this organization to the ground."

"Kaiba," choked Schweinstigger again. "Believe me when I say this, I _hate_ Paradias. I would do as much, no, _more_, then you to ruin them. But _what do you want from me_?"

Kaiba roared in frustration, dropping the German to the ground. In the process, he lashed out with his free arm, and caught him with a terrific punch to the gut before he even hit the ground. Schweinstigger doubled over, and Kaiba furiously lashed out with his right foot, catching him on the chin and throwing him to the ground. He lay there, groaning, blood leaking from his wound.

"What in the blazes was that for?"

"You tried to kill me not twelve hours ago," spat the CEO. He was going to follow it up with a painful kick in the ribs, before the German held up a hand. He struggled upwards, but couldn't stand. He settled for laying against the wall of a building, breathing heavily.

"Yes, I do have _some_ information that may be of use to you…. I didn't give it to you earlier on because I was unsure about where my money was…. Under these current circumstances, I'd rather just put as much distance between myself and those psychopaths up at Paradias as possible, and you're my best shot."

He coughed again, spitting out a little more blood. Kaiba's attacks had been a little more brutal than he had intended. Or perhaps not…

"I'm waiting."

"When I went to meet Reflect…." he began.

He paused for a second, and waited momentarily.

"I was being escorted by the top agent of Paradias, codenamed Sigma. Scary bugger, I'll give him that…. Their security was completely airtight. There was just one slip, however, and that was on the plane. I was seated in a backroom, while Sigma and the other one or two agents escorting me were in the front. By mistake, one of them had left the intercom on between my room and theirs. I heard them discussing a man named Li Ching. I recognized the name as a prominent figure in the power circles of Eagle, Paradias' foil organization. Apparently, Reflect had given him some very disturbing information about the founding of Eagle, and he was so shocked that the chairman, and co-founding member, Eizan, had kept it under wraps so tightly, he was completely disillusioned about Eagle and would soon begin to spread word of this information, causing dissent among the ranks in Eagle. They kept referring to 'that night nineteen years ago', but didn't really say _what _ had happened on that night. It was then that Sigma realized that the intercom had been on all along. Luckily I pretended to be asleep. They checked the surveillance cameras, and I had actually just been lying in bed with my eyes closed the entire time. My life was saved by mere chance. However, he was not so forgiving with his subordinates."

Schweinstigger shivered.

"Neither one of them was willing to admit the goof up. So Sigma decided to punish both."

"What did he do?" enquired Kaiba.

"He forced them down into the underbelly of the plane, and had the pilot open it while we were still airborne. Thirty five thousand feet up."

Kaiba clenched his fist. This was truly an all-star selection of scumbags.

"Well done. At least you've finally given me some solid information."

With that, he turned on heel, his mind spinning furiously with the new insights that the German had given him.

He heard a croak behind him. "Kaiba!"

He ignored it.

"Kaiba!" It was more of a whimper now.

"I'm injured Kaiba! I gave you your information. Help me, please!"

The CEO whirled around and glared at him.

"You really are pathetic! Did you offer _any_ mercy to the girl in the Eye when you took her hostage? What about all those people who committed suicide out of despair when they lost their jobs because _you_ ruined the companies they worked for? You're no saint, Schweinstigger, and don't pretend to be one _just_ because you haven't taken a life!"

"How very touching," said a snide voice from behind them.

Kaiba recognized it instantly.

"Cassell….."

"The cold-blooded oh so merciless Seto Kaiba ranting about morals. Oh my, the posterity of it all," James chuckled before erupting into a fit of giggles at his own private joke.

"Weren't you off in another direction?" growled Kaiba.

"You think I would leave the key to seventy-two million dollars in the hands of this dolt? Especially when I _knew_ you'd make it a point to break away from the safety of the cops and come after us yourself," scoffed James, gesturing at the fallen form of the Paradias thug.

"Speaking of which…. I don't expect him to be very co-operative in any case after I disposed of his buddy earlier on."

Without another word, he drew his weapon and shot the unconscious man in the head. He would never move again.

"Now…. To business."

Kaiba snarled. "You're not a businessman, you're the lowest scum the world can produce, a murderer, nothing better."

"But that's business at its rawest level isn't it, Kaiba? Just do whatever needs to be done to get your money, nothing personal, although I must admit I did branch out a bit with Kyle…."

He trailed off. "Five years. He _really_ had that coming to him."

His smile grew broader.

"Each one of you has one thing that I need. Kaiba, you have the location of the terminal. Schweinstigger, you have the password. It's as simple as that. Face facts, the both of you are going to die. But not right away. I'll need to find the terminal and verify the password before I can dispose of you two irritants _finally_. I'm guessing the terminal is actually in the immediate area, Kaiba, considering you would have wanted it close at hand in case you needed leverage. If it was part of your original plan to trick me into bringing the prisoners to the newspaper store, then you would have needed it to be close to you if you wanted to threaten me by say, destroying it in case I didn't comply with you."

His smile was now a malicious grin.

"In fact, I'm willing to bet you've almost pulled off a spectacular double bluff. You were supposed to originally meet Hunter and hand him the terminal, but you claimed to not have it with you. He was too thickheaded to look deeper into it. But based on the phase of your plan which was just concluded, there's a ninety-nine percent chance you have it on you."

Kaiba didn't answer.

"Turn out your pockets."

He got no reaction.

This was responded to by a cocking of his gun.

Kaiba's shoulders slumped. He actually seemed defeated. The cops were too far away and busy occupied with Diablo, who was really giving them all they could handle. He shoved a hand into one of his coat pockets, and tossed the phone to James, who never seemed more delighted.

"Now, Mr. Schweinstigger, the password if you will."

The German glared up at him, breathing heavily.

He pointed the gun at Schweinstigger. "Now."

A sudden thought occurred to Kaiba. James was using a handgun with six rounds. Obviously he could reload, so that small deficiency was not an issue. But as of now, he had shot Kyle, and both of his subordinates, leaving three. He planned to use one on Schweinstigger, and one on Kaiba himself. The CEO's fist clenched as a plan formed in his mind. With luck, if everything fell in place, James would be hoping to use the final bullet on himself.

"Go to hell," said the German hoarsely. For that, he received a sharp kick in the ribs from James. He groaned out loud but didn't say a word.

"You swine," roared James, kicking him again. This last one was a really strong one, and definitely broke at least one rib, leaving Schweinstigger howling in pain. He glanced over at Kaiba, who looked almost pleadingly at him.

"GIVE ME THE DAMN PASSWORD!"

James did not receive a response.

He bent down and pressed his gun into the German's leg.

"If you don't give it to me now, I can make sure you will never walk again. I'm not going to threaten to kill you because that's a pointless bluff, as I obviously need you alive for the password. But a man such as yourself would obviously realize there are far worse things then death, and I can make those things a reality for you," he hissed.

"_Deal with Schweinstigger_," prayed Kaiba. "_Please_."

The German spat in James' face in reply, and croaked, "You're just a boy in a man's world. You're going to get yourself killed very soon, that is a guarantee."

James wiped the saliva of his face, disgusted. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

He fired just above the German's knee, drawing a howl of agony.

"FEEL IT!" he shrieked. "DO YOU LIKE IT?"

Schweinstigger couldn't stop howling. James punched him to silence him, which led the howls to reduce themselves to pitiful whimpers.

"You think this is bad?" spat James. "Believe me, I spend hours thinking up ways to make it worse. I think I could thank you for helping me find a situation to act them out. If you don't give me the password, I can make you beg and plead for death like the pitiful dog you are. Just like Gardner did."

Kaiba tightened his fist at that.

James noticed him again and turned around. He flashed a sick grin at Kaiba.

"Yes, you were too far away, weren't you? You couldn't hear him begging me to spare his life. If I had waited a few seconds more he would have burst into tears. What a wimp," he spat.

Kaiba was on the verge of cracking. Fury that he didn't know himself to be capable of was boiling up inside him, ready to explode at any given moment. There was _no_ way, absolutely _no _way this scum was going to go unpunished after first killing Kyle, and then speaking about him in this manner.

James continued to laugh.

"Look at yourself, Kaiba! You're so pissed off that if you were in Dragon Ball Z you'd be a Super Saiyan by now! I don't get it, why would you care about a loser like Kyle so much?"

"That _loser_ was my friend," said Kaiba in a deathly quiet voice.

"Oh," said James, eyebrows raised. "Seto Kaiba has friends? Doesn't fit the cold, calculating CEO image, does it? And by the way, who do you think you're kidding with that image? You lose your parents at an early age, and have a bit of a jerk of a stepdad, and you think you know what the dark side of life is about? Heck, you grew up in the lap of luxury and you're in the top five of Forbes every year. Don't pretend, you little piece of crap. You will never understand _my _world. _Never_."

He pointed his gun at Kaiba, who tensed. "_Just get him wound up…. Everything depends on that_."

"I've understood one thing," wheezed Schweinstigger. "You're just a stupid kid with a big mouth who's going to get himself killed."

"SPEAK WHEN SPOKEN TO YOU DAMN CRETIN!" howled James. In his fury, he turned his gun around and fired another round in Schweinstigger's leg. Kaiba winced at the screech of torture that escaped the German's lips, but allowed himself a small smile.

"_The more he believes he's in control the less he really is_….."

It had almost worked, somehow. Schweinstigger's ability to bear with the torturous pain had gotten them there. By getting James distracted to the point where he forgot about the number of rounds he had left in his weapon. One more, and he could only use it on one of them.

Kaiba tensed his legs.

"How pathetic," he sneered. "Shooting a man when he's down."

"Well then how about I shoot you since you're standing up!" roared James and fired. Kaiba was expecting it. In fact, he was hoping for it. He successfully dodged, and rolled a foot or two before leaping to his feet. James redirected his gun and fired, but that left it clicking uselessly.

The realization dawned on him.

"Impossible…."

He was brought back to stark reality by a furious haymaker to the chin from Kaiba. He had never really been punched so hard in his life, and it completely disoriented him. Somehow he managed to retain his footing, but his blurry vision allowed Kaiba an opportunity to knee him in the gut. He doubled over, and for that indulgence received an elbow in the back, sending pain shooting up all the way to his head.

Kaiba hefted him off his knee and unleashed a barrage of blows against the Paradias agent, each one with more venom then the next.

"YOU'RE A PATHETIC MURDERER!" roared the CEO, finishing his bombardment with a roundhouse kick to the solar plexus. If it had hit, it may have killed James then and there; whether that was Kaiba's intention was not apparent. But somehow, James mustered the will to throw himself backwards, meaning Kaiba's heel missed by an inch or two, not more.

"You're so self-righteous, Kaiba," mumbled James. "Your sudden desire for revenge for Kyle is no more than pitiful justification. You don't belong in my world because you're too weak, yet you're just too dirty to be a part of yours. You're lost, a fool. You don't belong anywhere."

Before Kaiba could react, a helicopter suddenly drew up over them. Hanging off the side was Diablo, and a crowd of more cops could be heard thundering toward them. The wrestler threw a rope down towards James, who immediately caught it. He flashed a smirk with Kaiba before the chopper took off, dragging James with it. Suddenly a shot echoed out of the trailing aerial vehicle, and Schweinstigger let out a gasp.

Kaiba turned in shock to see a rapidly spreading circle of red on the German's shirt.

He glared back at the helicopter, but it was too late. It was already disappearing into the night.

He ran towards the fallen man. He had gotten his information, but still, he had to keep him alive. But why…. Was it because there was perhaps more information for him to receive? No, Schweinstigger had surely given it all to him. Kaiba almost stopped himself and blinked. What was happening to him?

He knelt down beside the dying man.

"Stay with me," he snarled.

The German gave him a sardonic smile.

"How very soap-opera-ish this is…. We were supposed to be enemies all along and yet you of all people are here to comfort me in my dying moments…."

"You're not going to die," snapped Kaiba. A paramedic had arrived, and rolled up his sleeves, pumping the German's chest. "You're going to stay alive and you're going to help me take down these deviants."

Schweinstigger seemed oblivious. "This really doesn't fit the image," he croaked. "What will this do to your share prices?"

He laughed, and it sounded more like a wheeze. It probably hurt his chest, as he let out a groan following this.

"I'm done, Kaiba…. I'm done….. You're not such a bad guy after all…. Give those bastards hell for me."

Somehow, he was able to lift his hand with the last reserves of energy and gesture vaguely to the terminal lying a few feet away.

"Pandemonium…."

With that, his eyes glazed over and his head fell to the side. Klaus Schweinstigger was dead.

Seto Kaiba stood still for a moment. His eyes closed. He was fighting back tears. His venture had been a disaster. He had gained some information about Eagle and Paradias, but at what cost…. The death of an innocent young man in Kyle Gardner, his _friend_, and the death of a not-so-innocent man in Schweinstigger, who still, however, did not deserve to lose his life.

He looked down, his hangs covering his eyes. Around him, cops, paramedics, and the whole world made all its noise, but he stood alone, isolated….

He was wrong, he thought, with a sad smile. That information was not all he had found….

Seto Kaiba had found something he thought had gone missing a very long time ago. Seto Kaiba had found his conscience.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Pain. Disorientation. Confusion. These words and a few more could be used to describe what the seven duelists were experiencing when they tumbled out of the portal which Lord Order had created for them in the heart of Eagle's New York headquarters, with both the Archangel Zerato as well as Chairman Nakamura waiting for them.

Yugi, Tea, Daniel, Ryu, CJ, Brian and Jason all staggered to their feet slowly, vision blurry and heads aching.

"Thank the Gods," said Eizan quietly, walking forward and putting a hand on Jason's shoulder.

"It's very good to see you're back safely, son," he muttered.

Jason, gasping for air, raised his head and looked at his adoptive father and commanding officer. "What has occurred during our absence… sir?"

"Indeed events of note have taken place," interjected Zerato. "However, it is more important that you first give me the Seal."

"We don't have it…" trailed off Yugi.

Zerato's eyes flared open in shock. "You don't have the Sea-…!"

Daniel cut him off in a flat tone. "As it turned out, your contact there was dead, and the King had taken his place. He dueled against the leader of the revolutionaries. The Shadow Game was a little too intense, and it resulted in the complete destruction of the City. Both duelists escaped prior to its conclusion, the King with the Seal in his possession."

Zerato and Eizan both did not know quite what to say. They simply looked at each over helplessly.

"Luckily…. I think he was quite clueless as to how its powers are unlocked," commented Ryu.

Zerato looked crestfallen. "I am sorry, dear friends, that you were forced to brave such hardships for nothing…."

Silence reigned on the room.

Eizan spoke up. "It's unfortunate, but we don't really have much time to waste. We will have you checked out by our medical staff, just in case. In any case, going through the unnatural environment of the Abyss must have left you all exhausted."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kaiba picked up the terminal, and entered the password "pandemonium". Schweinstigger had an ironic sense of humor, he thought with a humorless smile.

He now had access to seventy-two million American dollars. Whoop-de-doo. He could buy himself a car to go with his house and jet now.

"Actually, the car can wait, I think I have a better plan…" he thought suddenly.

An agent had come up to him, no doubt wanting to take him to Scotland Yard for the debriefing. There would doubtless be a whole load of red tape, which would delay him for a really long time. He grimaced at the thought. He finally had information. He wanted to act on it _now_. However, he would have to wait until he was across the Atlantic again to do that.

"I'd like to deal directly with your supervisor," Kaiba cut the agent off before he could begin. "When I agreed to provide him with information about the perpetrators, he agreed to those terms."

The agent raised his eyebrows, but nonetheless took Kaiba to his commanding officer, who made for a harried figure. He was standing by a car, talking non-stop on his cell phone and observing a map of the surroundings of London at the same time, looking for possible helipads. The cops had gotten details of the fuel capacity and efficiency of the chopper by means of observing its model. This knowledge enabled them to determine the furthest possible distance the chopper could have gone.

Kaiba smiled again, that same humorless smile. It was a good plan, but with Paradias, good never sufficed.

He remembered a book that he had read about the British war in Afghanistan. The _mujahideen,_ or the tribals, had a habit of doubling back to spots in the mountainous terrain that their enemies had previous written off as abandoned. The _mujahideen _were as bad as they got. Paradias was worse. No doubt they would take note of the strategies of other evil organizations, and probably landing their helicopter somewhere in the heart of London. Canary Wharf, perhaps. That would be the mother of all ironies….

Kaiba wasn't surprised that the cops didn't think of that. Not that he intended to give them this insight….. Scotland Yard had somehow managed to stumble along until now, and they would do it somehow, without him.

The commanding agent yelled a few parting words into his phone and disconnected. He glanced up at Kaiba with a sour face.

"What is it that you want? We're done here, you should be on your way to debriefing."

Kaiba weighed the phone in his hand.

"Suppose we skip the red tape."

The agent raised an eyebrow.

Kaiba realized he _had_ to be frank about it. Otherwise the two of them would be left dancing circles until noon.

"This terminal would give you access to seventy-two _million_ dollars. Untraceable. You can extract it dollar by dollar at a time if you want, so that no giant sum would raise a red flag on the systems. All you need is the password, which I happen to know."

The agent didn't say a word. Finally, he spoke in a languid voice.

"In exchange for?"

"Complete insulation from this affair and its repercussions, and no complications involved in the matter of taking the body back."

He glanced over at Kyle's body. The medics had lifted it onto a stretcher and covered it with a black sheet. The entire area was swarming with forensic analysts.

The cop considered. Seventy-two million American dollars was the rough equivalent of fifty million pounds. His salary was fifty thousand pounds a year. The money was untraceable. He _knew_ Kaiba was innocent of any crime, leaving him out of it would actually save them a lot of paperwork, and come on, who liked paperwork? And for the love of God, it wasn't as if this was the first bribe that this cop was accepting in his career….

"You have yourself a deal," he chuckled.

Within about an hour, Kaiba was in his jet. The body had been completely cleaned up and deposited in a casket with reduced temperature, obviously. Kaiba wondered how he was going to break the news to everyone back in New York. Especially Tea….

He clenched his fist. If someone had given him this kind of news about Mokuba, things would _not_ have gone down well…..

But he had gotten past his brief emotional phase. Shit happened…. It was dealt with.

On the bright side, however dim it was, he had information to work with, _finally_. It actually seemed more damaging to Eagle, but that suited him just fine. They were just as bureaucratic as anyone else. He could use that to wrangle some solid facts out of Eizan Nakamura. Then he would be able to stop scrapping in the dirt like an uncivilized hooligan and go back to directing the flow of events from the comfort of his own office.

Bureaucracy. How he loathed it. Then again…. He had learned today from his experience with the agent in charge that the 'good guys' were as corrupt as the 'bad guys'. But would you catch him complaining that his 'gift' had been accepted…..

He lay back in his seat, and thought about catching some sleep, so that he would be ready to operate at peak efficiency when he got back….. He was as happy as could be expected under the circumstances. Who said money couldn't buy happiness, he thought, with a sardonic grin at the irony of it all.

Now he could finally catch up with what was going on in New York. He picked up a phone next to him and dialed.

"What's been happening, Roland?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Eagle's underground headquarters in New York was constructed like a hive. It had tens, if not hundreds of tunnels honeycombed underneath a surface area that extended from 1st to 3rd Avenue, and 28th to 43rd Street. On the surface, it was a small building, on, ironically, 3rd and 34th, three or four buildings away from the Empire State Building. In fact, it was intelligence gathered by mere chance by their agents located there that gave them knowledge of the rise of Marik and Dartz again. Actually, it was really hard not to notice giant monsters appearing on the top of the city's tallest building… Especially if you're about three or four hundred feet away.

It had taken years, but they had simply gone _down_. Way down. Until they were below the foundations of even the Empire State Building. Then they started digging outward, cutting into the rock and forming the network. This was all around the beginning of the nineties. Now, it was a marvel of modern engineering. The headquarters had a huge dormitory, a handful of private rooms, a shooting range, a truly giant tactical room with more computers then your average Microsoft office, and even its own wireless internet connection, which was generated by Eagle itself. After all, strictly speaking, no one really knew that this honeycomb existed…. At least not officially. Not many New Yorkers from 1st to 3rd by 28th to 43rd would find the idea of a secret society working underneath their feet 24/7 very appealing.

It even had an excessively long tunnel from the edge of its end that extended all the way out to the Atlantic Ocean. It was an emergency escape route, that actually opened out into the seabed. There were multiple diving suits stashed in the walls along the way. Eagle had prepared for every single possibility.

It was that mentality that had led to the construction of this unbelievable set-up in New York. In truth, Las Vegas was really a bit of a ruse. It was their official headquarters, but New York was really the capital of the world. Nothing really _happened_ in Vegas. Here, technicians and analysts had all the juicy information and data to sink their teeth into. When founded, Eagle knew that at one day, the possibility that they would need to adopt a siege mentality would be high. That possibility soon became an eventuality. The New York headquarters was perfect as their central hub of operations. Normally, it was only a fool who would place all his eggs in one basket. But if that basket was made completely indestructible by the Infinity Council of all possible backers, an all-or-nothing approach was the way to go. Unless Apocalypse was already ready to initiate the End himself, there was no way their enemies could touch Eagle here. Magically reinforced and protected with a variety of spells, not to mention Eagle's own sophisticated defense technology, it was quite possibly the strongest fortress ever built.

Upon being informed that their friends had returned, the ones who had remained based in New York were escorted to meet them.

Eizan, Zerato, Yugi, Tea, Bakura, Rikuo, Daniel, CJ, Deondre, Ryu, Sarah, Serena, Jason, Brian, Alexis, and Zane had all gathered in one of the conference rooms. They all sat on chairs lined up on a long mahogany table, with Zerato at one end and Eizan on the other.

They had all just filed in. It began with warm welcomes, a grin and a rough one handed hug in the case of Daniel and Rikuo, and a small smile on Sarah's face as she put a hand on Jason's shoulder. Zane and Alexis remained silent throughout.

Suddenly, Yugi spoke up. "We're five short here. Siegfried, Kaiba, Kyle, Joey and Serenity."

He looked over at Eizan.

The Eagle chairman fiddled nervously with a stylus he was holding for a tablet laptop in front of him.

Yugi raised his eyebrows. "Well?"

Eizan didn't say a word. Zerato coughed politely and was about to begin, when Rikuo spoke in a harsh voice.

"We were attacked at Kaiba's base, which was supposedly 'secure', according to the old man. It was the Third Horseman, newly recruited. He defeated Wheeler's sister in a duel, as well as Siegfried. They're both as good as gone now."

Tea raised a hand to her mouth in shock. "_Serenity_…"

"What about the other three?" said Yugi in a trembling voice. Everyone else continued in silence.

Zerato spoke up. He decided it was best to intervene, as the Wolf Demon General didn't seem the best person to break this kind of news.

"Joseph was infected with a kind of unnatural venom in the battle. I have healed him as best I can, but he is indefinitely comatose, we cannot say when he will regain consciousness."

Tea almost broke down right then and there. Two of her oldest friends…..

Zerato paused nervously. "Mr. Kaiba and young Mr. Gardner flew to Switzerland to follow up on a tip-off about Paradias that Kaiba had received. Our side has received no communication from them since then, it's been nearly two days now."

Tea choked. Not Kyle too…. The tears began to flow, she simply could not help it. Yugi pulled her into a comforting hug as sobs wracked her body.

Eizan and Zerato looked at each other. The worst was yet to come. Ryu, Daniel and CJ had looks of absolute venom in their eyes. After all, two of their fellow demon lords had been crippled by that freak of a Horseman…

Bakura laughed dryly. "You two are so self-righteous and bureaucratic, ever been told that? Screw up, and can't deal with the consequences. The Third Horseman of Apocalypse, who dubs himself, Sylar, is none other than our former friend, Yugi and Tea, Tristan Taylor."

It wasn't as if it was too much for him to take in or something like that. But for Yugi, that statement just defied all logic.

"Impossible," he said instantly. "He _died_. I was there."

"I'm not saying you weren't," muttered Eizan wearily.

Tea had just gone silent. It was almost an overload for her.

Yugi just looked around, confused. His senses were unresponsive. Yami decided it was a really good time for him to take over. There was a flash of a Puzzle, and a much deeper voice now echoed from its owner's mouth.

"Explain yourself, Mr. Nakamura. Tristan Taylor died at the hands of the Anubis, the God of Death, in the plain view of myself, Joey, Serenity, Jaden, Alexis, Zane and Tea."

"Tell me, Pharaoh… Does the Ritual of the Fallen Angel ring a bell?" intoned Zerato.

Yami had been staring down into the table for a while. His eyes shot up when he heard this.

He spoke testily. "It seems Apocalypse has sunk to a new low."

Eizan laughed bitterly. "This is just the tip of the iceberg…."

"But how…. Tristan was our _friend_! The four of us have known each other since we were _children_," whispered Tea.

"Don't underestimate the power of Apocalypse," replied Zerato. "From what I gathered, he was very much in love with Ms. Wheeler, who had instead chosen Seto Kaiba. I suppose it was a matter of brainwashing that led to him taking the whole thing to a new level. Apocalypse is very adept at mind control."

Rikuo let out a sardonic laugh. "There was no mind control involved, I will assure you of that. I barely remember Taylor but I fought him now, and believe me when I say that it was _all _him."

"There _has_ to be some way to bring him back," insisted Yami. "We've been through _so_ much together, there is no way-…!"

"LISTEN TO ME!" snarled Rikuo. "Tristan Taylor may have been brought to life. But he is as good as dead. Sylar, that accursed Horseman of Apocalypse, is all that remains. I don't expect you to believe me now, but wait until you get a look at what he did to your friends."

It was too much for Tea. Her ordeal with having Apocalypse control her mind had weakened her mentally. Prior to the Tournament of Shadows she had been a different person, having experienced a lot during her adventures with Yugi. It didn't help that she had spent a day alone in the darkness of the Necroguard Prison, and was naturally far worse affected. Now to hear that one of her best friends was teetering on the edge of life, another sent to the Shadow Realm, a third was the one responsible for the first two, and her own flesh and blood had vanished…

She passed out then and there. Yami was just about able to catch her in time. He reverted back to Yugi, if he had _dared_ to question the young man at the time, it wouldn't have been pretty.

"MEDIC!" roared Yugi. Eizan had already dialed, he should've known, the experience this girl had had been far worse…..

"WE NEED A DAMN MEDIC!" Yugi was furious with himself. _How_ could he have forgotten that even though she had received the herbs that would help in the revitalization process, she had spent close to twenty four hours, or more, in the absolute heart of evil in Necropolis, and then played a further part in the King's sick Shadow Game where she nearly plummeted to her death in the flames. It was to be naturally expected that her system was in a mess to begin with. This kind of emotional overload was only to be expected to trigger off a complete crash.

Within minutes, medical staff had arrived on the scene, and were checking Tea's vitals. Her breathing was a bit slower than normal, as was her pulse, but not something to be completely afraid of. Yugi had followed her to the infirmary, and noticed the prone bodies of Joey, Siegfried, and Serenity on other beds, hooked up to various instruments. His eyes almost began to brim up, but he forced himself to stop. He held Tea's hand the entire way as they performed a few tests on her. Everyone else waited silently in the conference room, knowing they couldn't deny him this.

After a half hour or so, the doctor took Yugi outside.

"She'll be fine, I think," he said flatly.

"You think?" spat Yugi.

"She's just been through a physically as well as mentally traumatizing ordeal. From what I gathered, she suffered from extensive brainwashing prior to this as well."

Yugi almost snorted. He called Apocalypse's control over Tea _brainwashing_.

"Something like this can lead to the body just shutting out the outside world. Don't worry yourself about it too much, it was just a system overload, really. She needs time to reboot. I don't think she's gotten much sleep over the last two or three days, a good twelve hours now should do her good. I think you guys should have withheld the news about her friends for a bit though," he said, gesturing over to Joey and Serenity.

Yugi felt like punching the guy. He probably would have, but somehow controlled himself.

"Thank you, Doctor. Take good care of her, and call me the instant she wakes up."

He took a brief moment to walk over to Joey's bed, and gazed into the closed eyes of his best friend. The room was so silent even the labored breathing of the Gamble duelist could be heard.

"_I swear to God, Joey, you're going to get out of this. And when you do, you and I are going to hunt these cretin down together and make them wish they never messed with us, our friends, or our family._"

He clasped the unconscious man's hand in parting, and steeled himself.

He returned to the room, and the emotion had manifested itself into absolute rage. It had finally dawned on him that from the original four they had been, it was now just one. But when he was so pissed off, one was certainly enough.

He walked back into the room to see that Roland had just finished a quick conversation with Eizan, and had stepped back out.

Eizan looked apologetically at the rest of the group. "Bad news I'm afraid… Kyle Gardner is dead. Mr. Kaiba is on a flight back. When he was appraised of the events here… Well his reaction was violent to say the least."

Further silence reigned on the group. How many bombs could be dropped in the span of five minutes?

Yugi exhaled. If he was pissed before, his current state brought a new definition to the word anger. The saving grace was that this bit of news had come just after Tea had been rendered unable to hear it. He shuddered to think what it was like for her. Unlike him, she was exceptionally close to Serenity as well as Tristan. To lose her brother as well as three of her four best friends in the span of a few minutes could drive a person insane. He had no idea how they would break the news to her later, but tried to put that off in his mind as far as possible.

He looked at Eizan. "Talk. _Now_."

There was so much venom in his voice that even Rikuo looked a bit surprised. He had always thought it was all the Pharaoh, not once had he expected his hikari to be so assertive.

"Mr. Moto," began Eizan. "I will definitely say that you do have my sympathies for the suffering of your friends, however-…"

Yugi looked at him, with a mixture of incredulity, disgust and pure loathing.

"_Suffering_? Is _that_ what you call it, you manipulative, decrepit old man?"

Jason, who had been sitting right next to here Yugi had been standing, stood up and turned to face him.

"Do _not_ presume to speak to the Chairman in such tones, Mr. Moto." His eyes glinted green for a second, but Yugi was so angry he didn't even notice it. Due to the angle, no one else in the room was in a position to do so.

"I will talk to ANYBODY, HOWEVER I want to!" roared Yugi, "because they bloody DESERVE it!"

He glared over at Zerato. "YOU, the so called all-powerful Council came to us, begging for help and promising all your resources in return. WHAT do you give us in return? A couple of spells on a rusty old tower which _Tristan_ could break through, and almost kill my best friend! You send us to a place worse than Hell for _nothing_, absolutely _nothing_, and in return Tea suffers a freak overload to her mental and physical systems! You are all DISGUSTING!"

He took a breath and spoke again, in a softer tone, but with a _lot_ more underlying venom. "It seems Apocalypse may be right after all. You lot are a corrupt, manipulative old bunch who are getting _absolutely_ nowhere. This is supposed to be the goddamn A-team! What the _hell _are the guys in charge doing, what kind of decisions are they making? Oh wait, I forgot, you two are the guys in _charge_," he sneered derisively. "An old man and a fairy. No wonder we've already got one dead, one comatose, two in the Shadow Realm, and a fifth an emotional wreck. If the Council were supposedly the all-knowledgeable, all seeing body that you claim they are, they'd know a heck of a lot better than to trust you idiots!"

His rant left him short of breath for a second. He rested forward with his knuckles on the table, absolute contempt in his eyes as he regarded Eizan and Zerato. Jason looked infuriated. Sarah, Brian, and Serena all looked nervous.

"Mr. Moto…" breathed Zerato. "We understand your grievances, that we do… But please, this is _not_ the time for us to be fighting among ourselves. Apocalypse and Paradias are doing all they can to destroy our efforts, with these internal disagreements it only makes things easier for them."

Rikuo snickered. "What do you , like write that down and memorize it, and then recite that same excuse every time we point out you guys are either clueless or think that you can manipulate us? Let me tell you people something. The Torture King met his end at the hands of my weapon. My hikari defeated the dark demoness of dragons and sent her back to her own personal Hell. Not too long ago I engaged in a battle with a demon mage who would have destroyed the entire universe and blew to atoms. What has _Eagle_ done? You sit in your hidey hole and mess around with your computers, waiting to be attacked. That's not the way the Demon Lords have done things, it's not the way the Chosen Duelists have done things, and it wasn't, is not, and _never_ will be the way I do things."

Eizan was losing his patience as well.

"Then why do you think we called this meeting, Wolf Demon General? Zerato here was going to brief us on the Valley of Spirits."

"I'm seriously beginning to doubt that we need your help in this war," snapped back Rikuo.

Zerato was as calm an Archangel as you could find. He too, however, was reaching a point where he didn't feel like tolerating this. He kept his voice low, however, but dripping with uncharacteristic sarcasm.

"I see…. So you wish to fight Apocalypse by yourselves? You can go on ahead and try. The Council will be sure to send someone to clean up the ashes of your bodies, if he, or more likely his Horsemen, chose to leave any. Or did you forget, how Sylar so effortlessly fended off both the attacks of you as well as Mr. Andersen just a few hours ago?"

"Don't presume to question MY strength!" snarled Rikuo. "The coward ran like a whipped dog, back to his master, who is no doubt a scared fool just like the rest of the Council…."

The chairman of Eagle and the representative of the Infinity Council to Earth looked at each other despairingly. One was a veteran in the espionage business, used to dealing in shadows and secrets, while the latter was an angel whose mere presence was normally enough to convince people he was right. Subtlety was their middle name. Just _how_ were they supposed to deal with these individuals?

"Mr. Moto, Mr. Amero, may I ask that you calm down," intoned a deep voice in the doorway. Everyone whirled around to find Zeruge Mitsunashi standing there, flanked by Marik and Ishizu Ishtar on one side, and Odion on the other.

Everyone looked confused. Yugi swore. "What in the hell is _he _doing here?" It was evident he was referring to Marik.

Before things could escalate further, Zeruge again spoke in his deep, resonant voice, which seemed to make his presence fill up the entire room.

"Paradias had sent a ground assault team to assassinate these three individuals. I gained some knowledge of it through Eagle's interception of conversations between the thugs, and made my way to Cairo to dispose of the attackers. Unfortunately, one failed attempt on their lives would have led to another, and another, unless we kept them permanently protected until this ordeal is finished. I brought them back here, as this is doubtless the safest place for them to reside. And, Mr. Moto, do not worry, the dark side of Mr. Ishtar was long banished to the Shadows when you finished him off. This, here, is Mr. Ishtar and Mr. Ishtar only, so you needn't worry about that."

Yugi's features lightened slightly. "_Can I _please _take over now_?" Yami practically begged him inside the Puzzle.

Yugi's rant was finished. He guessed Yami had a bunch of things to say as well, so he gave over control, still fuming inwardly, and the thought of Tea constantly in the back of his mind.

Zeruge paused diplomatically and continued.

"Let me say, with all possible respect, that I completely understand your anger, but I must stress, this is _not_ the time. We're already far behind the original plan, with not one Seal of Immortality to show for it."

"And I suppose you'll be blaming that on us," spat Daniel.

"I never said that," said Zeruge patiently. "Unforeseen circumstances cannot be controlled. In fact, I would go as far as saying that your journey did serve a purpose, albeit a slightly superficial one, which was to confirm that Apocalypse had no way of touching the Seal. The Dark King of the Abyss is a shady character and as long as it is in his possession, Apocalypse will not be able to find it through his tricks and treachery."

He had a point. He also was able to put a good spin on it, which made the rest of the group stop and think about it for a second.

Zerato exhaled. Zeruge worked in the field. He knew how to handle these duelists.

"Had you not gone there, it was very possible that Apocalypse may have sent a Horseman instead, and I know the King to be powerful but I would be uncertain about his chances against Blight, the Supreme King or Sylar. By intervening, you forced the King into hiding, at the risk of your own lives. This is commendable, and I assure you that the Council is indebted to you."

Perhaps it was the fact that he was a fellow demon, but the Demon Lords, at least, seemed a bit more trusting towards the words of Zeruge. Yami kept silent.

"Over here, we are untouchable. Unless Apocalypse _himself_ attacks personally, the enchantments are strong enough to keep each and every individual in this base safe. Mr. Nakamura, Zerato, as well as myself, can speak collectively for the Council when we say that we are truly sorry for the losses you have suffered. The time to mourn is not now, however. The second Seal lies in the Valley of Spirits, and we need to assemble a new team to go there," picked up Zerato.

He looked over the table. "We need five. The duelists who went to Necropolis should stay behind as they would definitely need some rest."

Rikuo immediately spoke up. "There is _no _way I'm staying in this dump any longer."

"Count me in," put in Deondre

The Thief King put a hand on the table. "I refuse to stand by and let the demons have all the fun. Plus I miss Shadow Games."

"_We need someone from Eagle_," thought Eizan. "_As much as I hate to admit it, the demons are loose cannons, and I wouldn't trust the Thief King any further then I could throw him. Serena just isn't skilled or experienced enough, and Jason and Brian just got back from Necropolis and the City. That leaves_…."

"I'm going," declared Sarah, as if that settled the matter then and there.

"_I'd like to go_," thought Yami. "_But, there seems to be a LOT more to this entire situation than meets the eye. Tea needs someone here when she wakes up, and, more importantly, Kaiba is going to go absolutely berserk when he gets back, if we can get some answers out of this Nakamura guy together, then all the better_."

He winced, however, at the thought of the CEO when he learned the news that Serenity had her soul taken by Tris-…. No, Sylar, he corrected himself. He remembered seeing Joey lying there, and that memory left a certain degree of finality over the whole identity crisis of their former friend. In fact, he was also a bit worried that Kaiba would just turn into a loose cannon and try and track down the Horseman himself. Yes, someone would need to help him with the situation….

Marik let out a low cough. "I…. I could try."

Everyone looked his way. They seemed to have forgotten that the Tombkeepers were even present.

"No, brother," insisted Ishizu right away. "Not now. Not for some time."

Zeruge nodded. "I recommend you rest and recover from your ordeal, Mr. Ishtar."

Everyone gazed across the table again. Kaiba _could_ go, but he was still five to six hours ago and probably would be too angry to listen to anyone in any case. That meant someone would have to be recycled from the Necropolis group: Ryu, Daniel, Brian, or Jason.

"I'm going," said Daniel and Jason simultaneously. Instantly they turned and glared to face each other.

Zerato, Zeruge and Eizan exchanged nervous looks.

The two looked over at them expectantly, almost as if they were asking 'well?' with their eyes.

It was probably up to Zerato. Even though it was hardly the case, it seemed Zeruge would side with his brethren while Eizan would want another Eagle representative. That wasn't true, obviously, but if either of them made the obvious choice, they would probably face an accusation of bias, or, if not that, at least resent.

Zerato sighed. Even though things had calmed down on the surface, there would still be tension between the Eagle agents and the others. That incident down on the beach was _really_ unfortunate.

"I think it would be best if Mr. Becker joined the quartet."

Daniel scowled, but said nothing. Rikuo was the more likely one to blow up in this kind of scenario, but he _was_ actually exhausted and wouldn't mind a bit of down time, even if it meant missing out on some more action.

"That's settled then," said Eizan with a hint of relief in his voice.

"You people are scum," said a voice from within the ranks. Everyone turned to see Zane Truesdale staring directly ahead at the trio of Zeruge, Zerato and Eizan, absolute contempt in his eyes. Alexis stood beside him, and she seemed to be burning up as well.

"The two of us have had _enough _ of being treated like washouts," she spat. Everyone stared. It was uncharacteristic for the normally soft spoken girl to have such an outburst.

"Jaden was taken, and none of you even said a word to us about it."

Zerato tried to speak up but Zane spoke up. "And we _know_ about Aster. You may think we are ignorant children, but when a top Pro League duelist who happened to be campaigning against Paradias goes missing suddenly, it _is_ reported all over the news, and even ignorant children can notice something like that."

"Mr. Truesdale…" began Zeruge, but Zane cut him off.

"_Where_ _is he_?"

The demon sighed. He couldn't mince words. "I'm sorry. Aster Phoenix is dead. Apocalypse used his soul to fuel the Ritual of the Fallen Angel to resurrect the Third Horseman."

He held out a deck of cards. "This was found in his apartment, along with his Duel Disk. Either it was returned there as a form of some kind of sick-minded courtesy or it was left behind when taken."

Alexis breathed out and snatched it away.

Zane continued to glare. "That's two of our closest friends."

Eizan groaned inwardly. Hadn't they just been through this…..

"I don't know why you people are continuing to ally yourself with these selfish, corrupt fools. But if vengeance is needed, I will extract it myself. I am the Hell Kaiser. Neither Apocalypse, nor you three and those whom you claim to represent, will be forgiven."

With that, the pair of them simply walked out of the room. Everyone stood silent, and a minute later Eizan's phone rang.

"They took the elevator up…." he grimaced. He didn't really care. They were both barely seventeen, one could hardly expect any real maturity from them in the middle of an all out war…..

A grim atmosphere had settled on the group after that. Not one of them knew Zane or Alexis really well so they didn't care whether or not they left, although they knew the Hell Kaiser was a good duelist. It was a small loss, however, and everyone privately agreed that being forced to watch the war from the sidelines did merit anger.

"Take a few hours," exhaled Eizan. "One of our jets is being prepared at a private airfield. Be back here at six p.m., Zerato will brief you then."

One by one, the duelists filtered out, some to wander the vast complex, and others to simply hit the sack.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jason and Eizan walked into the latter's plush office. It was just as luxurious as his Las Vegas one, the only thing that was missing was the incredible view he got there. But he would sacrifice that any day for the extra security here.

Prior to the sit-down with everyone else, Eizan had instructed Jason to meet him in his office. The twenty-one year old sat down across from him in an arm-chair. Eizan settled into his own seat, and looked nervously across at the boy, no, man, he corrected himself, whom he was legal guardian of.

"What is it you wished to speak to me about, sir?" asked Jason, stiffly. His voice _always_ sounded like that. Eizan hated it.

The Chairman of Eagle considered. This was a stroke of luck. He had been able to get to Jason before Li had. But now that he had the opportunity to reveal everything, well, not _everything_, he supposed, at least some of the details, to him, he felt like it wasn't worth it. Would Jason forgive him? Would he even be willing to look at things from his point of view?

But if he didn't, however, and if Li was able to tell him at some point, then it would be even worse.

These conflicting thoughts went back and forth in his mind. He didn't know what to do.

"Sir?"

Eizan exhaled, and made his decision.

"Jason…. I haven't been entirely honest with you about some things."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Duh-duh-duh! Surprise! Bet a whole lot of you weren't expecting that shocker in the beginning of the chapter.**

**Updates should be on a week to ten day basis for the time being. Hope you guys liked it :).**

**Just a word…. Is the story getting too dark? There may be certain factors influencing it which I wouldn't want to get into, but if you guys think that certain parts, such as James' torture of Schweinstigger, are inappropriate, I may need to change the rating to M.**


	33. Promises

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE: Promises

**Five days! I'm setting records here, lol.**

**KageNoNeko: I looked up that story. Fun fun fun ^^ I'm going to give it a little more time, but if the fun stuff continues then I'll take a call on it…. I think my readership is mostly over 17 anyways so it doesn't matter (come to think of it did ratings ever matter on :P?)**

**Dark Oynx: Well they're human at the end of it (excluding the demons :P), and anyone is going to get mega-pissed at that kind of bureaucracy and foolishness. Thanks for the praise man, it's really appreciated.**

**Starlight AT: Amelia isn't any fun :(…. She hates the bad guys. What fun is that?**

**Candyman123: Haha, yeah I know the Kyle thing didn't go down well with most of my readership, but what can I say… Shit happens, lol. Thanks for the review.**

**Tash: Yeah yeah, I know you love Kyle :P. That's another little bit of a problem… Do you think that I'm making a mistake by staying away from dueling so much as well? I mean it's a case of two extremes, so….**

**On with the story.**

Zerato and Zeruge stood alone in the conference room. The former had his eyes closed.

Zeruge heaved a breath.

"To think this is only the beginning and it's already so bad…."

Zerato's lids fluttered open and a bitter smile broke out on his face. "Zeruge my friend… You may be _far_ more powerful then I am, but don't forget that the Council only enlisted you less than four centuries ago. I was around last time Apocalypse rose up… As hard as it may be to imagine, this is a walk in the park…. There were four Horsemen last time, all at full power. Apocalypse was at full strength, a ticking time bomb, the Council was only _just_ able to seal him away in time. We didn't have any of these mortals to rely on, who I must say, are extremely powerful even by the standards of the Council."

Zeruge grunted. "But I suppose there was no Paradias. Or the Jade Star for that matter…."

"That's true," sighed Zerato, resting his hand on the table and closing his eyes. "That it is."

There was a knock on the glass door. When the pair turned to find out the identity of the knocker, they saw it was none other than Daniel Pilkington.

Zerato nodded, and the half-demon opened the door and walked in.

He glanced over at Zeruge. He didn't really know him, and was therefore not really inclined to share what information he was bringing forth in his presence.

"I'd like to speak with the Archangel," he said flatly. "Alone."

Zeruge bowed his head. "I'll go check up on the Ishtars… After that I think it's best I return to the Council and find out what our next orders are once the duelists are off to the Valley."

Zerato nodded and watched the demon leave.

"How may I help you, Mr. Pilkington?"

Daniel hesitated. "I'm sorry if that was rude. But I'm more familiar with you then I him, and with the excessive internal politics here, I obviously could not risk sensitive information."

Zerato shook his head. "That's fine… What is it that you wish to draw my attention to?"

"Um… You do know how the Abyss works right? With Schrodinger, that extension of Chaos?"

"Of course," replied the Archangel. "Did you injure yourself during one of the challenges or something?"

"No," muttered Daniel, and hesitated again, before launching into his story.

"Jason and I…. We landed up in this little girl Carla's nightmare. It was being generated by a man called Panik, who formerly worked as an eliminator under Maximillion Pegasus during Duelist Kingdom. He had been sent to the Shadow Realm by Yami, and evidently he began to thrive in the shadows, gaining some really weird powers."

"Yes, I'm familiar with that individual…"

"Anyway, Jason dueled him. Panik more or less held his own, and at one point completely turned the tables, and Jason was basically fighting to hold on. All of a sudden, I noticed his eyes were going green, and his entire disposition began to change. He's normally an ice-cold guy, but all of a sudden he began to loosen up: but not in a good way. He sounded furious and calm all at the same time. Like he was going to rip Panik's guts out but be nice about it. I mean, his eyes were obviously weird, but there was something else, I couldn't quite put my finger on it…."

Zerato paused.

"Let me guess. Panik had his despicable Dracula card on the field?"

Daniel nodded, surprised at how the Archangel had guessed.

As if reading his mind, Zerato answered, "Well I'll say this: I'm more than a _little_ familiar with him. I was keeping tabs on Duelist Kingdom for the Council, and out of every single duelist in the tournament, yes, even Bandit Keith, Panik was the most despicable one I had observed. I kept an eye on him even after he was sent to the Shadow Realm. He floated around for a long time, the shadows feeding off his spirit. Soon he was almost gone. But as luck would have it, he was somewhere around Transylvania at that point. The spirit of Dracula haunted that place like a ghoul, and even though it did not have any real affinity for Shadow magic, it could work well with darkness of any kind. It sensed that a truly rotten soul was close, and it took the opportunity to unite with him. At first I thought it was a cause for worry, but then I realized that two birds were killed with one stone. Panik would soon be consumed by Dracula, and then the vampire would be left stranded in the Shadow Realm in an empty vessel.

"But I didn't count on the nightmare theory. It seemed that Panik's natural terrifying disposition, combined with Dracula's ability to bring out the worst horrors of a person's imagination seemed to have a crippling effect on those he preyed on. As it turned out, you, Jason, and the girl Carla were those individuals this time around. If I'm not mistaken, you were not far removed from your ghastly experience in the City of the Dead, when you claim that Belial the Dark Marquis, the leader of the revolutionaries, underwent a similar 'transformation'."

"That's right."

"Ah, then that's a relatively simple explanation I suppose. You were obviously shaken and shocked by that change in Belial, who all along had seemed to be your ally. Upon seeing him go mad with his own power, it probably left a temporary impression on your mind. That vulnerable part was easy for Dracula to feed on, and replicate that same fear of yours by making you see that in your current ally: Jason."

Daniel looked dumbfounded. Was that really it?

"I wouldn't worry about it. I've read the file of each and every Eagle agent assigned to work with you'll, and Jason Becker has no supernatural abilities of any sort. He's a human being, a dangerously efficient one, but a human being nonetheless."

Daniel rubbed the back of his head, slightly embarrassed. "Sorry to bother you with that…"

"Oh, no need to apologize," interjected Zerato. "Dracula is a true nightmare. Anyone could get taken in. I'm going to make it a point to root him out and destroy him if I happen to get any free time."

He said it as a joke, drawing a light chuckle from Daniel.

"I think you should get some rest now Mr. Pilkington…."

Daniel nodded. "Yeah. I was trying to sleep, that was just bothering me….. Thanks for clearing it up."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"You have the right to remain silent," intoned the cop.

Kevin decided to exercise that right. "You have the right to a lawyer. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law."

Kevin had found out a bunch of things on that particular day. The latest was that British sidewalks did not taste good. He was able to gain this charming insight when the cops strong-armed him to the ground, cuffing his hands together. Evidently they had no idea he was actually seventeen, and a minor. It wouldn't harm to tell them, but at this point, even cops were willing to throw the rulebook out the window. Kevin was the only known associate of James, a man who had killed two people in plain sight of hundreds of law enforcement agents, and Diablo, a man who had killed some of those very agents. Cop-killers were not popular in these parts. Associates of them, not very much more.

He was thrown into the back of a van. Desperation began to creep in. Where were James and Diablo? Surely they would come for him.

The van drove for a while, and they pulled him out near a station on the outskirts of town. He was half-dragged, half-carried up the staircase, and thrown into a cell. They did uncuff him, but soon Kevin came to realize that it didn't too much to grant him more freedom. The cell consisted of three solid concrete walls, and metallic bars. There were a bunch of cops in the station. He had no weapons, no money, nothing. There was no way he was making it out of here alone. His only hope was that Paradias would come back for him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"What things, Chairman?" asked Jason.

"_It's now or never_," thought Eizan.

He paused. Jason watched him curiously. He did not seem to understand where the old man was going with this.

Finally, he got it out. He didn't know how. He spoke, and nineteen years of built up silence broke.

"Your father, Jason. Your father."

At this, the agent immediatley stiffened up. It was a very, very difficult topic. He _hated_ discussing it, he hated the very mention of it.

Normally, orphans got over their parent's death after a point. It wasn't exactly a happy topic, but referring to their parents in the past tense became something of an ordinary thing. However, it didn't work out quite well with Jason. One could hardly blame him. He had always been told that as a child, the birth of his second personality had occurred as a result of the grief caused by his parents' passing. And of course, the personality part was an _absolute_ no-no in conversation. Since they were both linked, he sort of didn't like discussing his parents either. They were part of a past that had died when he was cured. A past he never wanted to revisit.

"It's about the….. The _circumstances_ of his death, and those leading up to it."

Jason didn't say a word, probably out of sheer politeness and respect for the man before him, but Eizan could see he was tense. He decided to plow on. There really was no going back now.

"What do you know about your father, Jason?"

"His first name was Alan. His birth date was the thirty first of March, nineteen fifty-eight. Six foot five, two hundred twenty five pounds at last measurement.. PhD in chemistry, graduated from Stanford and did his post-graduate studies at Harvard. Recruited by the DEA but dropped out after a while due to personal reasons, which were revealed to me as being that my mother was worried about his safety."

Eizan would have smiled had it not been for the levity of the discussion that was to follow. Jason had rattled off his father's entire history off his tongue with ease. He had probably looked at the file just once. Of course, that was the unclassified file. Which meant it was only _part_ of his father's life story.

"You looked at the file to gain these details, I presume?" asked Eizan, almost bemused. He received a nod in reply.

"Well, Jason…. I don't quite know how to put this…. There are two files."

"I'm not quite sure I follow, Chairman," was the stiff reply he received.

"A classified one, and an unclassified one."

Jason's mouth fell open slightly, and he simply stared. It was not common to see Jason Becker so dumbfounded.

"And I assume I saw the unclassified one…" This was a bit less of a shock to Jason then he would have expected it to be. His father was like a ghost to him. It was like expecting someone to react to writing on a slate. However, writing wasn't being added to what was already on the slate: it was blank to begin with.

"That is correct," said Eizan testily. Now things were going to get _really_ hard. But there was absolutely no going back from here, the moment he had mentioned Jason's father he had no option but to go through with it fully.

"Jason we're going back to nineteen eighty-six now," he continued. He felt like there was a lump in his throat.

"Your father had gotten out of Harvard in nineteen eighty-four. He was a genius. A star, an absolute star. The DEA quickly chopped him up, offering an even higher salary then any private company was. That should go to show you how in demand his services were. He was one of the organization's highest ranking officials within just two years of his appointment."

Jason didn't say a word. What he was hearing was merely an expanded version of what he already knew.

"You see Jason…. This is where the line between the classified and the unclassified file is drawn…. It wasn't because of your mother that your father quit the DEA."

Jason quirked an eyebrow. "Then?"

Eizan held his breath for a moment. He wished he could just turn back time and not have to do this.

He exhaled. "He met a man, Jason. A man who convinced him his talents would be far more useful in other….. _capacities_."

"Who?"

"Dartz."

Jason's eyes flared open, but he kept his silence. Deep within, his mind was spinning, but such was his self-control, that he allowed Eizan to continue with his story miserably. He hated himself for doing this. Why should any son have the image they had of a dead father spoiled? But it was Eagle that came first, always, before any emotions. A rift was unacceptable.

"Dartz, as I'm sure you are aware, had been wandering the Earth for close to ten thousand years at that point. He was close to giving up, and had grown frustrated with the lack of resources available at his disposal. The Orichalcos stones were his only hope. He had a few pieces remaining with him, but most of what remained from the meteor which he had been able to salvage was unstable, and needed to be stored under specific conditions. He needed help in treating it, but this could only be done with a combination of his magic and modern scientific techniques. The latter could not be found…. Not until he met your father Jason."

The reality began to dawn on Jason. But the story was not over yet, unfortunately. Not by a long shot….

"Alan and Dartz founded Paradias." As Eizan said these words, he watched as they seemed to pierce Jason like icicles through his core. They felt even worse to Eizan.

"But, it seemed, your father was in it merely for the theoretical interest he had in the Orichalcos stones. He was fascinated by their properties. He merely saw it as a job in a private capacity which held his interest far greater then working with the DEA, and was probably better paying as well. But then the harsh reality of Dartz's intentions dawned on him, and it didn't sit too well with him. He was absolutely horrified by Dartz's plans. He was in Japan at that time, and contacted local law enforcement. He was panicking. It was the first thing he thought of doing. A bit foolish in hindsight, because not many law enforcement agents would take a man speaking about green stones that held untold power very seriously. Thankfully, fate was on our side. _I _was the agent who he came to."

Eizan could see Jason start to relax a little. It seemed like a fairytale story of redemption. Down, then up. Eizan felt like slamming his head into his desk again and again. It was odd just how much more down it would go again.

"I, as you are already aware I presume, had lost my wife to a Shadow Game. The circumstances have been kept purposely ambiguous, but I will reveal them to you now. She was taken by Aknadin Ishtar… Father to Marik Ishtar."

Jason gasped at this. This was truly some shocking news.

"And now his three children enjoy the hospitality of the organization of which I am chairman," said Eizan with a humorless smile. "Not that I hold any resentment against them. Marik Ishtar's history is beyond classified. He was raised by Aknadin alone, as his mother died during childbirth. Unfortunately, my wife happened to be in Cairo at that time, and chanced upon the man when he was in one of his infamous rages. He had the Millennium Rod, and well…."

He trailed off. The rest of his story had its own meaning implied..

"Aknadin was a tyrant, and his cruelty resulted in Marik's allowing the spirit which inhabited the Millennium Rod to take control of his mind. The three children hated their father. I hold nothing against them, none at all. In fact it's a bit funny. You probably wouldn't know, but Marik Ishtar _killed_ his father."

He followed this up with another humorless chuckle.

Jason allowed himself a brief smile too. This dark, ironic humor was something that seemed to connect them.

_Showering hospitality on the man who killed the one who took your wife from you. How quaint_.

"Anyway, it is because of this that I was able to understand where your father was coming from. We met one night for dinner, and he told me everything. It was absolutely horrifying to hear about what Dartz intended to do. He was a real madman. At first even I thought that Alan was exaggerating slightly, but when I realized that this was a reality, I knew that Paradias would not be stopped once it gained momentum. Then, I took a life changing decision. I retired, and along with your father, secretly, founded Eagle."

The irony of it was not lost on Jason, to go along with another momentous feeling of shock at gleaning this other bit of news about the man who gave him life but he never knew. The two organizations which would inevitably fight the greatest war in human history where both co-founded by the same man.

"We decided, however, to maintain your father's cover with Paradias. It seemed the most intelligent thing to do, at the time. In fact, he insisted upon it. It seemed that such was his drive to defeat Paradias, that he would risk his own life to do so. He could have easily faked his own death and started up working with Eagle under a new identity. But he didn't take the easy way out. Meanwhile, Jason, you were born…"

He stopped again. This was the _hardest_ part. In fact, whatever he had revealed up until this point was a piece of cake compared to what was to come. Actually if one came to think about it, the preceding story wasn't that bad after all. Who wouldn't want to know that their father had redeemed himself for his naivety, and founded an international crime fighting organization? It was the stuff of dreams.

"Things, however…. Things were not as they seemed, Jason," sighed Eizan.

Instantly, Jason seemed alert again. How Eizan _hated_ himself for doing this to the boy.

"The Orichalcos stone…. It's nearly indestructible, you see. There is, however, one way to affect it. Heat. Lots of it. If one subjects an average sized shard of the Orichalcos stone to temperatures of four thousand five hundred Kelvin or greater, you will get in return about fifteen milliliters of a fluid which has mostly the same properties as the stone."

He could see the young agent following each and every word carefully. He had no idea how to put what he next hand to say into words. They just would not form in his mouth.

Finally, Jason wised up to the old man's struggles. "Just say it, sir," he said flatly.

Eizan managed to choke the words out. "Your father…. He was…. He was injecting himself with that fluid as a part of his experiments."

Silence reigned.

Eizan somehow took up what was left of the story. Jason kept a poker face, just watching him quietly.

"It… It started out just to see what the properties could do with the human body. He imagined that if they had possessed such incredible energy anyway, it was plausible that it would provide the human body with unnatural capabilities. He tested his theory out first on a housefly."

He had a file with him. It was labeled: Project Alpha, CLASSIFIED. He opened it, and revealed to Jason a picture.

It was ghastly. It looked somewhat like a housefly, but only just. It was nearly six centimeters in length, and its eyes were a light shade of emerald. It had four wings instead of two. It was a kind of mutated freak of an insect.

Jason pushed the picture away. "A few more followed… A rat, a hamster… All died within a few days. I assume you would rather not see the pictures."

"You assume correctly."

"But he needed human test subjects…. And that was where your father's morality came in. He wouldn't force the experimentation on anyone…. So he used the only subject available to him who would do it _willingly_. Himself…"

He trailed off again. Silence continued for the next two or three minutes, and Eizan took up the story again.

"His experimentation began out of sheer curiosity. Things took…. An unfortunate turn. Your father realized, a little bit too late, that he suffered from a pre-existing heart condition, which once he had injected himself with that particular fluid, became terminal…. Only, only unless he continued to inject himself regularly. Your father…. He did just that. He needed one dose every week. One dose is the rough equivalent of perhaps five milliliters. That is about one-third of your average shard. He realized that unless he had unlimited access to the stones, he would die. Therefore, he came to me…."

Eizan closed his eyes again. "He meticulously researched a number of people. He decided I was the best person to fight against Paradias. His intention was for Eagle to be founded, and therefore crush Paradias. He then intended to keep all the remaining stones secret, continue injecting himself, and perhaps develop more of it synthetically. It all seemed like random luck…."

Eizan laughed bitterly, forgetting he was talking about the man in front of his orphaned son.

"He was a triple agent of sorts. He seemed loyal to both Paradias _and _Eagle, but in truth his only intentions were to save his own life. I suppose one could hardly blame him…. In any case, it seemed to dawn on him that Eagle would not swiftly reach out and rip the legs out from underneath the chair that was Paradias. He made a mistake in underestimating Dartz. Alan had set up a covert war in the espionage world that would last decades. It is that war, Jason, which we will be concluding, very soon hopefully…."

Jason did not reply. Eizan could hardly blame him under the circumstances.

"He realized his time was running short. He knew that once Dartz realized his intentions, he would probably kill him anyway. Even if he didn't, certainly his access to the stones would be cut off, which was as good as killing him, effectively. He was desperate. Certain…. _symptoms _had begun to manifest, but he maintained that they were unnoticeable. He came to me, and confessed everything. I was completely shocked. He was literally pleading with me to help raid Paradias' stockpile of stable stones, which had now grown considerably due to his own efforts. I saw before me a man who I thought was a friend. That friend was dying. I did what any friend would do. Still shocked, I went with him.

"However… things didn't go as planned. When we arrived at Paradias' underground base deep in the Midwest heartlands of the United States, Dartz had a reception waiting for us. It was led by Reflect."

He paused again, this time shorter. "The symptoms, apparently, were not as well hidden as your father assumed them to be. Dartz had noticed them and deduced your father's betrayal. However, he did not want him dead, at least not yet. He planned to capture him and then restrict his movements, continuing to force him to work on the unstable Orichalcos stones in order to develop them into the shards which his soldiers could use. Once all the remaining stones had been finished, he would cut off your father's supply of the fluid, and kill him in the process…..

"Your father made me promise him two things before we entered, Jason. One of them, I have already broken. The other, I kept. He said that if things went awry on the mission, I was to take you in and raise you as my own. He wanted me to _never_ tell you any of this…. That, I have broken."

Eizan paused and closed his eyes. He spoke in a trembling voice.

"He also made me promise that if indeed things went wrong….. He made me promise to kill him."

Eizan was well and truly shocked that even _this_ did not draw a reaction from Jason. Was he well and truly dead inside?

"He knew an existence without the stones was a worthless, short existence to him. Even if Dartz let him live, it would be an life of suffering and torture. He didn't want that life, Jason. More importantly, he'd rather you grow up with a dead father then a father who was slave to a monster."

"You kept your promise." Jason said this not as a question, but more as a statement.

Eizan felt tears coming up in his eyes. "Yes, Jason. Yes I did. Reflect was waiting there to take him prisoner. Waiting at the door that separated us and the only remaining stable stones. Your father was my friend. I did it Jason, out of sympathy. I didn't want him to live a life of misery, at the will of a disgusting chemical. He wanted me to. It was the humane thing to do…."

Eizan began to cry softly, in earnest. Jason remained stoic, giving away nothing.

Getting a hold of himself, the Chairman began to finish the story in a soft voice. "He had injected himself enough times to afford himself certain powers. He was able to release an uncontrolled blast of energy, which hit the lights and put the full base in total darkness. He did it so I could escape. But first, of course, I had to keep my promise… I fired. To be honest, to this date I know not whether it was my bullet that hit him. But the moment he heard gunfire, Reflect returned it. The ensuing gun-battle caused a fire. However, I know for a fact that your father was hit. I heard him go down. Whether it was my bullet or Reflects', I knew not. I had fulfilled my first promise. I left…. It was all I could do.

"When your mother found out, she was absolutely devastated. The grief… It killed her Jason. I took you in, fulfilling what I could of the second promise. I have done cruel things to you, Jason. The cruelest of all was probably revealing this information to you. But I had to. Nobody knew the true circumstances of your father's death except for myself, and Reflect. However, to this date neither of us know which of our bullets killed him. I gave you your mother's maiden surname so that no one would know that even the few who knew that Alan helped me in the founding of Eagle would not know you were his son. I invented a fictional man as your 'real' father, and his life's history was identical to Alan's up until his meeting with Dartz. Somehow, unfortunately, Reflect realized that you were Alan's son and revealed a warped version of the story to Li, in which I supposedly killed your father out of hatred for his betrayal. Li wanted to reach you before I did, and tell you about that. I couldn't let it happen. I knew that if you believed his story, you would never be willing to listen to me. Hate me all you want, Jason, for telling you this, and for doing what I did. You have every right to."

Five full minutes of silence followed. The longest break yet. Jason spoke slowly, measuring each word in his mouth.

"I do not hate you, Chairman."

Eizan said nothing.

"In fact I am grateful to you for revealing this information to me. Your actions made perfect logical sense. Mr. Li will be harmless to Eagle now. As for my father, his past is of little or no consequence to my future. I admire your courage, sir, firstly, for telling me all this, and secondly, for pulling the trigger all those years ago."

"But…" choked Eizan… "But I may have killed your _father_! Had I not done that, you wouldn't have been orphaned, and the grief would not have lead to-…."

"You said it yourself, Chairman. If you hadn't killed my father, he would have been taken prisoner by Paradias, which made him as good as dead. Surely Paradias would have advertised his supposed death to the world in any case, meaning the same circumstances would have followed with my mother. I would rather my father died of a bullet in the brain then a long painful process due to lack of the Orichalcos fluid."

Eizan couldn't believe how well the boy was taking it. It was almost too good to be true. This was cold logic at its best: Jason Becker in action.

"Jason… This was a bad time to talk to you about this. Are you sure you're still fine with going on the mission? I can put another agent on it for sure."

"No, Chairman," reprimanded Jason immediatley. "Not ever. I am going on this mission. Thank you for sharing this information with me. Will that be all?"

"Yes, Jason…" said a dumbfounded Eizan. He couldn't believe his luck. "That will be all."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was time. Everyone was more or less adequately rested. Sarah, Serena and Brian were a bit let down that Jason slept for six straight hours between his arrival, and his proposed departure for China, leaving them without an opportunity to talk to him. Obviously his experience in Necropolis was taxing enough that six hours would be nowhere enough. They supposed he would catch up on the flight. But then again, this was Jason Becker. Nothing stood between him and the mission's success.

Yugi, Tea, Ryu, Daniel, and CJ, the other duelists who had been to the City of the Dead were catching up on some much needed sleep. The ones who would be on their way to China, along with Serena and Brian, who decided it would be a mere courtesy to see her friends off, gathered in the conference room once more. This time, only Eizan and Zerato were presiding.

The former held a stylus in his right hand, which he was using on the tablet laptop in front of him. This was connected to a projector that displayed the present state of his screen on the wall in front of them. He switched it on, showing a map of China. He zoomed into an area near the centre.

"The Valley of Spirits is located deep within the true heartland of China, near Inner Mongolia. There is literally no civilization within any close proximity of the Valley, coupled with the fact that there is so much strange magic in the area, means that by the time you arrive there, it will be very hard to maintain contact with the base here at Eagle," began Zerato.

"Oh joy," said Bakura sarcastically. The Archangel ignored him.

"The Mandarin does not know that you are on your way. However, once he is alerted to your presence, rest assured he will turn every possible defense in the castle against you. He holds mastery over a strange sort of magic, and has enslaved the population of the few villages surrounding the Valley. Most of these are monks, and therefore trained in martial arts. They will not be easily put down. These, however, are the obstacles you will face _inside_ the palace. Making it in will be your foremost objective, however."

Eizan meanwhile zoomed in further, to the extent that they had focused on a satellite image of the Valley which filled up the full screen.

After all the build-up and hype surrounding the Valley, seeing it up close, even in a picture, was a bit of a letdown.

It was a blanket of white mist. Nothing more, nothing less.

"Meh," scorned Rikuo. "Are you serious? A smokescreen? That's the Mandarin's 'great' defense?"

"Not exactly," replied Zerato. "It's rather complicated. It begins with the name. Why do you think it's called the Valley of _Spirits_?"

A bit of surprise dawned on the duelists as they realized what the Archangel was implying.

He smiled testily. "There is a very strange kind of magic in the area, as I have told you repeatedly. It seems that instead of moving onto the Realm of Death when they pass, the souls of those in the area are held back there. I suppose it's intimidating enough for the average rural simpleton who happens to be wandering past, but for men, and, excuse me, a lady such as yourselves who have ample experience with the supernatural, I would assume that mere shadows of those who have passed will not be much of a worry."

"I've had the man who murdered me return from the dead _twice_, and not just in spirit form," said Rikuo in a bored voice. "And I eventually sent him back there for good."

Deondre dared to object cheekily, just for the sake of irritating the Wolf Demon General. "Uhh, the last time it was actually Valeus himself wasn't it?"

Rikuo glared at him in annoyance, drawing a grin. He was about to flare up and go into a rant about how Sestros would cower in fear of him if he ever got the opportunity of meeting again, such had his powers grown, when Zerato ended the exchange by continuing.

"Actually it's not the spirits that are a worry. They are mere apparitions, not capable of causing any real harm. In fact we have a theory that they may even be a very ingenious scientific trick, as it would be stretching the imagination that even the Mandarin himself would have mastery over death. It is their master whom you should be wary of, the man behind it all."

Eizan drew up a file, which opened a new window on top of the satellite view of the Valley. It consisted of a blank mugshot, a name, and no other details. Even under the name was simply the word 'Gatekeeper'.

"That's who he is," said Zerato grimly.

"You don't even know anything about him," sighed Bakura. "How does this exercise expect to help us?"

Eizan spoke up for the first time. "In the espionage business, a lack of knowledge is, in a way, a great deal of knowledge. Prior to this whole mess with Dartz and Marik, we were keeping tabs on the Valley as a separate favor to the Council. One of their servants who had been trawling through the area had noticed a greater flare of magic from the region than normal, and as a result became suspicious. The task was delegated to Zachary Nemo," he looked over at Sarah as he mentioned the name.

She kept a straight face. Nemo was the agent whom Li had insisted take her place on the task force. As it turned out, he was one of the Eagle agents who had sided with Li himself post the revelation of his betrayal. He was certainly bent, and had made a valiant escape attempt, before being locked up with a bunch of Li's other guards. Nothing could be proved yet, and they were keeping mum. They could not be allowed access to the outside world as they would obviously file for habeas corpus then, leaving Eagle in a mess of paperwork that they didn't need at that point. Besides, even if it weren't for the current circumstances, who liked paperwork?

"Nemo, even though he was bent," Eizan made a face at this, "did a pretty good job on recon. He staked out the Valley from a distance, using thermal imaging to determine the number of hostiles in the palace. He sent a robot in through a window, which was able to grab pictures of some of the individuals there before it was destroyed. Nemo matched these with pictures of villagers reported missing, and thus we were able to come upon the theory that the Mandarin is using enslaved villagers. However, one man that came up blank was the Gatekeeper. He couldn't even get a mugshot. The man is a ghost. There's no record of his even existing."

Zerato seemed amused. "It's ironic in a way. The Valley of Spirits isn't really full of the souls of the dead, we're rather sure that's just smoke and mirrors. The Gatekeeper is more of a ghost then the supposed ghosts themselves."

This drew a bit of snide laughter from the group. It was the kind of humor that the collected could appreciate after all their experience with both espionage as well as the supernatural.

"We may be exaggerating things a little bit, but a man whom even the _Eagle_ databases came up empty on must be very very adept at concealment. That may be the primary cause for worry, there's nothing for certain that he really has any real power."

Eizan drew up another file. This one consisted of a mugshot of a Chinese man, with hardened features, and a thick beard. Flowing blonde hair ran down his shoulders. Eagle technicians seemed to have done their homework, as there was a list of accompanying details.

To begin with was a bit of bio data. He was evidently a physically imposing man, standing six foot six and weighing in at two hundred and fifty pounds. And these were measurements supposedly taken by the Chinese governments _before _he had disappeared into the Valley.

"The Mandarin was a direct descendant of Genghis Khan," began Zerato.

Rikuo whistled. "A slimy bugger if I ever saw one."

"That is correct," agreed Zerato. "Khan was a legendary conqueror whose dream was to subjugate the entire world. He commanded a hundred and fifty thousand men and conquered most of mainland China. His descendant, the Mandarin's father, seemed to harbor similar intentions. He was possibly the richest man in China outside of the monarchy, and considering that this was well before the communist revolution, and the Chinese economy was doing quite well, he may have been the richest man in the world. However, his parents were killed in the uprising, and he was taken in by his aunt who was rather embittered against humanity, and raised him with a similar attitude. He was raised to be a destructive, efficient killing machine, training excessively in science and combat. When his aunt died, he was unable to pay taxes, and therefore fled to the Valley.

"After that, he completely dropped off the map for a period of time. Whatever information we have about his history prior to this is through the adept efforts of Eagle's researchers who trawled through ancient Chinese records. He found _something_ in the Valley of Spirits which allowed him to attain a degree of power which led to his complete subjugation of hundreds of villagers surrounding him."

"Could it be the Seal?" put in Deondre.

Zerato shook his head. "That is not the case. The Mandarin may be an intelligent man by most standards, perhaps even possessing a genius level intelligence quotient, but to unlock the power within a Seal of Immortality requires an understanding of ancient magic at a whole different level, as well as a very high reservoir of magical power. We could assume that he possesses the latter, but I highly doubt he's even reached the point where he is aware of the knowledge of the Infinity Council. Unlike the King of Necropolis, he probably does not realize the power that resides within his domain. We had better hope so, in any case, as this is the Seal against Shadow Magic."

"That's a bit of a risk, isn't it?" spoke up Sarah. "I was under the impression that the Dark King of the Abyss was designated as a holder of a Seal because he was so fanatically driven by his desire to unlock its secrets, he would disappear if Apocalypse tried to appear and take it from him, thereby fulfilling the Council's intention that it merely remain out of the hands of Apocalypse. If Mandarin doesn't realize that the Seal is that important, it would be easier to take it from him."

Another idea struck her. "Could this possibly make it easier for us? I mean if he doesn't know that the Seal is so important, retrieving it could make things simpler."

"If only that were the case," sighed Zerato. He looked over at Jason.

"Jason, do you recall where _Angel_, as you referred to him as, or the King of Necropolis, kept the Seal?"

The Eagle agent raised an eyebrow. "Yes. It seems he kept it on his person at all times. Before he left the City, he revealed it to his opponent to mock him, as a sort of parting gift."

"That is, unfortunately, a very serious side effect of the Seal of Immortality," continued the Archangel. "It gives off an aura of power that immediatley draws the attention of _anyone_ who is in possession of it. It is very, very subtle. You might not even realize it, the entire process would probably be subconscious. But deep down one would come to realize that they were in possession of an object that would lead them to eternal life. This is because when the Council drained Apocalypse of his immortality, in the process small bits of his being were stored in the Seals with him. When one holds a Seal, they have that small piece of Apocalypse speaking to them about the power of the Seal, and they become bent on unlocking it. It becomes obsessive."

Jason recalled how venomous Belial had gotten about the Seal at times. Was this because he had at one point held the Seal that Angel now did, and was obsessed with getting it back?

"Even if Mandarin does not know it consciously, the dark magic of the Seal will have taken a hold of his subconscious mind. He will be obsessed with it. On the surface, it would seem like a man who has just taken a liking to a particular trinket. But when you try to take it from him, the obsession manifests. He won't give it up without a fight."

Zerato hesitated at the next point.

"Now that I have brought up this property of the Seal, there is a small matter that I have received instructions from the Council about…."

He swallowed. How was he supposed to tell two demons, a Millennium Item holder, and two highly qualified Eagle agents what he had to without making it seem insulting?

"Well?" said Rikuo impatiently.

"The Council is aware of this power of a Seal. Therefore they are only inclined to trust certain individuals to bear them. In the case of Necropolis it was Yugi Moto," said Eizan, helping him out.

Rikuo's eyes flared, and he spat his contempt. "So now you're saying you don't trust us? Jesus Christ I've saved the world twice! When will you stop with this bureaucracy GODAMNIT!"

Even the others seemed incensed by this, except for Jason and Sarah. Their loyalty to the word of Eizan Nakamura was unwavering.

"Mr. Amero please do not misunderstand…. You see, when the Council first created the Seals, it did not matter to them who bared them. But with the escape of Apocalypse, they realized they could take no risks, none, at all. If the Seal is to be given back to the Council so that they may destroy it, it must be carried by an individual who would be absolutely free of temptation There is one simple criteria that has to be fulfilled for this kind of individual. It is not subjective, more objective… If that person fulfills this criteria, then they _will_ not be tempted by the Seal," took up Zerato.

"Which is…?" asked Rikuo, his voice dripping with sarcastic interest.

"Never having taken a life."

The duelists seemed thrown off the loop by this.

"When one takes a life, be it even as an act of good, they simply fall in a separate category of people. Do not misunderstand again, I am not faulting any here for having done what is necessary. It is just that killing changes a person. It is, again, subconscious. For example, Mr. Amero, I assume you were born to kill as a General. But after your first kill, something just clicks inside you…. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it gives you a certain sense of power does it not?"

The group remained silent. None of them had anything to say.

"This is what the Council insists upon. Now, I'm assuming that you, Mr. Amero, as well as you, Mr. Bakura, do not fit this criteria in the slightest," Zerato had a slight grin on his face as he said this.

The demon and the dark spirit of the Millennium Ring both grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of their heads. If one totaled the number of kills they had between them, it would probably exceed the population of the entire headquarters.

"Mr. Andersen?" Deondre shook his head. During the battle with the Shadow Corporation, he had defeated one of their servants while they were playing the Seal of Dark Souls, which served as effectively killing them.

Zerato had seen Jason's record and knew it was not even worth asking.

"That leaves…."

Sarah looked incredibly nervous. It was true. She had yet to kill a human being in all her years in Eagle.

Zerato nodded. "That's settled then. When you have finished off the Mandarin, the Seal of Immortality must be retrieved from his person. Only Ms. Taylor should do this. Therefore, as you proceed through the palace, do everything in your power to ensure she remains completely unharmed. It is of the utmost importance."

Sarah looked slightly embarrassed, but no one seemed to be paying attention anymore.

Rikuo cracked his knuckles. "So when are we off to kick this Mandarin fool's behind?"

Zerato looked at the time on the computer. "Your flight is scheduled to leave from a private airfield in ninety minutes. You should touch-up your decks with any last minute changes in the next half an hour or so, before you are taken to the airfield by means of one of the underground tunnels."

"Who's the pilot?" enquired Sarah.

"The Valley of Spirits is very hard to find from the air," replied Eizan. "And it'd take a rather daring pilot to lower the aircraft low enough in all that mist for you to parachute out."

Even Rikuo seemed thrown off the loop. "Parachute… out…?" he managed to choke out.

"Yes… It's not as if the Mandarin is going to have an airstrip ready and waiting for invaders in his palace, wouldn't you say?" chuckled Eizan.

"As for your pilot, pleased to meet you."

Jason looked surprised. "You're…. You're activating yourself as a field agent, Chairman?"

Eizan nodded. "Our resources are stretched as it is. I'd rather that the specialist pilots stay here in case they're needed for a combat emergency. This is a bit tricky, but I've been flying for a long time and it's actually light work. The plan is that you guys parachute off, and I land the plane on a nearby private airstrip. Then I refuel and circle above the Valley. When you have retrieved the Seal, make your way to the open courtyard and set off a flare as a signal. We've replicated one of the CIA's tricks called Skyhook, which they used to get their agents out of sticky situations."

It seemed settled. Everyone was ready to leave.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kevin groaned as he sustained yet another powerful punch to the gut.

A sadistic voice whispered in his ear.

"Are you going to give me what I want?"

"Go to hell," he choked.

"Wrong answer." The interrogator delivered another powerful blow, this one catching him in his side. He fell to the floor, and he could hear cops snickering around him.

"_Where the hell is Paradias_?"

"I know what you're thinking," drawled the interrogator in a sing-song tone. "You think your cop-killer friends are going to come back here aaaaand rescue you. Well, let me tellll you _something_."

He grabbed Kevin's head and dragged his to his feet.

"No one escapes once I get my hands on them. _No one_. Especially not the friends of cop-killers."

"That's enough for today, boyo," said a gruff voice. Kevin could barely see. He turned his head slightly to the side to see the inspector standing there.

"Any more of that and he won't be able to talk when he finally decides to give us the information we want. Lock him up for the night, we'll start up again in the morning."

Kevin could feel someone dragging him forward, and cuffing him again. Two cops hauled him through a long corridor, back to the cell where they had first deposited him. He could hear them bickering noisily about a soccer game they would be watching that night. He was so disoriented by the beating he had received over the last… He didn't have any idea how long it had even lasted.

They threw him back in his cell and walked off.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, at the entrance to the station, a thickset, middle-aged bald man had walked up to the entrance guard. He was dressed in black robes.

The guard gave him a disgusted look. "Sorry to tell you, granddad, but Halloween was last week. And aren't you a little too old to be trick-or-treating anyway?"

The man ignored the quip, his only reaction being a slight tightening of his jaws which came out as a sort of humorless, terrifying smile.

"I'd like to visit someone who's been locked up here."

"Is that so," said the guard irritably.

"Yes."

"Well, it's past visiting hours, you old coot. Now hop to it, I'm not in a good mood."

The man gave him a piercing look. "I'll be back."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kevin couldn't sleep. His heart was pounding as he lay in the hard cot, staring up at the ceiling above him. It had been nearly half a day. Surely Paradias would have made some attempt to get him out by now. Or was it already too late?

He closed his eyes tight. He had received _strict_ instructions not to duel Kaiba. He had disobeyed them at the time without a second thought.

He knew Paradias could be ruthless with rogue agents…. So was this his punishment?

These thoughts were put out of his mind when he heard a shrill howl of pain on the ground floor. He gasped and ran to the bars, his fingers curling around them as he tried to peer to the side. The singular cop who was minding the shop in that particular room immediately got up off his desk and snatched the shotgun he had left there.

He spoke into a walkie-talkie. "Who was that?"

A bunch of other cops checked back in. One of them seemed to be missing however.

The inspector instructed them to begin a systematic search of the building. The cop on the desk near Kevin's cell got up and left, leaving the prisoner wondering what the hell was going on.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Angel smiled as the man in front of him screamed shrilly while the nexus of black energy from Angel's hand left a gaping hole in his gut. Angel touched him on the forehead with one finger, and he collapsed out of the way, his mouth still open in that gaping, horrified scream.

The King of Necropolis stepped into the station, and alarm bells began to ring around him. He could hear more cops making their way to where he was almost immediately. He grinned jovially.

The more the merrier, as the human phrase went.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kevin found himself curled behind his bed, head between hands as he could hear more terrifying screams of agony from the cops down below him.

He swallowed. Was this going to be hit? Had a bunch of terrorists or something attacked the station and were probably going to kill him in the process as well?

This was not Paradias. They did things quickly, efficiently, smoothly. If Paradias were planning to break him out, they would have done it by rolling a smoke bomb inside, and sending in just two agents with silenced guns. Probably just one fatality, the guard who had the key to his cell. Minimum fuss, minimum time wastage, and most of all, minimum mess. Paradias operatives operated like robots.

Whoever this was had a real taste for the bizarre. He heard one extremely long drawn out scream that hit such a high pitch it sounded more like a squeal, before coming down lower to a strange grunt, before peaking at a pitch that one would almost think the human vocal chords were incapable of producing, before dying down completely. He shivered, and tucked his head in between his knees. The disgustingly horrific bizarre.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Angel sighed as he looked at the pile of cinders in front of him which represented all that was left of the ninth policeman he had killed that night. He had probably put too much energy into the flames, which had resulted in the man burning to a crisp in less than thirty seconds. What a shame… He would have preferred to let it draw out to a minute, at least, it was so much more fascinating.

He sighed as three other cops burst out and opened fire on him. He raised his hand lazily and reversed the bullets back into them. One, two, three, they fell like ninepins. He didn't bother with anything fancy this time, he was getting bored of this.

He didn't meet much more resistance as he walked up the stairs. There was one cop waiting at the top, a shotgun in hand. He looked paralyzed with fear. But nonetheless, he managed to fire once, twice, thrice…. All bullets seemed to slam into Angel's robes and disappear. He reached forward and plucked the weapon out of the hands of the trembling policeman.

"That wasn't very nice."

Before he could even begin to _think_ of what he would invent for this one, the man passed out right then and there. Angel paused a minute, and reached out to check his pulse. It was gone.

He stood up in disgust. What a bunch of whiners. He supposed it was probably terrifying by human standards, to stand up there for five whole minutes, listening to one's colleagues squeal like monkeys as they experienced their last moments in deliciously painful fashions, but still, a heart attack? What was the guy, ninety years old?

Angel shook his head in disdain and walked up towards the cells. He couldn't see anyone, but he could sense the fear of someone cowering in one of them.

"No need to be frightened, Kevin," he sang. "It's only me."

Kevin's eyes shot open in shock. He ran towards the cell bars. He _knew_ that voice.

Angel grinned at him. "Ready to fulfill your end of the bargain?"

Kevin stood there for a second, shocked. "But… how?"

"Come on, Kevin," growled Angel impatiently, as he sent a scythe-shaped wave of black energy into the bars. They fell apart.

"When the Infinity Council was trying to wipe your memory, I saved you from that fate, on the condition you serve me when I tell you to. Now you've been abandoned by your former employers, and I need some new subordinates. I suppose you would do to start."

Kevin stepped out of the bars cautiously.

"What… What do you want me to do?"

Angel shook his head. "It's not important. All that matters is that Paradias abandoned you, didn't they? And you still need your revenge on a certain CEO."

Kevin's eyes flared and his hands curled into fists at the mention of that last person. "Damn it…. THAT SCUM HAS STILL GONE UNPUNISHED!"

Angel nodded wisely. "Work for me, Kevin, and soon Kaiba will be at his knees, at your mercy. It's all very close, you just need to follow my instructions to the letter. Then nobody, not the Council, not Apocalypse, not Paradias…. Nobody will stand in our way."

Kevin almost flared up again. "_Paradias_." They had left him here. For the dead. Those _bastards_.

"Yes, don't worry… They too will be crushed, rather easily I may add. I noticed you didn't get on well with that Cassell boy, at some point you'll be able to rip him to shreds as well."

All rational thought had once again left Kevin's mind. All that remained was hatred, fury, and revenge. He snatched up his Duel Disk and deck from where the cops had left it.

"Just follow me, Kevin…"

"What's our next move?"

Angel smiled as they walked down through the station, back to the entrance. Kevin stared at the remains of the policemen in a mixture of morbid fascination and horrified disgust.

"I'm good, I know, I just killed thirteen men in less than five minutes. But for what I have planned, two will not suffice. Right now, our next move is to jump across the puddle, where we will recruit my next little follower."

"Who?"

Angel turned around to face him with a terrifyingly broad grin. "A dead man."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The flight was surprisingly short. It lasted only about seven hours, as the plane was a Lear with a lot of extra bells and whistles tagged on. Eizan seemed to be quite an expert pilot, handling the takeoff procedure without even needing the benefit of a copilot. The interior of the jet, however, was not as luxurious as one would expect from the average Lear. It consisted of a few rooms with a set of seats lined up along the side, and a separate compartment which was currently sealed airtight, and would later be used for the parachuting.

Jason simply sat in one corner, eyes closed. No one could even tell if he was asleep or not, but they figured that as an Eagle agent he had participated in such military-like operations before. Rikuo and Deondre were going through their decks and talking in low voices, while Bakura seemed to be involved in deep conversation with his hikari within the Ring itself. Meanwhile, Sarah sat in the cockpit with Eizan, who had left the jet on autopilot.

"Sir?" she hesitated, breaking the aging man out of his reverie. He had been deep in thought.

"Yes, Sarah?"

"I don't really think I can do it, sir," she said softly.

"Do what?" He turned to face her.

"Hold the Seal. It's…. It's too big of a responsibility, sir. I'm just an analyst, there _have_ to be more people more qualified to handle something like this."

Eizan bowed his head and chuckled.

"Sarah Taylor…. I've known you since you were ten years old. You've grown _so_ much since then…."

He trailed off. She watched him cautiously.

"To hold the Seal without giving into temptation requires a pure heart, one untouched by the trauma of taking the life of another human being. What you claim to be inexperience in this case, Sarah, is not your weakness, but your strength."

She glanced down, avoiding his gaze.

"I just don't know, sir."

"The Archangel picked you. He's the representative of the Council. That means, effectively, the balancing force of the entire Universe has picked you to hold the Seal. That has to count for something doesn't it?"

She didn't reply.

"They believe in you, Sarah…. More importantly, _I _believe in you."

He smiled at her, and she couldn't help but return it. He fished something out of his pocket, and revealed it to her. It was a disc.

"At some point down the line, you are going to have to watch what is on that disc," he murmured.

"When?" she asked, confused.

"You will know when," he smiled. Confused, she tucked it away inside her jacket.

"Now get to the back of the plane. We're almost there, you guys will have to parachute down soon."

Bewildered, she left the cockpit as he switched on the intercom.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Never quite in his lifetime had the pilot of the Kaiba Corp. private jet been so intimidated by someone as he was by his boss in his current frame of mind. The pilot was a former Air Force man, and had had his fair share of violent reactions from former captains and majors. But Kaiba right now seemed angrier than any man he had ever seen in his entire life. He wondered what the deal was. He seemed ok when getting on bored, if a bit mellow, which the pilot supposed was something to do with the casket which had been loaded into the cargo earlier. He had then made a phone call, and completely blown up. He had entered the cockpit seething, and roared at the pilot that if he didn't land the plane at John F. Kennedy in less than six hours, he would be out of a job.

Heathrow to JFK was normally a seven hour flight under the best of circumstances. But there was an unusual amount of air traffic today and a rather annoying headwind, which stretched it to a full eight and a half hours. He could hear the boss screaming in the phone at the back most of the time. Thankfully he seemed to have forgotten his threat.

The pilot's impression was correct. Kaiba had had plenty of temper tantrums in his life. But this ranked number one, far and away.

Even as the pilot nervously announced into his intercom that all passenger – what an _idiot_, there was only one passenger – should take their seats for landing, Kaiba was seething. He buckled his seatbelt and squeezed his fist tight.

He left the place alone for _two _days. TWO DAYS. And a serial killer was able to break in and take out three people? One of which was Serenity.

"DO I HAVE TO DO EVERYTHING MYSELF?" he screamed, to no one in particular. In the back of his mind he thought that the pilot would have considered him rather insane. But he didn't care. Apocalypse had crossed a line. Paradias had already crossed that line back in London with the murder of Kyle.

He would not depend on others any more now. Whoever had messed with him would pay. Dearly.

He stared ahead into the wall of the cockpit, as if he could bore a hole into it with the mere force of his stare, while the plane landed.

Seto Kaiba was back.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Never….. Never again…" mumbled Deondre.

Jason threw him a disdainful look. Both Rikuo and Bakura also looked completely out of it.

They could hardly be blamed. Parachuting fifteen thousand feet, first time…. It was an _interesting_ experience, to say the least. Jason and Sarah had done it all during their Eagle training, and more then once during missions. But for the two demons and the holder of the Millennium Ring, it was certainly not something they would like to go through again.

Sarah couldn't help but contain a small, self-satisfied smile.

"_Now what, magic people…. Now what_."

Rikuo shook his head and snapped himself out of it. They had landed on the slope of one of the hills bordering the Valley. Eizan and Zerato had been right. They could only see a small distance away from where they stood, for the rest was completely covered in a dense, white mist.

Jason fitted a comm.-link into his ear.

"Chairman? We're on the ground," he muttered.

He then nodded at the rest of the group. Slowly, cautiously, they made their way down the slope. It was steep in places, and gentle in others.

It took them a good twenty minutes, as they had landed about nine hundred feet above ground level, but finally they were on the surface of the valley, face to face with the mysterious white fog, just about within touching distance.

Sarah looked nervously at Jason. What now?

Rikuo took a step forward, reaching out to touch the mist. It sent an electric shock coursing through his body, and he immediatley swore and retracted his hand.

"I think we'd best be cautious in this instance," muttered Bakura. He closed his eyes momentarily, and his Ring began to glow.

"Stand close," he growled. The five were soon surrounded by a domed-shaped shield of translucent golden energy which was generated by the Ring.

"Quick," the Thief King grunted. "I'd rather not waste too much energy on this preliminary obstacle."

It was a bit awkward, but the fivesome shuffled through the mist as fast as they could. It was an unnerving and eerie experience.

"It's fighting me," warned Bakura. It was like the mist was trying to break down through the shield.

Rikuo hissed. "Some smoke and mirrors trick this was."

They walked faster, as Bakura seemed to be under increasing pressure by the minute. Within about fifteen minutes, they found themselves at a huge gate. It was fixed to a giant stone wall which seemed to extend past what the eye could make out due to the fog.

"Now what," snapped Bakura.

Jason looked around. "The Gatekeeper should be here somewhere."

"Well that isn't going to cut it," hissed the Thief King. "The mist is getting stronger by the second. I'm good, but I'm not that good. The shield isn't going to last very long now. If that slimy bugger doesn't show we're going to just have to skip the appetizer and go straight to the main course."

Rikuo shrugged. "Why even bother… I'll just blast the gate and we'll go right in. If he's not doing his job by protecting the gate then it's hardly our fault…."

He raised a hand.

"Stand back everybody," he warned.

"Thief…. Can you make your shield one way… So that energy can leave it but not enter?"

"On one condition."

"Which is?"

"Hurry the hell _up_!" snarled Bakura.

Rikuo nodded, and black flames began to form in his hand. The shield began to warp. The sphere expanded until it was about the size of a soccer ball, but was powerful enough to level a building.

"I wouldn't try that if I were you," said a snide voice.

The flames died in Rikuo's hand and they turned to see an armored form stalking towards them. As he moved, the mist seemed to part around him.

"You're the Gatekeeper…" muttered Jason, his eyes narrowing.

The man's armor was golden. He stood about six feet tall, and also wore a similar colored helmet, with a crimson cape flowing out behind him. One could see most of his face, however. His features were Oriental, but his eyes were a piercing green. He was rather lanky behind the armor, which itself was unusually light.

"You catch on quickly you little twit," he chuckled.

Rikuo glared at him.

"Maybe if I don't burn the gate I should burn you."

The Gatekeeper sneered, his thin lips curling to one side. "Well if you do that, it will make it exceptionally difficult for you to enter my master's palace."

"And why is that?"

"Because you will be dead," was the airy reply.

Rikuo was about to snarl back an angry retort but this was waved away by the Gatekeeper. "Oh no, not me…. It'll be the doing of what you so far have referred to as the 'mist'. You see, I'm the sole controller of the magical mist which inhabits this legendary valley. If I pass out or lose my focus for some reason, it will just swarm to consume any being in its path. That's also why I recommended that you do not attempt to blow the gate. It would latch onto even a small spark of energy, and follow it back to its source. Namely, you."

"Your master is one paranoid freak," growled Deondre.

The Gatekeeper shrugged. "One can hardly blame him. Too many busybodies such as yourselves in today's times. I miss the old days, the villagers were so illiterate that I didn't even have to bother much with too much control. Just let the mist have one or two of them, and the rest would be too scared to even step foot in the valley. Nowadays if one disappears it somehow makes the headlines on BBC," he scoffed.

Rikuo glared at him.

"So how do we enter?"

"Rather simple…. You _don't_. Just turn back and head back to your kennel, little dog. You have thirty seconds, otherwise the mist will consume you."

Rikuo glared at him.

"You are really beginning to anger me."

Bakura, too, seemed irate.

Suddenly, Sarah's eyes lit up with an idea. "I suppose you've heard of Duel Monsters?"

The Gatekeeper scoffed. "What a primitive game."

"Duel one of us, if you can. The terms will be that if you win, then we will leave the Valley and not return. If you lose, we are granted safe passage into the palace, and you will impede us no further."

The Gatekeeper was about to dismiss this, but it seemed to occur to him that it was not really a bad idea….

"It makes a bit of sense…." he said slowly. "If I beat you back with my own power then I'll know for sure that you will not come back to bother me."

His eyes gleamed, and a golden Duel Disk cracked out of the armor onto his arm.

"Which one of you whelps shall I take down?"

Jason seemed ready to step up, but Rikuo pushed him back, his amber eyes burning. It seemed the 'little dog' comment had really fired him up.

"I will be your opponent," he growled.

The Gatekeeper smirked and raised his hand, causing the mist to waft away and leaving a small, clear area encircling them. Sarah, Jason, Deondre and Bakura fanned out behind Rikuo, who took his deck out of his belt and slid it into his Duel Disk.

"After this you'll know never to bother me during my afternoon nap," chuckled the Gatekeeper as they fired off their holo projectors.

"You know something?" spat Rikuo while the two drew their opening hands.

"Yes?"

"You talk too much."

(Rikuo: 8000, Gatekeeper: 8000)

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

New York…. A hell of a town, as it's always been called. To stay in the Waldorf Astoria's, and the New York Palaces, to hang out at Fifth Avenue, that was one thing. To scrap it out in the rough streets past Tenth Avenue…. That was another, altogether.

Li Ching was learning that…. The hard way.

As of noon, two nights after the battle at the Las Vegas headquarters of Eagle, Li was due to meet the representative of a local New York mobster whom he had done business with in the past. The man was a gun runner, and Li had decided that after his incident with Sigma, it would be smartest to arm himself and the rag-tag retinue he had picked up from the whichever Eagle operatives most loyal to him had followed him to the city, with the best possible weapons he could acquire. The mobster owed him a bunch of favors, but evidently not enough to merit coming down to meet him personally.

It did not sit well with Li, having to meet the subordinate of a man whom he had once considered his own inferior. But at the moment, macho posturing was the last thing on his list of priorities. He had known for sure that breaking into Kaiba's tower would not be easy. After his mole in Eagle had reported that Jason and the others had returned through a portal in Eagle's own headquarters, he knew he had his work cut out for him.

His mole had told him that the Infinity Council themselves had reinforced the defenses of the headquarters. His mole was a lower level analyst, and had literally no access to any of the information he would require to break in. It was frustrating, to say the least.

He checked his watch. The mobster's subordinate was due to arrive at noon. It was already twelve oh five. Li was normally not accustomed to be kept waiting by his supposed superiors, let alone his inferiors, but given the current situation, he hadn't much of a choice.

Well, he mused, maybe he should look on the bright side… At least he _had_ a mole. In a useful position at that, right in the heart of the organization. The mole had even been present when the next group of duelists had been sent off on their next mission, to China of all places… Li's own homeland. He gave a twisted grin at the sick irony of it all. Jason had gone too. He was untouchable there, the very place Li had grown up in, and knew best.

His face hardened at the thought of his past. They were mostly not pleasant thoughts…..

He had been born in Taiwan in 1942, just one year prior to the treaty of Cairo which had forced Japan to return all their occupied territories to the then Republic of China. Of course things had only gone down-hill from there. The political tension regarding the status of Taiwan soon reached an all time high within the next few years, and Li's parents were killed during riots when he was barely eight.

He lived on the streets for a while, and finally was taken in by an orphanage. But they were full to the brim in any case, and the living conditions back then were filthy. Thankfully, he had been taken in by a rich Chinese couple who lived in the mainland. He was taken to Shanghai, but luck never really seemed to be on his side. His adoptive parents turned out not to be as rich as they had previously seemed: the man was heavily in debt. He was shot dead by a member of the triads, along with his wife, for failing to pay back a gigantic loan.

The assassin seemed to take a liking to Li however. Rather than abandon him, or even kill him, he took him back to his organization. Li grew up as an errand boy for one of the most powerful men in the Chinese underworld. He was treated like vermin, but at least was granted a good education at the expense of his apparent legal guardian (no papers were officially signed but the man was so powerful no one really had it in them to say anything). He also received a very different kind of education on the sidelines, one that taught him the ropes of organized crime. But he never really caught on too well. He had been sent off to Asaka, Japan, and an opportunity at salvation had presented itself.

He turned informant for a law enforcement agent who had approached him, named Eizan Nakamura. It was a nightmare, living in the constant fear that he would be discovered. But eventually, it paid off. His testimony had proved critical in a criminal trial against his former boss regarding his drug business in that province in Japan. It seemed almost impossible to believe. Somehow he had managed to wreck one of the most feared men in organized crime in the Far East.

Through the process, Eizan and him had become fast friends. They were about the same age, and Eizan had helped him complete his education. He could have acquired Japanese citizenship, but he chose to retain his Chinese passport, for some reason it just meant too much to him. When Eizan had come to him with the idea of forming Eagle, an organization that would deal justice to corrupt and diseased criminals swiftly and efficiently, outside of the spider web of the law, namely Paradias, he had jumped at it.

So, twenty-five odd years to the day when he had been among the founding members of Eagle. How much had changed…..

It was like a nightmare. He had been forced to live a lie for two and a half _decades_. The organization he had given his blood, sweat and tears for…. That very organization's two founders were a lunatic and a lying murderer.

How did Eizan really expect him to believe that Alan had been acting on his own… It was simply far too elaborate. When Reflect had told him the story, he had been frank and straight about it. Eizan had most likely killed Alan because they had both been doing their _**disgusting**_ experiments with the Orichalcos stones together, and the former didn't want to be incriminated. He thought that in killing off his only accomplice, he had wiped out all the evidence that could possibly put him anywhere near such a scandal. He had effectively buried it.

When Reflect came to him about the story, he hadn't believed it at first. No, it simply could not be true. He had known Eizan Nakamura for over forty years; he was too good a man. Then he received the evidence. First, pictures. Good god, those experiments were simply horrific, unreal. Was Alan even human? It was a truly disgusting picture of humanity which had been painted in his mind's eye.

He had grasped as straws, accusing Reflect of faking the photographs. Then it seemed that Paradias had been smart enough to install a second layer of bugs in Alan's lab. He had been smart enough to check for the first, and disabled them all, but he hadn't counted on an extra level of paranoia. He had seen videos of him actually performing those _experiments_ in the act.

He had already lost all faith in what he thought Eagle had stood for by then, but he was able to hold on to that sliver of hope that Eizan, Eizan Nakamura, the man who had saved his life, was still clean. The kicker was a video feed from one of Paradias' underground bases where their stockpile of Orichalcos stones was kept.

It depicted Eizan, Reflect and Alan standing in a triangle. The former two both had their guns pointed at the latter. Then the lights went out, but one still had audio from the feed.

There had been a firefight, one could tell that much from the audio. Soon there was an explosion, followed by several more. The feed was lit up again by flames. Alan's body had vanished. It would seem Eizan had shot him and caused an explosion, incinerating his body in the process. It was oh-so convenient that it turned out that both Jason's parents had died in a plane crash from which their bodies could not be recovered.

Eizan had lied to him for nineteen years. He had lied to the world for nineteen years. He _had_ to tell Jason the truth. It was a question of morality.

As he stood there, thinking about his fast, he noticed his watch again. Fifteen past noon. Now this was really getting ridiculous.

"Would the assumption that you're expecting Mr. Erikson here be correct?" said a bland, flat, cold voice from behind him.

His blood froze at that second. Not that voice. Not _that_.

He turned around to see Sigma face to face with him.

"Mr. Erikson shall be permanently late for this appointment, as well as every other one he had planned from now until the end of days. The same can be said for you."

He backed away instantly, his entire body seeming to get paralyzed with horror.

"Mr. Reflect gave you information in order to make you realize that you were working for the wrong organization. The world is not black and white, rather shades of gray. He did not anticipate, however, that in your foolish sense of morality, you would try to repaint it all black and white. The information we have provided you with simply _cannot_ be further communicated. We know of your intentions to do this, and therefore, your demise is necessary."

Sigma took a step closer.

"Mr. Li… Our world is colorless. It is not possible for an organization, let alone one man, to judge what is right or wrong. You are trying to go against that fundamental law. For that, it has become necessary in the eyes of Mr. Reflect that you….disappear."

Li felt himself being raised off the ground. His blood went cold. He knew that this time there would be no demon in the vicinity to save him.

Sigma reached out his arm and began to curl his fingers around the air. Li could feel his air supply slowly getting cut off.

"I wish there was some way that this sordid ordeal concerning you could be broadcast to the entire world, but alas, that would defeat the purpose of this exercise, wouldn't it? It would, however, serve as an important lesson. One does _not_ attempt to double cross the Paradias Corporation and live to tell the tale."

He continued holding Li up in the air for a moment or two more, and then slackened his fist. Li hung their momentarily, like a rag doll, his entire body gone slack. Sigma dropped his arm completely, and Li fell to the ground, lifeless.

The Paradias agent allowed himself a thin smile. Job well done. Now onto the next mission.

"You…." he heard a mortified voice from behind him.

He turned around, feigning interest to see who it was.

Zane Truesdale…. Along with Alexis Rhodes.

"Ah, the famous Hell Kaiser," he mused. "Your career in the Underworld Circuit was…. _Interesting_, shall we say? I suppose you would be right at home among the lowlifes that inhabit this part of town."

"You're Sigma, aren't you?" growled Zane, his eyes still wide. "I heard a few Eagle agents talking about you…."

He snarled. "You're nothing but a damned _murderer_!"

He clenched his fist.

Alexis spoke up, venom in her voice. "It was one of your fellow Paradias agents who helped Apocalypse and his Horsemen kidnap Aster wasn't it?"

"Oh, Mr. Cassell?" quipped Sigma. He would've raised his eyebrows, behind his dark glasses, but no one really knew if he had eyebrows to raise.

Zane spat his contempt.

"When we left those fools back at Eagle, we did it because we'd be doing things ourselves now. Jaden and Aster will not go unavenged. We'll find this Cassell jerk in time, but right now one Paradias agent is as good as another."

Sigma considered. The Hell Kaiser was indeed a famous duelist. His skill had helped him win the Los Angeles Regional's. Not to mention the number of shady underworld contacts he had made during his tour on that particular circuit. He could of course deal with them quickly and efficiently and put an end to another threat, which was an unexpected opportunity. But he was sure both of them had competent Duel Spirits, and things would get rather messy…..

"I suppose a duel would be entertaining," he mused.

Zane and Alexis both glared at him, and slipped on their Duel Disks. Sigma activated his own.

They stood like an isosceles triangle, Zane and Alexis as the two ends of the base and Sigma as the top vertex, equidistant from both of them, in the long, deserted alley with Li's lifeless body a few feet away from the Paradias .

"LET'S DUEL!"

(Zane: 8000, Alexis: 8000, Sigma: 16,000)

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Good lord, fourteen thousand words without a word of dueling. Is this even possible :P?**

**I hope updates should stay as regular as this for the time being. Any and all feedback is appreciated as always.**


	34. Ultimate Sigma

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO: Ultimate Sigma

**Dark Oynx: Its still a Yu-Gi-Oh story :P Will always need dueling. The Mandarin IS the bad guy from Ironman, though I suppose I more or less plucked him out and decided to use him. There are reasons for this, including a storyline which will be revealed very soon. However, it's also because I liked the Valley of Spirits as a setting for the place where the second Seal was kept.**

**KageNoNeko: Indeed :)**

**Starlight AT: Lotus Amelia**

**Sixta: James is one of my favorite OCs :P Can't the bad guys get ANY love around here?**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: Read on and find out my friend, read on and find out ;).**

**By the way, this chapter is dedicated to Metal over here not only for his 23****rd**** birthday, but also for being a general all-around angel of a guy who's been with me through thick and thin and been a major contributor to this story. Rock on, Max :).**

"I shall concede the first move to you, Mr. Truesdale," murmured Sigma.

Zane angrily drew his sixth card.

"I activate Pot of Greed." He drew two cards, and looked over his seven card hand.

" I summon Cyber Dragon Zwei (1500/1000) in attack mode."

Materializing onto his field was a mechanical, snake-like dragon that looked rather like the original Cyber Dragon, but had golden lines emblazoned into its otherwise silver armor at various points, and a pair of spines extending out from its neck. Its eyes were two lidless slips which peered out at Sigma. It snarled softly.

"Once per turn, I can reveal a spell card in my hand to treat its name as Cyber Dragon (2100/1600) until the end phase." He slid Machine Duplication out and revealed it to his opponent.

"By doing so, I can go ahead and equip it with Armored Cybern (0/2000), a union monster which can act as an equip card, only to a monster called Cyber Dragon or a monster with Cyber Dragon as one of its fusion materials," continued Zane.

As he slid the card into his spell and trap zone, Cyber Dragon Zwei (500/1000) let out a small moan as its attack points dropped.

"A union monster to lower the attack points of your dragon?" commented Sigma, seemingly amused. "But of course, it's all part of your plan which became very apparent when you revealed your Machine Duplication spell card to me. Go on ahead and carry through with it; it's well thought of an executed, if I may say so myself."

"Don't patronize me," growled Zane angrily.

"I activate Machine Duplication, which allows me to target a machine monster in play with five hundred or less attack points, and special summon up to two monsters with the same name from my deck. Since Cyber Dragon Zwei is technically treated as Cyber Dragon, I'll go on ahead and summon two of the latter from my deck (2100/1600) (x2)!"

Materializing into play were a pair of mechanical, sleek dragons that looked almost identical to the one Zane already had in play, with the exception of the gold material emblazoned in parts of Zwei's body.

"I'm not done, yet," warned the Kaiser, holding up yet another card. "Here goes Polymerization, which I'll use to fuse my three monsters to call on the ultimate power of my Cyber End Dragon (4000/2800)!"

The trio of dragons all condensed into three spheres of blinding light. The three merged, and formed a new, larger sphere which kept on growing. Slowly, the light began to die down and the sphere took shape. It was a three-headed, three-tailed monstrosity of a beast. It was as if one had taken the torso of one of its fusion materials, tripled its size, and then topped it with three heads and tails on either side of the same. It let out an intimidating roar.

In reply, Sigma merely smiled his thin lipped smile. "You continuously find new ways to do it, don't you Mr. Truesdale?"

Zane glared at him. "I set one card facedown and end my turn."

The focus now shifted to Alexis, who looked slightly uneasy.

She brightened up a bit as she looked at her next draw, however. "I activate Trade In, allowing me to discard a level eight monster, and draw two cards in exchange."

She slid the card into her graveyard, and then drew two more.

"Next comes Monster Reborn, which I'll use to special summon the monster I just discarded. I call upon my Blue-Ice White Night Dragon (3000/2500)!"

Appearing onto her field was a monster that resembled the legendary Blue Eyes in every way, except that it seemed to be made completely of shining, bluish white ice. Its claws looked a whole lot more terrifying now that they were not only razor sharp but at a sub zero temperature as _well_. It had no facial features other than a few dents and impressions in the ice.

"I will end my turn at that," he said confidently.

Sigma drew, his thin-lipped smile broadening as he got a look at his next card.

"I summon Alien Hypno (1600/700) in attack mode."

Sigma's first monster of the duel looked rather freakish. It had a head shaped like a fish, rather wide from left to right but narrower from top to bottom. It had an almost skeletal body, which was contained in a small device with some green fluid in it. Its arms were exposed, however, and they were covered with purplish, slimy skin. Its fingertips glowed blue.

"I will then set two facedown cards, and activate two continuous spells, Code A Ancient Ruins and "A" Cell Breeding Device. Don't worry about their effects, they will give you plenty of trouble later on."

He gave a short, shady chuckle.

"That will end my turn."

Zane drew and looked testily at Alexis. Both of them had been able to summon two of their most powerful monsters on their very first turns, and Sigma didn't seem bothered in the very least. His facedown cards were surely a worry.

"What's the problem Mr. Truesdale?" chuckled Sigma. "Worried about my facedown cards? You should be, as I'm activating the both of them right away. The first is "A" Cell Scatter Burst. This is a useful quick play spell which allows me to destroy one Alien monster on the field in order to distribute A-counters among your monsters equal to the level of the destroyed monster. I choose to place all four A-Counters on your Cyber End Dragon, Mr. Truesdale."

The Alien Hypno vanished as two pairs of poisonous looking spore flashed out of the card and were absorbed by the mechanical monstrosity. Zane narrowed his eyes.

"Then the effect of Code A Ancient Ruins comes into play. When one Alien monster on my field is destroyed, I can add one A-Counter to it. It has another effect, which I shall use later. As of now, I'd rather activate my facedown Brainwashing Beam continuous trap, which allows me to take control of one monster on my opponent's field which has A-Counters on it, although it loses one counter during each of my end phases and when it is out of them, you get him back."

Zane looked horrified as electricity began to crackle around his Cyber End Dragon. It vanished, and then rematerialized over on Sigma's field.

"You… You'll pay for that," he said hoarsely.

Sigma merely smiled his thin-lipped, terrifying smile, and gestured for Zane to continue his move.

Even Alexis looked worried. "_He's had one turn and he's already taken one of Zane's best monsters from him_."

The Kaiser snarled.

"I activate Magical Shard Excavation. At the cost of discarding one card from my hand, I can return one spell card from my graveyard back to my hand. I discard my third Cyber Dragon (2100/1600). I choose to return Polymerization."

He held up another card.

"Then I activate Renewal of Triplets, to special summon all three Cyber Dragons (2100/1600) (x3), back to my field in all their lustrous glory!"

The trio of writhing, mechanical, snake-like dragons appeared back onto his field.

"Genius, Mr. Truesdale, absolute genius," Sigma chortled.

"Then I activate Polymerization to special summon a second Cyber End Dragon (4000/2800)!"

Alexis' heart skipped a beat as she watched the trio once again swirl together to form a triple-headed juggernaut, absolutely identical to the one on Sigma's field. This was shaping up to be a clash of titans in which she would surely get sidelined if she wasn't able to keep up. Her Blue-Ice White Night Dragon was surely powerful, but couldn't hold a candle to either of the two Cyber End Dragons which would now clash.

Zane considered his options. Not that he really had many options to consider. He was not going to suicide his Cyber End Dragon, not only because of what it meant to him, but also because of the fact that it was a mighty field presence which he did not want to give up just to get rid of the menace which was the Cyber End Dragon Sigma had stolen from him when he was going to get it back in a few turns anyway. Plus, he had no cards in his hand, so he really had nothing to do.

"I'll end my turn," he said with an air of finality.

Alexis drew. She had a full, six card hand worth of resources, but at this point her hands were tied. As long as Sigma controlled his own Cyber End Dragon, there was no point in summoning monsters in defense mode due to the Piercing damage effect of the triple fusion. That also made switching her Blue-Ice White Night Dragon to defense mode useless, which would be conventional when faced with a stronger monster.

She sighed. "I set two cards facedown and end my turn."

It was Sigma's turn. He drew and looked up at the pair of duelists facing him.

"During my standby phase, "A" Cell Breeding Device places one A-Counter on one of your monsters of my choice. I choose Mr. Truesdale's second Cyber End Dragon."

Zane and Alexis looked nervously at each other.

"I activate another continuous spell, "A" Cell Incubator. This card will gain an A-Counter every time one of the same is removed from the field. I am about to do just that by activating the effect of my Code A Ancient Ruins, which allows me to remove two A-Counters from anywhere on the field to special summon one Alien monster from my graveyard. I remove one from Code A Ancient Ruins itself, and one from the Cyber End Dragon I have taken control of, in order to once again special summon Alien Hypno (1600/1000)."

The bulbous headed monster once again materialized on Sigma's field next to the titanic dragon, leering out at Zane and Alexis.

"Thanks to this, "A" Cell Incubator gains two A-Counters. Now, here's an interesting fact: Alien Hypno is a Gemini monster. When first summoned, it is treated as a normal monster. However, I can normal summon it again on my next turn, and it will gain an effect. Since I _special summoned_ him by the effect of Code A Counter Ruins, I can now normal summon him to activate his effect: I can now take control of one monster on my opponent's field with one or more A-Counters on it."

His eyes flashed as Zane and Alexis gasped simultaneously.

"Come to me, Cyber End Dragon number two."

The monster that looked suspiciously like Braniac from Superman began to wave its long, skinny arms. The Cyber End Dragon on Zane's field groaned as the Hypno's magic began to take control of it. Try as it might, the monster simply could not resist. It floated over and joined its identical twin on Sigma's side of the field.

The Paradias agent's smile broadened.

"Now I have taken control of not one, but two of your ace monsters, Mr. Truesdale. Now I will enter my battle phase."

Zane reacted quickly, knowing things could be all over if this didn't work. "I activate my facedown Call of the Haunted to special summon Cyber Dragon (2100/1600) in attack mode!"

Materializing onto his field was a single, writhing, mechanical snake-like dragon, which was absolutely dwarfed by the two three-headed ones on Sigma's field.

Sigma sighed. "Mr. Truesdale…. Why do you persist so much… Well, I suppose you will have to suffer longer in that case. Cyber End Dragon, destroy his Cyber Dragon!"

The monster which Sigma's Alien Hypno had just taken control of roared, and spheres of rainbow colored energy began to form in each of its three mouths. It let lose a trio of streams of energy, which melded into one, larger beam. The beam slammed into the Cyber Dragon, which barely had the time to roar in agony before it was shattered into a million pixels, leaving Zane wide open.

"Cyber End Dragon number two, and Alien Hypno, attack his life-points directly."

Alexis watched in horror as Zane's own favorite monster let lose a burst of energy towards him. The extraterrestrial raised its hands, and three thin beams of deep blue energy exited its fingers and hit him as well, but it was lost in the maelstrom of the Super Strident Blaze which belonged to the juggernaut.

(Zane: 500, Alexis: 8000, Sigma: 16,000)

As the smoke slowly cleared, it became evident that even Zane hadn't been able to stay on his feet after the attack. He was down on one knee, coughing hard. Pain wracked his nerves as he slowly staggered upwards.

"Zane… Are you ok?" asked Alexis nervously.

"Never…. Never _better_!" he spat, glaring at Sigma. "You are going to pay dearly for that."

"Strong words, Mr. Truesdale, strong words," chuckled Sigma. "It would do well if you could back them up. Now I set a card facedown and end my turn."

As he spoke, one of the two Cyber End Dragons exploded. Zane gasped in surprise.

"How?"

"It's rather simple. When a monster is taken control of by my Alien Hypno, it loses one A-Counter during each of my end phases, and when none are left, it is unfortunately destroyed. Since it only had one to begin with, I suppose it was a short partnership. The same effect goes for Brainwashing Beam, and since two A-Counters left the field, "A" Cell Incubator gains two of its own."

Zane was silently thankful. He'd rather that his Cyber End Dragon be in the graveyard then in the hands of a vile man such as Sigma.

"Your move, Mr. Truesdale."

Zane stared at his deck. He couldn't remember the last time he had been in such a desperate situation, in which only a decent top deck could save him.

He drew, and exhaled. He looked at the card, and grinned.

"Perfect. I activate De-Fusion, to split the Cyber End Dragon on your side of the field into the three original Cyber Dragons (2100/1600) (x3), which I will special summon to _my _field!"

The three-headed titan vanished into a sphere of white energy, which split up into three smaller spheres and returned to Zane's field. They soon took the form of his three signature monsters, writhing and growling in front of him in all their rage.

"You're going down now Sigma and you're going down hard! Cyber Dragon one, destroy his Alien Hypno! Strident Blaze!"

The mechanical dragon let out a maelstrom of rainbow colored energy which slammed right into the unfortunate Hypno, completely atomizing it.

"Now, my other two Cyber Dragons, attack his life-points directly!"

Both monsters unleashed their own attacks, hitting Sigma full in the chest. A normal duelist would have been thrown off his feet, but Sigma, meanwhile, did nothing other than tighten his jaws.

(Zane: 500, Alexis: 8000, Sigma: 11,300)

"Well executed, Mr. Truesdale," hissed Sigma. "But your little stunt with De-Fusion just granted "A" Cell Incubator an additional three counters, putting it at seven. You also freed up a space in my spell and trap card zone, as Brainwashing Beam leaves the field, with nobody to brainwash."

He gave a dark laugh.

Zane thought quietly. "_His "A" Cell Breeding Device will let him put another A-Counter on one of our monsters. It'll no doubt be Alexis' dragon this time. Then he will use Code A Ancient Ruins to special summon Alien Hypno back to the field, and use its effect to take control of her dragon. I'd better be prepared for that…._"

"I move to Main Phase two, and send these three Cyber Dragons to the graveyard in order to call upon Chimeratech Fortress Dragon (0/0)!"

Slowly rising up out of the sand in front of Zane was a large snake like machine dragon with round circular joints that had closed portals in them, with two spikes on top of each joint. The head of the dragon had two large blue eyes and several spikes leading down to its circular joints. Letting out a loud roar, the dragon glared at Sigma.

"This card can only be summoned by sending one Cyber Dragon from play to the graveyard along with any number of machine monsters on either side of the field. I send all three of my Cyber Dragons to fuel the summoning of this monster. Its original attack points are equal to one thousand times the number of fusion materials I sent."

The dragon growled again at Sigma (3000/0).

"That ends my turn."

The sunlight reflected off Sigma's shades as he shifted his focus to Alexis. "_Both of them are anticipating what will happen next, I'm sure. The reason Mr. Truesdale chose to summon his Chimeratech Fortress Dragon was because he knew for sure that I would use the combination of "A" Cell Breeding Device and Code A Ancient Ruins to revive Alien Hypno and take control of Ms. Rhodes' Blue-Ice White Night Dragon._"

He chuckled to himself. "_If only they had any idea what else my deck has in store for them…._"

Alexis drew.

"I summon Cyber Petit Angel (300/200) in attack mode!" she declared. Materializing onto her field was a small cherub, barely the size of a Watapon. Its skin was pink and it had two white, fairy-like wings. A halo floated over its head.

Zane nearly fell over. What was she doing summoning such a weak monster?

"When Cyber Petit Angel is summoned, I can add one "Machine Angel Ritual" spell card from my deck to my hand," she continued confidently.

Then she glared at Sigma.

"Time for you to feel some more pain. This one's for Aster. Blue-Ice White Night Dragon, Frozen Burst Stream!"

The icy dragon opened its maw and let out a veritable blizzard. Chilling winds swept over Sigma's field. Just before they could reach him, he reacted.

"Command Silencer activates. One of your attacks is negated, and I may draw a single card."

Alexis bit her lip as a large totem pole appeared on Sigma's field. It let out a wave of sonic energy, which caused the dragon to stop its attack and growl in pain.

"Fine, Cyber Petit Angel, attack directly."

The small cherub slammed into Sigma, dealing a minimal amount of damage.

(Zane: 500, Alexis: 8000, Sigma: 11,000)

"I set two cards facedown and end my turn."

Both Zane and Alexis watched the Paradias agent nervously. Every turn that he had taken until now, he had absolutely devastated them. Now who knew what he had up his sleeve….

"During my standby phase, "A" Cell Breeding Device puts another A-Counter on one of my opponent's monsters. I choose your Blue-Ice White Night Dragon, Ms. Rhodes."

She rolled her eyes. They knew this was coming…. Thankfully she was prepared for it with her facedown cards.

"Then I will use remove two A-Counters from Code A Ancient Ruins, in order to once again special summon Alien Hypno (1600/700) from my graveyard." Materializing onto his field was the strange, skeletal extraterrestrial once more.

"Then I will Gemini Summon my Alien Hypno once more," continued Sigma, "allowing me to use its effect. Come to me now, Blue-Ice White Night Dragon!" The Hypno once again raised its tentacle-like hands, and the blue light issued forth, snaring the dragon on Alexis' field and dragging it across towards that of Sigma.

"I was prepared!" warned Alexis. "Activate facedown, Rush Recklessly, which I'll use on Zane's Chimeratech Fortress Dragon!"

The spiked dragon snarled as its attack points shot up slightly (3700/0).

Sigma chuckled and adjusted his shades. "You two are rather intelligent for a pair of teenagers. I'm quite sure you anticipated that I would choose to steal either of your two monsters, which were equal in strength, and suicide them, thereby making sure to cut off that option, strengthening Mr. Truesdale's fortification to ensure he was not left wide open. By predicting one's opponent's strategies in advance is a risky way to duel, but you pulled it off rather well, and I commend you for that."

Alexis and Zane were both getting rather put off by his constant patronization.

"However, it seems the two of you have yet to understand how big of a mistake you made by dueling me."

He looked up at them and raised his shades. Both of the teenagers gasped in shock and revulsion. His eyes were shining green. Not just the pupils, the entire ball seemed to have taken on an unnatural emerald color.

His voice had changed as well, from the previous, almost polite chuckle to a malevolent hiss.

"You two are more out of your league here then you can possibly imagine," he whispered. "Two foolish teenagers looking to play heroes. You may have dealt with the likes of that decrepit old fool Kagemaru, as well as that fanatic Sartorius, but believe me, by even _trying_ to step out against the Paradias Corporation, you made the biggest, and the last, mistake of your lives."

"You…. You're a freak," gasped Zane.

Sigma dropped his shades, but the image of his emerald eyes stayed embedded in the minds of Alexis and Zane.

"I am the most skilled agent in Paradias' armada. I was defeated a few days ago by a demon servant of the Infinity Council. However, certain… _factors_ have allowed me to dig deeper. Deeper then I could have possibly imagined. I am right now almost at my true potential, very soon I will be the strongest duelist on this planet, even Yugi Moto would have no _chance _of stopping me."

Zane could see Alexis was getting nervous. Even though she had faced her fair share of scumbags during the ordeals with Kagemaru and Sartorius, there just seemed to be something about Sigma that made every word that left his mouth seem to be true. Zane had heard plenty of people rant on about their dueling skills during his tour on the Underworld Circuit, and he had made those very people eat their own words. But the way Sigma had absolutely devastated them until now, coupled with his…. _unusual _physical disposition…

"Take a look at the sky," chuckled Sigma.

Alexis and Zane involuntarily looked up. It was about one p.m. in November, so things were already a little gloomy. But there was something odd….

"That…. That green thing!" mumbled Alexis. "I heard about it on the news…."

"That 'green thing', Ms. Rhodes, is called the Jade Star," corrected Sigma. "And it's on course for this planet. The moment it arrives, I will be invincible."

They looked strangely at him. "CNN said it was light years away…. The only reason we could see it was because there was probably some kind of weird chemical reaction which made it glow so brightly. They even had an astronomer work it out, on its current course the meteor had no chance of colliding with Earth, however soon."

Sigma threw back his head and let out a short burst of laughter, which was very uncharacteristic for him.

"A _meteor_? My, my, if this is what the so-called experts seem to believe, then the denizens of this planet are in for a very NASTY surprise."

"What the hell are you talking about?" growled Zane through gritted teeth. "Is this thing actually going to hit Earth soon?"

"Don't worry yourself about that," replied Sigma, more amused than anything. At the moment, Alexis and Zane seemed like two floundering fish. He enjoyed this, it was one of the few small pleasures he retained… Watching his victims struggle for some kind of respite, both physically and mentally. It was like a hunter who would shoot an animal in the leg before waiting until the point when they were _just _about to bleed out, and then go in for the kill. Taking someone down fighting was also fun if you wanted a challenge, but if you were a sadist, dealing the finishing blow to a helpless opponent could be just as enjoyable.

"Ninety-nine percent of the way there," he murmured. His hands crackled with green electricity, giving both Zane and Alexis quite a shock.

"The way to my own perfection…. The way to _Ultimate Sigma_."

He stared back at them. "Consider yourselves honored. You will be the first lab rats to get a taste of Ultimate Sigma."

"Referring to yourself in third person is a sure sign of some real arrogance problems," sneered Zane, trying to keep face. "Try to back it up."

Sigma's tone changed once again to that frightening, deathly quiet whisper. "I've already utterly reduced you to ruins in these two turns of mine… But then again, if you want further proof of my ultimate superiority, who am I to deny you that? I activate my facedown Ultimate Offering, allowing me to pay five hundred life-points in order to perform one more normal summon. I call upon Alien Ammonite (500/200)."

A fish-like, extraterrestrial beast soon became the lone creature on Sigma's field. It looked like a spike-covered piranha, with purplish-blue skin. Its eyes were yellow and bulbous. Small extensions extended out from various parts of its body, tipped with claw-like pieces of bone.

"Alien Ammonite happens to be a Tuner monster…. A level one Tuner monster. My Hypno is level four, meaning that I can tune the two together, to Synchro Summon one of the kings of my deck! Come forth, _Cosmic Fortress Gol'gar _(2600/1800!"

Both Alexis and Zane grimaced. They knew this could mean nothing but trouble. As elite Obelisk Blue students at Duel Academy, they had been privy to some of the deeper secrets of Duel Monsters, and knew that Pegasus' plans for Synchro monsters were on a grand scale. They were absolutely nothing but trouble… They had no idea how Sigma could've gotten his hands on one, but then again, he was Paradias.

The Alien Ammonite evaporated into a white sphere, which itself split down further into two more spheres. It was joined in a similar transformation by the Alien Hypno. The three spheres formed a triangle, with each sphere connected by rays of light. The triangle exploded with blinding light, and began to take the shape of a titanic horror.

It looked like something right out of H.P. Lovecraft. The bottom half of the freakish monster looked like the foundation of a building: long, broad and gray in color, with several slits lining up horizontally on either side. From the base up it grew into a mountain shaped torso with a number of spines and thin tentacles growing out from the back. From the front were six thick purple tentacles. Its face was small and disproportionate to its colossal body, with two tiny slits for eyes. It shrieked, a sound that made both Zane and Alexis want to cover their ears.

"Gol'gar has a rather useful effect, which allows me to force any number of magic and trap cards on the field back to their owner's hands, and distribute A-Counters among monsters on the field as I see fit. So I will have you return your two facedown traps, Ms. Rhodes, and I will take back my own Code A Ancient Ruins."

He had a slight smirk on his face as he plucked the card off his Duel Disk. Alexis and Zane watched him with growing trepidation.

"I will have all three A-Counters placed on your Chimeratech Fortress Dragon, Mr. Truesdale."

"What purpose will that serve?" growled Zane. "You don't have your Alien Hypno to take control of it."

"Oh really?" chuckled Sigma. "He's about to make a speedy comeback. I can now replay Code A Ancient Ruins, and get around the once per turn limitation thanks to Gol'gar's effect!"

Zane's eyes widened. "_No_…."

"Now I remove two A-Counters from "A" Cell Incubator in order to special summon my Alien Hypno (1600/700) from my graveyard once again!"

The skeletal monster trapped in a cylinder rematerialized onto Sigma's field, flanked by the much larger Blue-Ice White Night Dragon on one side and the titanic Cosmic Fortress Gol'gar on the other.

"I will pay a further five hundred life-points with Ultimate Offering to Gemini Summon him. Work your magic, my friend," Sigma cackled.

Zane and Alexis watched in absolute horror as the Hypno began to wave his arms around, the blue rays drawing the mechanical dragon on Zane's field over to Sigma's field.

"This ends now," he intoned, pointing at the two defenseless teenagers, who glanced helplessly at each other.

"Cosmic Fortress Gol'gar, Blue-Ice White Night Dragon and Chimeratech Fortress Dragon will attack Ms. Rhodes, while Alien Hypno will have the small task of eliminating the remainder of your life-points, Mr. Truesdale."

The pair of dragons charged up their respective streams of energy and unleashed them in Alexis' direction, followed by a pair of small beams from the eyes of the Cosmic Fortress Gol'gar. The amalgam of energy engulfed her so completely that even her silhouette could not be made out. Even as Zane took a step toward her in dreaded concern, he found himself tackled hard by the Alien Hypno, which was surprisingly strong for a creature of its size.

When the after effects of the attacks died down, both Zane and Alexis were lying eagle spread on the floor, unconscious, beaten, by an opponent who had used just three of his own monsters to do so.

(Zane: 0, Alexis: 0, Sigma: 10,000)

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Things were _not_ pretty when Kaiba made his return. Roland had been able to tell him the location of the group's new headquarters before he had completely exploded, but that didn't mean he was any kinder to the Eagle driver who was waiting for him at the airport. He was almost tempted to go tell the driver to screw himself, but he wanted to take all of this out on those bureaucratic fools who were the cause of this mess, and to do that he had to get to where they were first.

His fist tightened. Plus, they had taken the liberty of moving Serenity there. He needed to meet her too. He wanted to observe the wreckage of what was supposed to have been the crowning achievement of Kaiba Corp.'s architecture, but this was hardly the time for sentimentality of any kind.

He was Seto Kaiba. That those responsible for what had been done face the necessary repercussions were all that mattered.

Of course, it hadn't gone down very well with him when he arrived to find that Eizan had skipped off to the Inner Mongolian heartland, leaving only Zerato for him to bellow away at. While not necessarily as incisive and spiteful as Yugi's earlier outburst, his was definitely a LOT louder and filled with choice expletives and a multitude of threats. It was a lot longer as well. The duelists that remained in the base watched silently as he ranted at the Archangel for nearly a half hour.

It was the same situation as before. Zerato was more than willing to admit to the shortcomings of past, but continually urged Kaiba to look to the present and future, and the actions that would need to be taken by their group to prevent so many more millions of lives from being ruined by Apocalypse and Paradias.

"I DON'T NEED YOUR GODAMN HELP!" roared Kaiba, slamming his hand down on the table of the conference room where they were 'talking'.

"WHEN YOU FOOLS WERE PUT IN CHARGE, ALL THAT OCCCURRED WERE INNUMERABLE CASUALTIES! I'M DOING THINGS **MY **WAY FROM HERE ON OUT!"

"Mr. Kaiba, what about that singular casualty that occurred less then twelve hours ago when you did things 'your way'?" replied Zerato softly.

Those words at first seemed to perhaps enrage the CEO a little further, but it was like a pin in his balloon. He stood stock still for a second, and just looked down, deflated, with a hollow look in his eyes. Throughout the flight he had been so angry after that call from Roland that he hadn't been able to come to terms with the fact that a sixteen year old boy whom he called his friend had been murdered in front of his very eyes.

"I apologize," said Zerato swiftly. "Those were tactless words. Your actions in Switzerland and the United Kingdom were unspeakable in terms of courage and resourcefulness. My point, however, Mr. Kaiba, is that neither of us can win this war without the other. We require the power that the Chosen Duelists and the Demon Lords bring, while we can contribute resources of many kinds. I will shamelessly admit that the latter point has not been very evident until now, but I can assure you that all hiccups are past, and now things will hopefully move far more swiftly and efficiently. To begin with, if you may note, this base is magically fortified and equipped with the most advanced defense technology available to man. Over here we are impregnable, so you need not worry about a repeat of the incident that took place two days ago. A group of five duelists have again been dispatched to China, along with the Chairman, to recover the Second Seal. Every runner may stumble along the initial bumps in the path, but when his skills and experience come together he becomes a lightning bolt."

Kaiba nodded imperceptibly.

Zerato's face softened. "Now there is the matter of the unfortunate passing of young Mr. Gardner. He died a hero's death, and will be honored with a proper funeral. This news must be broken to his sister as well."

Almost as if on cue, the door opened behind them. Yugi turned and saw with trepidation that Tea had finally woken up. She looked a little weak on the knees, but otherwise was as fresh, bright, and bubbly as ever.

"What news?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Things were not as bad as Yugi had imagined they would be.

They were worse.

He had forestalled and beaten around the bush as much as possible, but the moment his tongue let slip those dreaded words, Tea broke down again completely.

It took an extremely long time for her to regain her composure to the extent that she was able to string together a coherent sentence.

She asked Kaiba those same words that relatives always did when they spoke about the passing of a loved one. "Did he suffer?"

Kaiba answered almost mechanically. "It was instantaneous."

It was more or less a programmed answer for the bearer of bad news like this. More often than not it was not true, but thankfully in this case it was. A bullet to the brain was a harsh fate for an innocent sixteen year old, but there were far worse things one could endure. Most of them involved knives.

She had then broken down into sobs once again. It took about an hour for her to stop, but by that point she looked so frail that Kaiba reckoned a small gust of breeze could blow her over. He closed his eyes tight and clenched his fist. He couldn't imagine having to hear similar news concerning Mokuba.

Tea wanted to see the body but Kaiba knew that a contact shot always resulted in a hell of a mess, and it wasn't quite something a dead man's sister should have to see. For lack of another excuse, he stated that he had already arranged for the casket to be taken straight to a church with its own graveyard near their present location. He half expected her to blow up and shriek that she wanted to bury her brother back home at Domino, and then probably go one up and blame the entire thing on Kaiba, but she seemed past that stage now.

There were really no legalities. Kaiba's…. _substantial _bribe in London had negated the need for any real paperwork. Thank God for that, he thought silently, because really, the situation was bad enough as it was, paperwork only made things worse.

Zerato seemed to be the temporary overseer at the moment with Eizan gone, and he gently suggested that they consider having the funeral now while all those who would want to attend were present. It seemed rather insensitive, but he really didn't have an option. Zerato felt a bit bad about it deep down, he knew that all of the people here were under twenty-five years of age and therefore unaccustomed to any real loss, but this was a war… Casualties happened. The only thing to do was to move on.

Tea was pensive. She answered any and all questions in monotone syllables, and didn't really seem aware of what was going on. A hearse was arranged, which ferried the casket over, while Kaiba, Yugi and Tea followed in one of Eagle's limos. The others decided to follow just for courtesy's sake.

It was a very disconnected ceremony. There was no priest, it was too short notice. Zerato instead acted as the holy man there, which actually worked a bit better considering he was an actual angel. He delivered a short eulogy about Kyle's bravery and such, and asked anyone if they wanted to say a few words.

Tea was too disconnected to say anything. She merely stared blankly ahead. Yugi debated whether or not it made sense to do so, but in the end decided not to. He barely knew Kyle, and if he said something wrong it might set off another eruption of grief from Tea. Surprisingly, Kaiba took a step forward.

All eyes were on him.

He took a deep breath. He knew something had to be said.

"Kyle Gardner…. Kyle Gardner was someone I don't quite think I'm ever going to forget in my life."

He paused. The only noises in the cold New York afternoon were the distant sounds of the city, honking cars and such.

"He was a rash kid, pretty full of himself."

Yugi glared at him. The others present, Daniel, Ryu, CJ, Brian and Serena all looked a bit taken aback. Was this what the CEO was going to say about a dead kid's funeral _in front of his sister_?

"But more importantly," continued Kaiba, "he had heart."

More silence.

"Kyle Gardner had more heart than in anyone I've ever seen in my entire life. He lived by three words. Those three words were 'never say die'. He carried those words with up to his greatest triumph, when he took down the Prince of Atlantis, something the likes of Marik Ishtar, Joey Wheeler, Zane Truesdale, and even myself, that too on two separate occasions, have been unable to do."

He took another breath.

"This is all sounding weird coming from me, I know. But Kyle Gardner was one of the bravest people I ever met. He died a hero, because without him we would have lost the Tournament of Shadows. And a hero is what we're always going to remember him as…."

He paused once more and looked down at the gravestone. "If there's anything I want to say to him, it'd be this: I'm going to miss you, kid."

Yugi looked stunned. He would have _never, ever_ expected the normally stoic and cold-hearted CEO to be capable of delivering such a heartfelt eulogy.

Tea looked up at Kaiba, and a sad smile graced her face. She mouthed two barely audible words.

"Thank you."

Zerato bowed his head and raised a hand. It glowed white, and scratches began to appear on the gravestone. It was apparent that they were words.

_Kyle Gardner_

_1994-2010_

_Beloved friend, brother, and hero._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The Wolf Demon General drew his sixth card, and upon seeing it his eyes lit up. "_How perfect… This is not going to last long_."

"I summon Bronze Wind-Up Knight (500/500) in attack mode," he declared. Materializing right in front of him was a small, almost toy-like warrior. Its armor and helmet were made of a rusted bronze, completely covering any signs of its body. It held a short sword which would have been almost a dagger in a normal warrior's hand, and, most surprisingly, it had a key fitted into its back.

The Gatekeeper sneered. "How pathetic."

Rikuo ignored him. "Next comes the continuous spell card Effect Economics, which reduces all costs that either of us have to pay for a card effect down to zero. Which means that this next card doesn't cost me the one thousand life-points that it normally would: Ties of the Brethren, which I'll use to special summon Silver Wind-Up Knight (1000/1000) and Gold Wind-Up Knight (1500/1500) in defense mode!"

Appearing next to the bronze toy warrior were another pair of similar ones, except that the former had silver armor, and looked a little less worn out, while the latter was shining gold and seemed as if it had been bought fresh from a factory. Both were kneeling with their arms crossed in front of their chests.

Deondre smirked on the sidelines. Rikuo certainly hadn't lost his touch. Not one bit.

"All three happen to be Union monsters, and I'll go ahead and remove the three of them from play to special summon Super Toy Knight (3000/3000)!"

The trio of warriors slammed together in a flash of blinding light. Emerging out of the maelstrom on Rikuo's field was a towering warrior dressed in shining white armor. It carried a six foot long broadsword, and had a small, circular shield attached to its other arm. It still looked like something that belonged more in a playpen than a battlefield, but its more than sufficient attack points made up for any misconceptions that would arise by merely judging its appearance.

"I will follow that move by setting one card facedown, and ending my turn," finished the Wolf Demon General with a growl.

The Gatekeeper drew imperiously.

"I activate Foolish Burial, which allows me to send one monster from my deck to my graveyard. I select Beta the Magnet Warrior (1700/1600)."

He then held up another card. "You seem content to play continuous spell cards, so I'll do the same! I activate Backline Base, which allows me to pay five hundred life-points once per turn whenever I normal summon a monster, in order to add a monster of the same level and type to my hand. I will now normal summon Alpha the Magnet Warrior (1400/1700)."

Appearing in front of him was the familiar gray monster. Its limbs were block-like, and one hand clutched a stubby looking sword. It had a red magnet fixed around its head.

"Thanks to the kind gift of your Effect Economics, I can now add Gamma the Magnet Warrior (1500/1800) to my hand for free," chuckled the Gatekeeper.

He then slid another card into his spell and trap zone. "I now activate Trade Out, which lets me discard a level six or lower monster in order to draw two cards. I choose Gamma."

Rikuo could almost predict what was going to happen next. "_Right now he's at four cards in his hand, Alpha on his field, with Beta and Gamma in the graveyard… There's only one way he can combat my Super Toy Knight and if he's half as smart as he seems, he wouldn't have played Alpha in attack mode if he's unable to perform that combo_."

The Gatekeeper snapped the top two cards off his deck and grinned out at them from under his helmet.

"You will not enter the palace of the Mandarin while I still stand. Activate Dark Factory of Mass Production, which allows me to add two normal monsters from my graveyard to my hand. There are only two which fit that particular criteria."

Rikuo grimaced. "_Here it comes_…."

"I add Beta and Gamma back to my hand, and then sacrifice the two of them plus Alpha on my field, to special summon Valkyrion the Magna Warrior (3500/3850)."

Alpha and his brethren vanished into a light, giving rise to a new, taller monster with similar gray armor to Alpha's. It had a bright, yellow helmet and donned similar magnet patterns on its neck and shoulders, to those of Alpha's. On its forearms, a glittery, blue 'S' was present; a tinted 'S' surrounded by golden plates appeared on the kneecaps. White wings sprang from the combination monster's backside. The sword it held was short, but thick; a red 'N' surrounded by golden plates glittered on the handle.

"Then I play Dark Core, discarding Repayment of Losses to remove your pathetic Super Toy Knight from play!"

A sphere of dark energy shot out towards the warrior on Rikuo's field.

The Shadow Tournament Champion snarled. "Meh, how stupid do you think I am? I activate my facedown trap Rare Metalmorph, which acts as an equip card to any machine monster I choose. Not only does it grant that particular monster a further five hundred attack points, but it also allows me to negate and destroy one spell card that targets it per turn!"

The Super Toy Knight (3500/3000) raised its sword and sliced the oncoming sphere in half.

The Gatekeeper frowned. He did still get to draw one card due to the discard of Repayment of Losses, but now the pair of monsters were at a stalemate.

"I activate my continuous magic card Spell Sanctuary, which allows each of us to add one spell card from our deck to our hand. As long as Spell Sanctuary is activate, all spell cards now have a Spell Speed of 2."

Rikuo chuckled to himself. What an idiot… He had no idea what he was getting himself into.

"I choose to take my Card of Demise, which allows me to draw until I hold five cards. However, I must discard my hand on the fifth standby phase after activation."

Drawing a new hand, the Gatekeeper stared back at Rikuo. "I set two cards… Turn end."

Jason observed the duel silently. "_Both duelists have monsters with an identical number of attack points, and an identical number of cards in their hand. This should be an interesting duel…._"

Rikuo drew.

"I activate Graceful Charity," he grunted. He drew three and scoffed, before then sliding two cards into his graveyard.

"I'll set one card facedown and end my turn."

The Gatekeeper drew. "I will set one card facedown in defense mode."

A brown backed card appeared horizontally in front of him.

"Then I activate my facedown Dust Tornado, in order to destroy your Rare Metalmorph!"

A spinning whirlwind blazed out of nowhere towards Rikuo's field. His reaction time was next to nothing.

"Activate Magical Trick Mirror! I'll use this trap card to replicate one magic card from your graveyard. My choice is none other than Foolish Burial, which I will use to send Jinzo – Returner (600/1400) from my deck to my graveyard. When Returner hits the graveyard I can automatically special summon the Jinzo (2400/1500) I just discarded last turn with Graceful Charity, thereby negating your Dust Tornado!"

The silhouette of a short version of Jinzo started to rise onto the field, with two yellow, spiked, arched attachments on its shoulders. It had long, lanky arms. It was barely translucent, and soon vanished, only to be replaced by a tall-standing cyborg, with its brains visible through a transparent type of helmet. It had dark-green goggles on its face, and pink skin. It wore a black and yellow-patterned full-body suit.

Immediately it shot out a wave of blue energy which slammed into the twister.

"But Jinzo will negate your Rare Metalmorph as well," voiced the Gatekeeper in outrage.

Rikuo shook his head and slid another card into his spell and trap zone. "You idiot. Thanks to that Spell Sanctuary you activated, I can now activate Amplifier as a Spell Speed 2 card. This equips only to Jinzo, and not only boosts his attack points by eight hundred, but also prevents the negation of _my_ trap cards."

He leered at the Gatekeeper who looked increasingly uneasy as a white head mask appeared on Jinzo (3200/1500).

The Gatekeeper snarled. The mutt had cut off one third of his cards with that.

"Very well. It seems Valkyrion is too basic for you, mutt. In that case I shall activate Painful Choice."

He searched through his deck and showed five cards to Rikuo. They were Machina Defender (1200/1800), Machina Soldier (1800/800), Machina Sniper (1800/800), Machina Force (4600/4100), and Commander Covington (1000/600).

Rikuo scrunched up his eyebrows over his amber orbs. He knew this set well; having used them for a bit at one point, but eventually found the combination a little too tiresome as it required too much time and set-up.

If the Gatekeeper wanted to summon Machina Force as quickly as possible, which was evident, then he no doubt had a trick up his sleeve which would allow him to bring back Soldier, Sniper, Defender and Covington. Most likely Soul Release, and his facedown which was probably Return from the Different Dimension. Rikuo couldn't see how else it could be done. Therefore it made most sense to simply disallow him the opportunity of having Machina Force in his hand. Covington was the weakest of the other four, but letting him have that seemed a little too convenient….

"Go ahead and take your Soldier," he grunted.

"Thank you demon," growled the Gatekeeper. "I now activate _my _facedown Magical Trick Mirror: to copy _your_ Graceful Charity, and let Soldier bite the dust as well."

Rikuo snarled as the Gatekeeper drew three cards before picking out two and discarding them. One of them was Repayment of Losses, which granted him a further draw. No matter what Rikuo chose, it was in the Gatekeeper's plans to have them all in the graveyard.

"Then I will perform my normal summon for this turn. Come, Phantom of Chaos (0/0)."

A swirling pool of darkness appeared next to Valkyrion, rotating aimlessly.

"By removing one effect monster from my graveyard from play, Phantom of Chaos will in all essence become that monster until the turn's end, gaining both its attack points as well as its effect. However all damage done by it will be reduced to zero."

Phantom of Chaos shifted its shape, growing into an immense, pitch-black robot that towered to the ceiling. It flaunted its machine guns and missile launcher attachments. A hatch opened on the back of its right leg, unsheathing a sharp sword. A sniper rifle was held tightly in its right hand (4600/0).

"I choose Machina Force," said the Gatekeeper with a sickly grin.

Rikuo grimaced. He knew what was coming next….

"The effect of Machina Force allows me to sacrifice it in order to special summon Machina Defender, Machina Sniper and Machina Soldier from my graveyard."

He thrust his hand out dramatically. "Come!"

The enormous robot split into three separate machines, which quickly received their proper hues of paint. First was a short, but bulky machine with massive, gun-shaped cannons mounted on its back; four cylindrical barrels emerged from each. The mechanical robot was created from five main pieces, patterned with blue and silver paint. The center piece had beaming yellow eyes and a battery pack attachment.

The second, a human-shaped robot painted with faded silver and green, had a curved sword for a right hand. A single, red eye lit from its faded helmet.

Finally, another human-shaped machine took to the field. Besides its silver main body and face, the Machina was painted entirely bronze. A large, monolith-shaped helmet protruded from its head. The being also clenched in its right hand a large, scoped rifle with a thin, cylindrical barrel.

"They're all weak," spat Rikuo.

The Gatekeeper ignored him. "Now I activate Monster Return, which allows me to return one removed from play monster from my hand at the cost of a thousand life-points, which your Effect Economics so kindly takes care of. I choose Machina Force."

"But you need Covington to summon it," retorted Rikuo.

"Which is exactly what I'll get: I play Monster Reborn to special summon Phantom of Chaos (0/0), once again!"

Rikuo's eyes widened. "Now I remove my Commander Covington from play in order to grant its effect to Phantom of Chaos: by sacrificing Machina Sniper, Machina Defender and Machina Soldier, I can call upon the strongest non-fusion in Duel Monsters: come to me, MACHINA FORCE (4600/4100)!"

The swirling black pool changed to a small robotic soldier in red armor. Meanwhile, Defender, Soldier, and Sniper took to the skies as they shifted and combined, producing the massive structure of the Machinas' superior form. Defender's missile launcher attachments hanged from the shoulders of the being as Soldier's sword ejected from the right leg. The towering, red-eyed machine stomped forward as it clutched Sniper's rifle.

"Now let the beatdown commence! Machina Force will get rid of your Super Toy Knight and Valkyrion will decimate Jinzo!"

Machina Force spread its arms and unleashed a wave of missiles, bullets and knives in the direction of the powered up Super Toy Knight. It raised its sword but really didn't have the time to do much as the hail of projectiles tore through it, leaving nothing but scraps and burning pieces of metal in its place.

Meanwhile, Valkyrion charged towards Jinzo and slammed its sword downward onto the android's head. However, instead of slicing the entire monster into two, it merely shattered the amplifying head mask.

"What's this?" spat the Gatekeeper.

Rikuo held up a card. "I activate my quick play spell card, Android Barrier. I can negate one attack against Jinzo and destroy Amplifier in its stead, and at the same time I can add another card with the word 'Jinzo' or 'Android' in its name to my hand." (Jinzo = 2400/1500)

(Rikuo: 6600, Gatekeeper: 8000)

"You are merely escaping fate, demon," growled the Gatekeeper. "I will delay your defeat by a further turn now, and turn the board over to you."

"Draw," growled Rikuo.

"I switch Jinzo to defense mode, and add a facedown monster. That will be followed by two cards facedown. I end."

The Gatekeeper drew. "I summon Green Gadget (1400/600) in attack mode, which allows me to add Red Gadget (1300/1500) to my hand."

A circular-shaped, green gear rose to the field, with small hands, as well as a divider between its head and its one eye on the center top of it. On its back was a gray, rotating gear. It had short, thin, green legs, and thick, green clodhoppers for feet.

"Now you are _finished_! Machina Force will obliterate your pathetic Jinzo, and Valkyrion will cut down your facedown monster, leaving you wide open for my Green Gadget!"

The trio of monsters charged towards Rikuo's field, who silently swore about the fact that of all the cursed luck, he ran into someone who used _machines_ of all the goddamned strategies in the world: the same as him!

Jinzo was unfortunately ripped apart by the hail of weapons from the Machina Force, while his facedown flipped over to reveal a fighter jet with an emerald center running through it and white wings. It was immediately sliced in half by the Magna Warrior. Rikuo braced himself for the Gadget, which slammed into him with gusto, dropping him to one knee and inciting a grunt.

(Rikuo: 5200, Gatekeeper: 8000)

"How pathetic, you pitiful dog," sneered the Gatekeeper. "Dropping like a fly and I'm not even trying."

"FIRST OF ALL, IT'S **WOLF**!" roared Rikuo, stepping up. As he did so, an aura of black energy exploded from around him, instantly silencing the Gatekeeper.

"And _second_, you have no _idea_ what you've gotten yourself into, my friend," he sneered. "By challenging me you have essentially signed your own death warrant. I'm not a villain so I have no need to go on ranting about my own dueling merits. _However_, know this: I am going to grind you down into the dust, and even if you are left alive, your pitiful master is definitely going to kill you for failing to stop us from entering this dump he calls a palace. You hear me? You have OFFICIALLY pissed me off and there is NO coming back from this!"

He gave a flourish at these last words, and fixed the Gatekeeper with a hard glare as dust rose up from the ground around him. His opponent looked a tad nervous now, and instead of any sharp retorts he chose to remain silent.

Deondre, the only one in the group who had known Rikuo for a substantial amount of time, grinned to himself. "_Okay people…. It's a wrap. The big bad wolf is finally mad_."

"Use your damn brains for once and you'll understand the consequences of what you just did," spat Rikuo.

"For one, you just destroyed my Jade Knight (1000/1800), which allows me to add one level four light attribute machine to my hand. I choose X-Head Cannon (1800/1500). More importantly, I chain my trap card Android Barricade, which allows me to special summon during my next standby phase one level four or lower Jinzo or Psycho monster from my graveyard. That's going to be Jinzo – Returner (600/1400). Anything else to do in your pathetic move?"

"I set one card facedown and end my turn," said the Gatekeeper testily.

Rikuo drew aggressively. "Jinzo – Returner (600/1400) comes back."

The thinner version of the Psycho Shocker materialized onto his field. "Then I set one card facedown and end my turn."

The Gatekeeper snapped the top card off his deck. "I summon Red Gadget (1300/1500)."

A circular-shaped, red gear rose to the field, with small hands and two eyes in the center of its top. On its back was a gray, rotating gear. It had short, thin, red legs, and red clodhoppers for feet.

"Now I can add Yellow Gadget (1200/1200) to my hand, and I'll summon it instantly using Double Summon!"

A circular-shaped, yellow gear rose to the field, with small hands and a single eye embedded at the center of its top. It had a circular, rotating gray gear on its back. It had short, thin, yellow legs, and yellow clodhoppers for feet.

"Now, since I have all three Gadgets in play, I can activate the quick-play spell card Rebase Shortcut! This applies only to trap monsters, and rules that they are technically not considered to take up a monster space. So, I can activate Stronghold the Moving Fortress (0/2000)!"

Materializing behind the armada on the Gatekeeper's field was a tall, gray robot. Its legs were connected to its upper body by means of a thick tube. Similar tubes connected its limbs to its body. It had three gears on its chest, each respectively colored green, red, and yellow.

"Since all three Gadgets are in play, Stronghold gains three thousand attack points!" The massive machine groaned as it began to glow (3000/2000).

"The end is nigh, demon," snarled the Gatekeeper. "All three sets have been completed. Machinas, Gadgets and the Magnet Warriors…. This means only one thing: your doom. Now, my armada obliterate this pretender to the throne of the machines! Machina Force will lead the charge and decimate your pathetic Jinzo – Returner!"

The swarm of machines on the Gatekeeper's field zoomed towards Rikuo's field. He smirked.

"I activate the second effect of Android Barricade. By removing it from my graveyard and sacrificing a Jinzo monster in play, I can reduce all battle damage done to me during this turn down to zero."

Just as he spoke, the android on his field vanished, and a blue wave of energy descended around Rikuo. The Machina Force was just about to reach him, but it slammed into the translucent wall, which it was unable to penetrate. The Gatekeeper snarled in anger.

"You delayed it for one turn demon. That doesn't mean my victory won't come to me anyway."

"One turn is all I need," hissed Rikuo in reply. "Now, since Jinzo – Returner was destroyed, Jinzo (2400/1500) returns to the field."

The tall, mechanical, masked android materialized back onto Rikuo's field behind the barrier.

"Now his effect activates, which allows me to negate the effect of your trap monster, reducing it to a meaningless waste of space," smirked Rikuo. Almost immediately, Jinzo let lose a sphere of energy in the direction of the giant robot, which exploded. However, the trap card still remained in play on the Gatekeeper's side of the field.

"I end," seethed the Gatekeeper.

Rikuo drew, and held up Pot of Greed. Looking at his two new cards, he grinned. "It's over."

"It will be, after one more turn," spat the Gatekeeper in response.

"No, I mean it's over _now_," retorted Rikuo.

The Gatekeeper raised his eyebrows. "Do your worst."

Then he saw the look in Rikuo's eyes. "You can't be serio-…"

"_Watch me_."

The glitter plastered itself all around the body of the menace, as its clothes began to grow a thick layer of dark-blue padding, a large, sky-blue collar emerging as well. Strap-like, blue attachments also floated about, stemming from the main belt of Jinzo. On the ends, half-belt clamps flowing with red lightning. "I tribute Jinzo in order to special summon Jinzo - Lord (2600/1600)!"

"That's only two hundred attack points stronger than the original," snorted the Gatekeeper.

"Once per turn, Jinzo – Lord allows me to destroy all face up trap cards in play, and deal you three hundred points of damage per card," intoned Rikuo. The as of now worthless Stronghold the Moving Fortress card erupted into pixels, and one of the tentacles from behind the Jinzo – Lord darted out, evading the army of monsters on the Gatekeeper's field, and struck him on the chest.

(Rikuo: 5200, Gatekeeper: 7700)

"So you finally scratched me," sneered the Gatekeeper.

For some reason, Rikuo didn't seem to get as riled up by his opponent's taunts as he was earlier. "Next I will normal summon X-Head Cannon (1800/1500)."

A blue and yellow robotic creature, that was legless and hovered on a spiked ball, and had twin cannons extending out of its shoulders materialized. The robots hands were metal clawed, making it seemingly more dangerous.

"The stage is set." Rikuo gave a grand flourish, revealing his facedown trap. "Chaos Fortress Descent!"

The Gatekeeper watched in part bewilderment and part frustration as the Jinzo – Lord and the X-Head Cannon both evaporated into nothingness. From the skies descended a giant spaceship like monster. It was shaped like a gigantic battle station, with multiple hatches peppered all over its sides. As it floated downward, the hatches began to open, revealing weaponry of every kind: mortars, cannons, ray guns, and even bazookas. The amount of weaponry on its body was overwhelming, so much so that its original body could not even be seen. It came to rest floating a few feet above Rikuo's field. It dwarfed even the Machina Force.

"Say hello to Armageddon Fortress (3500/3000)," smirked Rikuo. "It can only be summoned by activating Chaos Fortress Descent, and tributing one light attribute and one dark attribute monster. X-Head Cannon, and Jinzo – Lord fit the bill well enough. I must also sacrifice my battle phase when I activate Chaos Fortress Descent.

The Gatekeeper stared in awe at the giant thing for a moment, and finally found a retort. "It's only equal in strength to Valkyrion and far weaker than Machina Force. You could perhaps deal me damage if you attacked one of my Gadgets, but you just said it yourself: it can't attack the turn its summoned."

"How about a little magic card called Quick Attack?" drawled Rikuo.

The Gatekeeper tensed up a little further. Fine, if he destroyed a Gadget, at the maximum he would suffer twenty-three hundred points of damage. Then he could have his Machina Force wipe out that humongous piece of junk and leave the demon wide open for the killer blow.

"By discarding one card from my hand, I can have Armageddon Fortress attack all monsters in play."

The Gatekeeper almost felt like laughing. And this demon was supposed to be the Shadow Tournament Champion? An effect like that was completely unconditional: you couldn't choose not to attack a certain monster. Even if he destroyed all three Gadgets first, dealing the Gatekeeper sixty-seven hundred painful points of damage in the process, he would then either have to suicide with Valkyrion or ram it into the stronger Machina Force, leaving him wide open for a finishing blow either ways.

He then noticed that Rikuo had one last card in his hand, and he was eying the field as well as his opponent rather slyly.

"Your combination is not complete…" trailed off the Gatekeeper, bewildered.

"Damn right it isn't," drawled back Rikuo.

"Well, spit it out then!" roared the Gatekeeper, shaking his fist in frustration. "What are you going to play?"

"Maybe if you asked politely I'd tell you," chuckled Rikuo.

Deondre watched in amusement as the rest of the group looked in bewilderment. The wolf was going to play with his prey before he killed it, swiftly, brutally, and efficiently.

The Gatekeeper glared at him.

"Just shut up and finish your DAMN MOVE!"

Rikuo sighed. "As you wish…. Legendary Weapon Howling Sword, activate!"

Materializing on the tip of the Fortress' largest cannon was a giant sword. It was shaped almost like a scythe, but much broader. It began to glow, and suddenly the attack points of the Armageddon Fortress began to skyrocket (9000/3000).

"What's this?" gasped the Gatekeeper. "What kind of card gives that kind of boost?"

"A Legendary Weapon card does," replied Rikuo, his voice was dangerously soft and menacing. "The Howling Sword is my own personal weapon, and its great power gets translated into the card which represents it. Any monster equipped with Legendary Weapon Howling Sword has one thousand added to its original attack points, which are then doubled."

The Gatekeeper took a step back in fear. "What… What kind of power is this?"

He was absolutely mortified.

Rikuo slammed a hand into his chest and glared at the Gatekeeper. "THIS is the power of the Demon Lords! Each one of us has a Legendary Weapon card, and all are _just_ as powerful. You're about to get a _taste _of what we're capable of, right about now."

He pointed, and the Gatekeeper was backing away in fear. "Armageddon Fortress…. FIRE!"

All the weapons on the battle station had been powering up prior to this. At Rikuo's command, they all erupted simultaneously, sending a hailstorm of bullets, energy beams, and cannon shells towards the Gatekeeper's field and the monsters that remained on it. The impacts all happened at once, resulting in an absolutely giant explosion taking place, which obscured the view of all the spectators. Barely audible over the explosion was Rikuo's triumphant laughter.

When the smoke cleared, nothing was left. _Nothing_…. Not even the Gatekeeper himself.

(Rikuo: 5200, Gatekeeper: 0)

Rikuo deactivated his Duel Disk with a grunt.

Bakura commented, "The guy was nearly going to piss himself near the end. Did you mean to finish him off completely?"

Rikuo shrugged. "Meh. I didn't like his attitude towards demons, wolf demons specifically. I thought I was pretty thoughtful regardless, considering that what his boss would have done to him after he failed to prevent outsiders from entering the palace would have been a thousand times slower and more painful."

Sarah had him fixed with an odd look, but said nothing. As Rikuo finished his sentence, the giant silver gate behind them creaked open, no longer barring prisoners due to its master's death. The mist seemed to have seceded as well for the moment.

Moving swiftly, the group walked through the gate, into the palace of the legendary and mysterious Mandarin.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"The mutt seems rather confident of himself," commented Blight.

"I was toying with him during our battle," spat Sylar. "He's weak, just like the rest of them."

Haou remained silent during this exchange.

"**Rightly so, Blight**," intoned Apocalypse in response the comment made by his First Horseman. He too had remained silent throughout their viewing of the spectacle outside the Mandarin's castle in the floating orb in front of them, and when he finally decided to speak, all three Horsemen immediately stopped and turned their gaze to him.

"**The Demon Lords are truly powerful, and their power cannot be underestimated. Two pretenders attempted to bring Armageddon to this plane of existence prior to my arrival, the dark dragon queen Yamidra, and the demon mage Valeus. I had of course engineered their deeds in order to fool my revival, and therefore one could say they effectively had my strength backing them. Yet this wolf demon was able to stop them.**"

He raised a gauntleted hand, and slowly squeezed it into a fist.

"**However, their strength will be meaningless once this final phase of my plan will be completed and the Fourth of your brethren arises. Soon, my Horsemen, you will be able to fulfill your purpose as the harbringers of the end.**"

The trio watched him impassively, respectfully, almost fearfully, which was saying something for individuals of the power of Blight, Haou, and Sylar.

"**Haou, you will go to that section of the Earth first and orchestrate the events to follow. Once all is in place, I will descend to mark the last of my servants. Once he has joined your ranks, we will have free reign against those who pretend to be our foes**."

Behind the grille on his helmet, through which crimson eyes were normally visible, dark mist seemed to cloud up.

"**Then…. The End.**"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Eizan had already refueled. He was cruising the skies above the Valley of Spirits in circles, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony playing from the speakers behind him.

He loved flying, it was one of the few times when he was truly at peace: detached from the chaos and troubles on the ground, alone in his cockpit in the skies…. When you factored in some good classical music, it was as good as it got.

As he hummed in tune with the music, a video screen in front of him which had been previously blank had a picture flash into existence in front of him. He was getting a call.

He groaned and turned off the music, putting on headphones. He left for less than twelve hours and they _already_ needed him to handle something. Reluctantly he took the call, and a tall, wiry man appeared on the screen. It was his personal secretary in the New York headquarters, an Englishman by the name of Graham McBride. He had been with Eizan for more than fifteen years.

"Graham… What is it?"

"I have had two parties trying to contact you incessantly for the past two hours, Mr. Nakamura," replied the Englishman nervously.

"The first is a rather angry pair which goes by the names of Yugi Moto and Seto Kaiba. They had been out of the headquarters for a few hours, apparently to attend a funeral. When they got back they both seemed in a rather foul mood, and incessantly hollered at random Eagle employees, as well as our guest the Archangel, that they wanted to speak with you."

Eizan sighed and rubbed his temples. He knew that once Kaiba got back he would let all hell loose, so this didn't come as a real surprise…. But couldn't it wait until Eizan himself got back?

"The other is our observatory in Ottawa."

"Who was it?"

"The head of the department, Mr. Jackson. He sounded a bit frantic, claiming that he _needed_ to speak with you on a matter of the utmost urgency. I reiterated that you were away on a field mission, but unfortunately made the mistake of letting slip that you were the pilot. Had I not, he may have dropped it until you got back. He continually insisted that if you were merely the pilot then it was of the utmost importance that I reach you. I suggested he speak to one of the other members of the Board of Directors but he retorted that only the Chairman had security clearance to the information that he intended to convey."

"That's true… That it is," murmured Eizan.

Graham looked shocked. "But that means its-…"

"Beyond top secret, yes," finished Eizan. "Other than myself and Mr. Jackson, no one else on this planet knows about what he needs to speak to me."

He paused and remembered Zeruge and Zerato. "Well, no other human, that is."

He drifted off, and his gaze turned to the window in front of him. The cockpits front windows were rather small, and didn't allow a very broad view. However, they were large enough for him to notice a faint tinge of green emanating from the entire night sky.

He went rigid, and nearly choked the next few words out. _How had he not noticed it before this?_

He turned to face the screen. "Get me Jackson. _Now_. Let Moto and Kaiba go scream at one of the other directors, I don't care. Also, get me Harland Webster's office and have them hold until I finish my call, so that I can determine whether or not I need to speak with him after I'm done with Jackson.

He reconsidered. "Actually, call his personal cell and have him wait." He recited a number from memory.

Graham looked alarmed. "You want me to contact the director of the FBI on his personal cell number and have him hold? That might sound like a prank call, Mr. Nakamura, I'm not sure we need that kind of paperwork right now-…."

"Unless you can put me through direct to the President of the United States, just call Webster," snapped Eizan.

Graham nodded, and the screen went blank momentarily has he connected Eizan to the observatory.

It lit up again, this time a thickset, stout man of middle height appearing in it. His face was beetroot red.

"Don't tell me, Jackson," whispered Eizan, closing his eyes.

The red-faced man nodded vigorously. "I don't want to, Mr. Nakamura. I ran the calculations three times over. It's the same answer. The final answer is a factor of increase of two hundred and forty."

Eizan's eyes bulged. He had been expecting bad news if Jackson was so desperate to contact him , but _two hundred forty?_

He nearly choked as he spoke. "But that gives us…."

"Three hours, sir," replied Jackson miserably. "During the acceleration an alteration of course occurred as well. Earlier we had been unable to predict its movement, but as of now we can be sure that at seven p.m. Eastern Standard Time, the meteor will collide with this planet, roughly around the Andes."

Eizan almost laughed despite the situation.

"_Meteor….._"

"Run the calculations again," he implored. The man did so, miserably punching in a few keys on the keyboard underneath him. Eizan could almost make out the faint whir of the processor in the man's gigantic CPU.

After about thirty seconds of silence, Jackson replied. "I'm sorry sir…. Two hours and fifty eight minutes as of right now."

Eizan felt numb. "_How_ did I not notice this? We were supposed to have a goddamned _month_."

"Don't blame yourself, sir," mumbled Jackson. "I myself figured it out in the most mundane way. I just happened to glance at the sky before lunch, and I saw the extra green tinge. I rushed over to the observatory and set the instruments running. Only then did I realize that the velocity had increased two hundred and forty times."

He trailed off. "_Two hundred and forty_…. What kind of power can it take to do that?"

Eizan knew very well what kind of power. He chose not to say.

"Jackson do you have a storm shelter in your country house?"

The man looked surprised. "Why yes, sir, I do…"

"Go there with your family. Take all manner of provisions that you can. Get into the shelter and _seal_ yourselves into it. I don't know how impregnable it is, but if you're lucky, what is coming will only hit the cities. I'm sorry Jackson, but at this point it's the best advice I can offer you. Make haste."

The astronomer looked bewildered. "But sir…. It's hitting the Andes. And it's not even big enough to do cause any sort of devastating ash cloud which would reach all the way to Canada."

Eizan's eyes flashed. "_Do it_. And take weapons, just in case. You may need them if my notion proves false."

Before the confused man could answer, Eizan disconnected the call. He spoke urgently to Graham, almost panting.

"Put Webster on."

He heard a click, and a familiar voice sounded on the other end. A voice he had known for twenty years in his work in the espionage field.

"Eizan! It's been a long time," intoned the most powerful man in American law enforcement.

"I'm sorry Harland but we have no time for pleasantries," rasped Eizan.

"All business I see," chuckled Webster. "Well then, go on ahead and tell me what was so important that you had to use my personal cell number when I was about to enter a meeting with the President of the United States, which I only get twice a year, and then put me on hold for nearly two and a half minutes. Thankfully he got caught up with something else momentarily."

Eizan would have thanked every God that humanity believed in right then and there, if he had the time. The worst possible luck had resulted in this disaster scenario, but now he had just had the best possible luck to deal with this scenario.

"Harland…. You need to let me speak to the President."

There was dead silence on the other end. When Webster spoke, he did so in a cautious voice, as if he were conversing with a lunatic.

"Please tell me you are joking."

"I wish I could, believe me old friend."

"For one, Eizan… I'm not allowed to take my cell phone into the Oval Office for security purposes. Secondly, how can you just expect me to go up to the world's most powerful man and ask him if he could honor the whim of a friend of mine whom he does not know of? It would seem like an insult to the Presidency."

"Mr. Webster," said Eizan icily, abandoning his prior friendliness, "if the President does not hear what I have to say to him, there will be _no _Presidency."

On the other end of the phone, Webster's voice darkened. "That sounds like a very dangerous thing to say. We are old friends, Eizan, but in accordance with the terms of the Patriot Act, comments like that are extremely dangerous ground to be walking on."

Eizan almost let out a roar of frustration. But then, of course they wouldn't understand. Who would…

"Please," he implored. "It's a matter of national security."

The two magic words immediately got a reaction out of Webster. "What is this all about? Tell me at least, than I will judge how to take this forward."

Eizan could hear the chink of metal jingling as Webster checked his watch. "And be quick, he'll be free to meet me in three minutes."

Eizan took a breath. "There's a projectile in space which is heading towards the Earth. It is scheduled to arrive in three hours."

Webster sounded incredulous. "Yes, I did hear of that, Eizan. NASA already figured out that it's going to crash into the Andes. The area is largely unpopulated, and while I admit there will be casualties, they will be Colombian and Venezuelan. As a sovereign country we can provide aid, but that is not a matter of national security. Why are you even speaking to me about this?"

"_If you only knew_," thought Eizan. But to speak of the truth would be to risk sounding like a delusional idiot. He decided to come out with what he had originally intended to, as directly and frankly as possible.

"The President needs to launch every available nuclear warhead at the projectile."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Ah well, not much to be said. Except that things are going to get very crazy very fast. Enjoy, and review please!**


	35. Comfortably Numb

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE: Comfortably Numb

**Well, here we are. Sorry it took long, but it's a very important chapter and I wanted to get it exactly right.**

**Candyman123: No problem ^^. Enjoy this one.**

**Metal Overlord 2.0 (maybe I should now rename you Master of the Legion :P If you get my meaning): Darn right it's the greatest plot twist in the story, and it wouldn't have been possible without you, my friend. I can't thank you enough. You should take great pride in this…. **

**The length of the duels was just to show that Sigma is by far and away right now one of the most skilled duelists on Earth, demonstrating his dominance over the best two duelists from DA.**

**Enjoy the chapter, my friend :). Thanks again**

**BEWK: I've tried to delve deeper into Kaiba…. So yeah. Thanks for the review man.**

**Starlight AT: Apocalypse will blow up in the next four chapters, destroying everyone :P **

**Nah, I kid. You'll have to read on to right that :P**

**Enjoy this chapter my friends. It's a very important one, and now all the chess pieces will be aligned.**

"This is the territory of my master Mandarin," echoed the blank voice of one of the monks who had stepped out into the gigantic entrance hall of the palace to 'greet' the new visitors.

Rikuo raised an eyebrow. There were about thirty of these monks that made up this welcome party.

"You would be wise to leave _now_," droned on the Shaolin man.

Rikuo yawned and walked forward. "Listen up, son….. I haven't had beef jerky in nearly ten hours. I'm a very cranky wolf demon, and I took some of them out on your unfortunate watchman. He controlled the mist that can kill each and every one of you very easily, and once I was done with him there were nothing but a pile of ashes. So, just saying is all, it's on your best interests to step aside and allow us to deal with your mysterious master."

The monk at the head stared ahead blankly at him.

Rikuo growled irritably and scratched the back of his head. "_And I thought monks placed a high emphasis on education_…."

"Call it a minute and a half," called Bakura.

The Wolf Demon General looked at him incredulously. "A full ninety seconds? For these schmucks?"

The Thief King snarled. "Ok Mr. Overachiever. A minute and a quarter."

Rikuo nodded. "That's more like it."

"Don't kill them," said Sarah urgently. "They're not guilty of anything, they're just being controlled by Mandarin."

Rikuo gave her a withering look. "You might want to push it up to two minutes then."

Jason and Deondre didn't participate in the exchange, but simply stepped forward, fists hanging loosely by their sides.

"Now," echoed Rikuo.

The five took off simultaneously. Thirty against five put the odds at six to one for Sarah, Jason, Rikuo, Deondre and Bakura. Piece of cake.

As it turned out, two minutes was a little bit optimistic, even for a group of fighters as skilled as them. But within about a hundred and seventy-five seconds, twenty-nine possessed monks lay unconscious or at least incapacitated on the ground.

It was like watching a beautiful storm. The grace and skill with which the five moved ensured that not one blow was landed without achieving its intended purpose. Targeting vital points such as the solar plexus, temple, and the base of the throat, their attacks consisted more of a series of quick finger jabs and swift strikes then fancy roundhouse kicks and heavy punches, not needing to spend more than twenty to twenty-five seconds on each of their opponents, who were completely unprepared, deftly executing their own attacks and evading any sloppy maneuvers the monks tried to take advantage of the only factor in their favor: numbers.

But it didn't really matter, as the five were far faster, stronger, more skilled, and more efficient then the group in front of them, who only probably had basic martial arts training. Nobody had intruded upon the Valley of Spirits in a long time, which was probably why the monks didn't really have much battle practice, Sarah thought dispassionately as she disposed of her final opponent with a quick jab of her first two fingers into his solar plexus, before following it up with a quick elbow to the temple for good measure.

The last monk stood stock still in the midst of the almost humorous massacre, a blank expression on his face.

Rikuo walked up to him, dusting his hands, swearing about stepping over the bodies on the ground which were practically all over the place.

"All right, my friend," he snarled. "We took care of your boys here. Care to tell us where the owner of this fine establishment resides?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The individual who was once called Dartz was now barely recognizable. It had barely eaten, been allowed only filthy water, and had probably lost over half its body weight since being put into the dungeon of Apocalypse.

It was chained down by all four limbs, being allowed almost no freedom of movement. Yet, a zombie-like smile graced its face as it sent out two telepathic messages. Both were exactly the same.

"_It is time. Executions must be executed down to the letter_."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rikuo's question was met by the repeated sound of one hand hitting against another. Clapping.

He turned to see a giant of a man walking down one of the winding staircase at the far corner of the room towards them. He stood at least six foot six, and probably weighed three hundred plus pounds. He was dressed in a green Chinese robe, which had intricate golden patterns on it as well. He was bald except for a long plat coming down his neck. A sharp goatee stuck out of his neck.

Bakura's eyes narrowed. "Mandarin."

"A good show, this was," he chuckled. His voice had a peculiar, rasping quality to it.

"Of course my servants were always rather pathetic… So I decided to have to spare you the trouble of putting up with more rabble and come to you directly myself."

"How very thoughtful of you," sneered Rikuo, as the other four stepped towards their new adversary along with him. Inwardly, however, Rikuo could see that there was definitely something more then met the eye…. It sounded very unlike the man Eizan and Zerato had told them about to come and face his enemies directly.

"You should have made yourselves scarce when faced with my Gatekeeper," continued Mandarin.

"Your Gatekeeper?" retorted Rikuo. "The guy who I blew to a pile of cinders not ten minutes ago? I hope to God you're a hell of a lot stronger than him because we didn't come all the way here to fight a pair of has-beens, that's for sure…"

Mandarin cackled. "Believe me, you have no _idea_ about the gulf between myself and those lowlifes whom I control. You made a mistake by coming here, and I intend to show you the error of your ways and force punishment upon you."

This was the tricky part, frowned Sarah. They had to make sure that they did not reveal to him that they were after the Seal. In Necropolis, Jason and the others made the mistake of revealing that their primary objective was to seek out the Seal of Immortality, which resulted in Angel making it impossible for them to locate it. If Mandarin even got a whiff that they were after the Seal, whether or not he knew what exactly it was, that quality of the Seal which made those who possessed it obsessed with it would make it far more difficult for them to get their hands on it.

But then, they had also been told that the defenses in the palace would be numerous. Mandarin also seemed a bit too talkative and enthusiastic…. They had been told he was a kind of ruthless tyrant who rarely stepped out of the shadows.

She narrowed her eyes.

Something was wrong…..

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Dartz tapped the ground ever so lightly. This part was ever so critical.

"_Duel only the one known as Jason Becker_."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It wasn't just Sarah. Even the others were more than a bit suspicious.

"_This was too easy_…." thought Deondre to himself, cracking his knuckles. "_There is NO way that this guy is legit if he just came out here off his own accord so that we wouldn't have to bypass all of the other obstacles in this place._"

"Now, I suppose you cretin have heard of Duel Monsters," drawled Mandarin.

"You're a funny little creep, you know that," snapped Rikuo, making to activate his Duel Disk. "This will take even less time than your little welcome party."

"I do intend to punish you, demon," retorted Mandarin, "as you've given me the job of finding a new Gatekeeper. However, I have more pressing matters to attend to than a howling mutt. I will first duel _you_."

He raised a spider-like hand, curling it into a fist and extending his index finger towards Jason.

The Eagle agent met his gaze unflinchingly.

The rest of the group was stunned. Why would Mandarin specifically want to duel one of their number?

"Jason, no," said Sarah uneasily. "Something is wrong."

"Of course something is wrong!" boomed Mandarin. "This entire planet is going to be a playground from hell in less than two and a half hours!"

"What in the nine hells are you rambling about?" spat Bakura.

"Better you stay ignorant, you are not going to live long enough to care," quipped Mandarin, an outdated Duel Disk model appearing on his arm.

All eyes were on Jason. Mandarin's strange request, coupled with the absurd ease that they had made it to this stage with, had the entire group on edge.

Sarah glanced back and forth from Jason to their adversary. She blinked in shock. She could've _sworn_ she saw a green glint in Mandarin's eyes.

"Jason, we need to-…." He cut her off with a raised hand, and glared at Mandarin with immeasurable hatred.

"If there is one thing I truly detest, it is an individual who considers it his right to lord over others," he hissed.

"And you see something you don't like, you want to tear it down?" replied Mandarin.

"As a matter of fact, yes," snapped Jason.

Rikuo put a hand on his shoulder. "Boy, bravery is one thing and stupidity is another. If this character _wants_ to duel you for a specific reason, there is something more than meets the eye. You're playing right into his hands. I will duel."

"NO!" snarled Jason, shrugging the Wolf Demon General's hand off.

Rikuo shrugged. What the heck…. One of them had to take him on anyway, so what did it matter, _really_…. He looked forward to seeing this kid in action.

Jason activated his Duel Disk and fired off the holo projectors.

"_He's _baiting _Jason_," thought Sarah. Her mind began to drift in _that_ direction but she immediately stopped herself. "NO._ That is the _past_. And anyway, how could Mandarin of all people know about it…. He's probably just a weird sadist and has some odd reason behind his request that only _he_ can understand._"

Then again, that hardly fit the character traits of the man they had been told about before the mission. This further supplemented her feeling that something was certainly not right here….

(Jason: 8000, Mandarin: 8000)

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A bit of a stunned silence elapsed between Eizan and Webster.

The director of the FBI spoke gently, as if to a child. "Eizan…. You really should be cutting down on the sake, at your age."

"Shut up, damnit, this is serious!" snapped Eizan in reply.

"The meteor is over Venezuelan territory Eizan, for God's sake," groaned Webster. "By international law we aren't allowed to deal with it. Besides, I'm the most powerful man in _law enforcement_ for crying out loud….. If you wanted to speak to someone regarding this damn meteor you should've called NASA."

"I know this is not your jurisdiction," growled Eizan. "That is exactly why I told you I need to talk to the President."

Webster wrung his hands helplessly. He owed Eizan plenty… They had watched each other's backs in the past. On one hand he couldn't deny an old friend's request right away, but he also had no idea how to accept it. This was the goddamn President of the United States for God's sake!

He sighed. "Eizan, let me see what I can do. I'll call you back in an hour."

"We don't _have _an hour," pressed Eizan.

"Have an hour for _what_?" replied Webster. He was getting thoroughly puzzled by Eizan's words now.

"I can't say more," replied Eizan flatly. "I can't say anything except that the projectile _must_ be destroyed."

Webster groaned. He knew Eizan for long enough to say with certainty that if he was making a call like this, he was definitely serious.

But how the hell was he going to get that message across to the President?

"Okay, I'll call you back as soon as possible."

Before he disconnected, Eizan could have sworn he heard a distant echo across the line. He froze momentarily. This only confirmed his suspicion….

"_We are Legion, we are coming_."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Reflect stared at the bleak afternoon sky through his window, and a growing smile plastered itself across his face as the green glow expanded with each passing second.

He picked up the phone on his desk without taking his eyes of the sky in front of him, and dialed a number by speed dial.

El Lobo Diablo picked up on the other end.

"Are you in place?" whispered Reflect.

"Affirmative," growled the giant in reply. "You could certainly have chosen a better stakeout location than the Valley of Spirits. This damned mist prevents any kind of surveillance whatsoever."

"I didn't choose it, it was those fools that make up the Council when they sent a Seal there," replied Reflect evenly. "We should be thankful that Li's mole continued to provide us with information even after his death."

He got merely a grunt in reply.

"Now follow the instructions to the letter. Once you have arrived at the predetermined location with the prisoner and the Seal, I will give you the details of the underwater transport I have arranged."

He noted a bit of skeptical sarcasm in Diablo's words. "So you're actually serious about the skies being dangerous from now on."

"Skies?" Reflect spoke with a muted chuckle. "The entire world is going to be dangerous from now on…. It's just that I have a feeling they won't get to the Atlantic soon enough."

"Who is the 'they' you keep going on about?" growled Diablo.

"All in good time," chuckled Reflect. "Just do your job and secure both the prisoner and the Seal once the dust has settled between Mandarin and these fools from Eagle. Then once you return to the United States we will have the bargaining chips necessary to ensure the Paradias Corporation reaches the pinnacle of mankind."

Diablo wasn't really interested in Reflect's rants, but he didn't say anything.

"I'll call you once I'm at the location," grunted Diablo, and disconnected.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Eizan had no idea how he had done it, but Webster had somehow gotten the President to agree to take five minutes out and speak to him. It must have taken every bit of credibility and influence he had over the world's most powerful man. However, Eizan really had neither the time nor the inclination to ask him about it.

He took a deep breath as the White House switchboard operator connected him to the landline in the Oval Office. He could almost hear Webster's nervous breathing in the background.

"Mr. President," began Eizan. "Thank you for taking time out to speak to me."

He received a testy answer. "You are welcome, Mr. Nakamura. After all it's only my duty to help my fellow citizens in need. As soon as Harland vouched for you I more or less figured you would not be wasting my time. Tell me…. What can I do for you?"

"Mr. President this is regarding the projectile which is heading towards the Andes as we speak."

He heard the President restrain a frustrated sigh on the other end.

"Mr. Nakamura you are the sixteenth person to speak to me about that today. Contrary to what you may believe, NASA detected this meteor a very long time ago. Obviously they did not predict its exponential increase in speed, but it has been put down to an unusual chemical reaction within the meteor that resulted in its speeding towards Earth at an increased velocity. You are correct, however, it will impact the Andes, most likely in Venezuela, in roughly two and a half hours."

"Sir, I speak with all necessary seriousness when I say that it is essential that you launch any available nuclear warhead at the oncoming projectile."

Similar to Webster, the President replied to his words with a stunned silence. However, when he finally decided to speak he did so with a measure of scorn and irritation.

"Mr. Nakamura I am willing to overlook your bluntness as a close confidant of Harland Webster. However I still fail to see how it is your place, as a private citizen, to dictate the actions that this administration will take in the light of recent events."

Eizan groaned to himself. This was where the bureaucracy started….

"Even if I decided not to pay attention to _that_, the meteor will be over Venezuelan territory, and it would be overstepping my boundaries as per international law. Even if _that _was discounted, such a decision makes no logical sense. Firing a nuclear warhead at the meteor would simple turn one falling object into many. This is a decision for the Venezuelan government to make, and I'm sure even they would scoff at your suggestion. It is a relatively uninhabited place, and the Venezuelan army is evacuated the few remaining stragglers as we speak."

"Mr. President, it is essential-…"

"I have a meeting to attend, Mr. Nakamura," snapped the President. "I have entertained your bizarre whims enough. Good-bye, sir."

Eizan swore at the sound of the line being disconnected. He would normally be worried as to whether or not the President would take it out on Webster, but this was hardly the time… Having an angry boss would soon be the least of Webster's worries. The President seemed like a bit of a jerk, but he still thought it made sense to warn his friend.

He hit redial, and was connected to the director of the FBI's cell phone again.

"Harland-…" he began, but was cut off by a furious voice.

"You _idiot_. If you have something to say to the President at least make sure it's something _serious_!"

He didn't even give Eizan a chance to reply. "Do you have any idea what a fool I look like in his eyes? You know very well the President has no authority to make a decision like that on the spur of the moment, and even if he did, why would he? It is _completely _nonsensical and illogical!"

"I must warn you-…."

"You _must_ do _nothing_!" snapped Webster. "I have a meeting now, good-bye."

Eizan tried calling him again, but received no answer. His shoulders slumped. Well, no point trying to undo this now. The best bet was to move on and do what he could with the situation. Which, at this point, was getting Jason and the others the hell out of here and then contacting the Council on what to do.

It was time to abort mission.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jason drew his sixth card.

"Activate, Pot of Greed." Mandarin merely watched blankly as Jason drew two more cards, his total hand size reaching seven.

"Then, Emergency Teleport. I may special summon one level three or lower Psychic monster from my deck, though it is removed from play at the end of the turn. Come, Clevonce (1200/400)," he intoned.

Yellow, transparent cubes flickered about the area, as did random ones and zero's. Some began forming pieces of a blue and yellow-armored body, and cylinder-shaped head. Sinister, green-computer eyes flashed across the black visored face of the being, as golden and blue patterns ran up the rest of the head's helmet. Yellow teeth shot an equally dastardly smirk. The feet were covered in thin, sock-like hoppers, and white and blue gloves with golden fingers were on the creature's arms.

"Next, activate, Fiend's Sanctuary. One Metal Fiend Token (0/0) is special summoned to my field."

With a small flash, a creature made up of round metal spheres that gradually got larger appeared in a hunched over stance on the field.

"Sacrifice, tribute summon, Armed Dragon LV5 (2400/1700)."

Vanishing quickly, the small metal creature was replaced instantly with a large dull grey armored dragon with orange skin. It had several large spikes sticking from its body, a pair of small drills sticking out from its knees and elbows, powerful clawed fists, short stubby wings, and finally a strong mace shaped ball on its tail.

"Activate, Level Up. Now, I may special summon Armed Dragon LV7 (2800/1000) from my deck."

Glowing brightly, the orange and grey dragon vanished, causing a plume of smoke to rise up. From the smoke came a loud roar, followed by a bright glow. Soon enough, powerful clawed hands came out of the smoke, followed by metallic wings, a long tail with a cylindrical like mace on the tip, strong legs with drills sticking from its legs, and finally followed by a strong head covered in semi-shiny metal armor that protected orange skin. Letting out a massive roar once more, the dragon glared across the field at the energy dragon.

"I tune Clevonce with Armed Dragon LV7. Synchro summon, Hyper Psychic Blaster (3000/2500)!"

Forming a pair of spheres, the two creatures began swirling together till finally the met one another and caused a brilliant white light to form onto the field. Stepping out of the light was a silver armored creature with a single teal colored electric eye and a striped line of teal running along its body.

On the creature's back was a pair of wings that were metallic and folded up. In each of the gray creature's hands was a blaster, with one being black in its right hand while the left one was gray. Both had wires hanging off of them that led back to the creature's waist and plugged into its body.

"A good opening move," commented Deondre.

Sarah's eyes gleamed. "I know that look. He's not done."

"Next, Level Modulation, activate. I may special summon one LV monster from my graveyard while you draw two cards. Come, Armed Dragon LV7 (2800/1000)."

Mandarin merely smirked as the giant red dragon materialized on Jason's field once again, flanking the Hyper Psychic Blaster.

"I sacrifice Armed Dragon LV7. Come, Armed Dragon LV10 (3000/2000)."

Vanishing quick as it had appeared, the powerful dragon was removed, causing a bright red glow to form. From the glow came a new dragon, one with shiny metal armor that covered a majority of its body, and reddish-orange skin. On its back were massive metal wings. Its head was covered completely in the armor, as was most of its chest and arms. The underside of its arms were not covered, and revealed reddish-orange skin, as did its legs. The dragon, unlike the previous forms, stood fully on two legs up straight and tall. Sending out a louder roar the previous dragon, the dragon gave an enraged glare at the weaker energy dragon.

Even Rikuo looked impressed. Jason had summoned two monsters with three thousand attack points each on his first turn, albeit at the cost of having only one card left in his hand. Still, the massive field advantage was definitely worth it.

"Card of Sanctity, activate. We both draw until we hold six cards. Since you already hold seven, you do not benefit."

Looking over his five new cards, the faintest of smiles graced Jason's face.

"Magic Shard Excavation, activate. I may discard two cards from my hand in order to retrieve one spell card from my graveyard. I choose Level Up. My two discards are Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV6 (2300/1600), and Repayment of Losses, which gives me a further draw. Now, Silent Doom, to special summon the monster I just discarded, albeit in defense position."

A portion of Jason's field next to the Armed Dragon LV10 and Hyper Psychic Blaster was suddenly hidden by black flames. From the flames, large silver wings came out, along with a long silver tail, a pair of powerful talon legs, and finally the main body of the silver metal dragon was seen. It still looked like a large bird, but a much more powerful bird.

"Then, Level Up. Come, my soul monster…. Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV8 (3000/1800)!"

A large sphere of black flames surrounded the silver dragon in a flash. From the flames came a larger set of silver metal wings, a longer tail, stronger talon legs, powerful silver arms, and at long last, a large silver head. With a massive roar, the flames dispersed.

Bakura inclined his head. "_My, my… The boy certainly has skills. An opening move like that is no mean feat at all. Now all we have to see is what this Mandarin is capable of_…."

"Card set. Turn end," intoned Jason.

Mandarin drew, now with eight cards in his hand due to the effect of Jason's Level Modulation.

"Those who cross me will pay dearly," he chuckled.

"Don't consider me a fool, Jason. I know your monsters; I know how powerful they are. If I choose to summon any monster, you can discard a card from your hand to have your Armed Dragon LV10 destroy it come your turn. Any spell card I activate can be negated by your pitiful Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV8. If I summon any monster in defense mode, your Hyper Psychic Blaster will deal Piercing damage and give you an identical number of life-points."

The Eagle agent seemed a bit surprised at his opponent's knowledge, but didn't say anything else.

"Yes, Jason, I am well aware of what is going on here. I assure you, I am perfectly equipped to counter you one hundred and fifty percent."

He gave a grand flourish.

"Now, watch! I summon Stronghold Shadow – Defender (0/2000) in attack mode!"

Materializing on Mandarin's field was an Oriental man dressed in red armor. He carried a giant shield on his right arm, and a banner in his left which depicted a black vortex. His head was covered with a horned helmet, and a flowing midnight blue cape floated in his wake. He was armed with two small daggers which were kept in his belt.

Bakura snickered. "He's placed that fellow with zero attack points in attack mode against three monsters with three thousand attack points each?"

"Then I set three cards facedown," droned Mandarin, "and end my turn."

All eyes were on Jason. He seemed to have the potential to end the duel right then and there. However, it was obvious that there was certainly more to Mandarin's move then met the eye. His facedown cards were certainly a cause for concern.

Suddenly, before Jason could act, another monster materialized alongside him. This one was a lot less imposing, dressed in a black cloak and hood which left most of his body hidden. He clutched a bloody dagger in his right hand.

Even as the flames were almost about to incinerate them, the pair slammed into each other, whirling into a spinning vortex, from which emerged a new monster. This one was a lot bulkier and more impressive than the previous two, dressed in blazing orange armor, and with a long mane of hair flowing out behind him. He was on a white horse, and in one hand he held a giant shield, while he clutched a banner in the other which depicted a lightning bolt.

"Care to explain?" spoke Jason dryly.

"That would be my facedown continuous trap, Fortification Fusion. It allows me to fuse Stronghold Shadow monsters from my hand and field even during your turn, at the cost of one thousand life-points during each of my standby phases. So, I decided to fuse Stronghold Shadow – Defender, along with the Stronghold Shadow – Sentry (1800/1300) in my hand, in order to fusion summon the mighty Stronghold Shadow – Base Guardian (500/3000) in defense mode."

Jason did not seem perturbed at all. He was still in a good position to pull off a one-turn-kill.

"I discard Spear Dragon (1900/0) to destroy your Defender by the effect of Armed Dragon LV10," intoned Jason.

Roaring loudly, the dragon opened its jaws, revealing blazing red flames. With little effort, it shot forth a mighty beam of red power, which was heading straight in the direction of the unfortunate soldier on Mandarin's field. Jason watched in satisfaction as the flames engulfed the Stronghold Shadow – Base Guardian.

"Now, Hyper Psychic Blaster will attack dire-…"

He stopped short in surprise. The Base Guardian was still in play (500/2000).

"What is going on here?" he growled.

"Quite simple," quipped Mandarin. "My Stronghold Shadow – Base Guardian, allows me to sacrifice one thousand of its defense points in order to prevent it from being destroyed either by battle or by monster effects. In addition, I may add one of its fusion materials from my graveyard back to my hand every time I activate this effect."

Jason frowned. Since the effect of the Base Guardian allowed Mandarin to recycle his fusion materials, he would easily be able to summon multiple copies of Base Guardian thanks to his Fortification Fusion. He could of course go on ahead and keep discarding cards to use his Armed Dragon LV10's effect instead, but it was quite uneconomical with only three cards left anyway. Considering that Fortification Fusion allowed Mandarin to fuse monsters in his hand, the multiple copies of Base Guardian would prove very troublesome. Jason would rather retain the hand advantage and deal with the Base Guardians then weaken them a little more with his Armed Dragon LV10's effect.

"Hyper Psychic Blaster attacks your Stronghold Shadow – Base Guardian."

Taking aim, the silver giant unleashed a teal beam of energy from both of its blasters. The beam slammed into horseman, almost knocking him off. However, he somehow managed to keep his footing on the steed. His armor was now scratched in several places, and his shield almost completely broken (500/1000).

Mandarin suddenly let out a grunt of pain.

(Jason: 9000, Mandarin: 7000)

"Very impressive," mused Mandarin. "Your Hyper Psychic Blaster deals damage through defense and will increase your life-points equal to the damage dealt to me. Very good, young Jason, you are every bit as skilled as I would have anticipated."

Jason ignored the words of his opponent, and continued.

"Horus' attack."

The silver dragon opened its maw, letting a wave of flames spew out in the direction of the already weakened horseman. When the flames cleared, he was barely alive, armored destroyed in many places and blood leaking from numerous wounds. Yet there was still a small spark of fight left in his eyes, however small (500/0).

"Armed Dragon LV10 will end it."

Stepping forward, the dragon pulled back its right arm and formed a sphere of red energy within it. Closing its fist around the sphere, the dragon moved forward another step and thrust all its power into the claw, before opening it wide to release the crimson, almost blood-like ball of energy. It let trails of fire lose as it hurtled toward the half-dead creature.

"Command Silencer negates your attack and allows me to draw a single card."

A towering totem pole materialized in front of the injured warrior, letting out waves of sonic energy that stopped the Armed Dragon LV10's attack in its tracks.

"_Is there a reason for his going out of his way to save his Base Guardian… He could have just as easily have summoned another one to block if he wanted a ready defense. He would still have been safe for two turns even if I chose to use Armed Dragon LV10's effect only __**once**__ per monster. Command Silencer could have easily been saved for later, in case he desperately needed it. He's planning something for sure…._"

"I will set a card facedown, and end my turn," concluded Jason finally.

Mandarin drew with a flourish.

"Now, since I used the effect of Base Guardian to return both Sentry as well as Defender back to my hand, I will now fuse them so that I may acquire yet another copy of Stronghold Shadow – Base Guardian (500/3000)!"

Materializing next to the weakened rider was another one, however, he seemed to be in much better shape, without any scratches and such on his armor.

"You expect me to go on the defensive and cower behind my Base Guardians, don't you Jason?" chuckled Mandarin.

The Eagle agent quirked an eyebrow.

"You could not be more wrong! I activate De-Fusion, splitting my first Base Guardian back down into its components: Stronghold Shadows – Defender (0/2000) and Sentry (1800/1300)."

"I chain Horus' effect to negate it," retorted Jason coldly.

Even as he spoke, a gigantic spark of lightning descended from the heavens and struck the dragon, leaving nothing but a pile of cinders in its wake.

Jason glared at Mandarin in anger.

"Explain yourself."

His opponent chuckled. "That was my Divine Wrath, that it was. At the cost of a single discard I may negate one monster effect and destroy that monster."

Jason didn't say a word, but his fist tightened noticeably at the destruction of his favorite monster, and he fixed Mandarin with a glare, as the injured and tired guardian vanished into an orb of light, which split itself into two smaller orbs. These two orbs expanded to take the form of the first two monsters which Mandarin had employed in the duel, the shifty looking cloaked individual and the shield wielding man.

"Then I chain Inferno Reckless Summon to the special summon of Stronghold Shadow – Defender. Since it has fewer then fifteen hundred attack points, I may now special summon two more copies two my field. Come, my other two Stronghold Shadow – Defenders (0/2000) (x2)!"

Another pair of warriors identical to Mandarin's first monster materialized on the field.

"Now you may special summon additional copies of one monster on your side of the field," quipped Mandarin. He then sarcastically slapped his head. "Oh! I forgot. Both Hyper Psychic Blaster and Armed Dragon LV10 cannot be special summoned except for their own effects, so you will not be able to benefit from my magic card," he finished, his voice dripping with sarcastic sympathy.

Jason ignored him.

"You have successful swarmed the field, yes, but in truth all you could manage at the maximum is the fusion summon of another Base Guardian, along with your two Defenders, maintaining a strong defense, nothing more."

Mandarin cackled, a sound that resembled bones rattling in the wind.

"Unfortunately, not, at least for you. You see, Stronghold Shadow - Sentry increases the attack points of each and every Stronghold Shadow by three hundred."

"That's not enough to defeat either one of my monsters," warned Jason.

"Perhaps not, except then I drop the bomb that Stronghold Shadow – Defender doubles the attack gain received by every Stronghold Shadow in play," chuckled Mandarin.

Jason looked startled.

"And I have…" Mandarin made a big show of counting them out on his fingers, "… three."

The Sentry (4200/1300), Defenders (2400/2000) (x3), and the Base Guardian (2900/3000) all glowed with intense energy.

Sarah bit her lip. Surely Jason had a counter….

"Now my Stronghold Shadow – Sentry will destroy your annoyance of an Armed Dragon LV10!"

The sentry seemed to fade into the shadows as he snuck across the field quietly, and came up behind the towering armored dragon, who did not seem to notice it. A gleeful cackle echoed through the gigantic entrance hall as the bloody knife defended. Jason forced himself not to flinch as the colossus of a dragon collapsed, bleeding profusely, before it vanished into thin air.

(Jason: 7800, Mandarin: 7000)

"Then I will set a card and end my turn."

He gave a sudden grunt as Fortification Fusion drained his life-points.

(Jason: 7800, Mandarin: 6000)

Jason stared ahead as he drew.

All Jason had to do was destroy one of the Stronghold Shadow – Defenders, and then the boost would only be twelve hundred per monster, meaning that Sentry, at best, would be able to suicide with Hyper Psychic Blaster. Then all the boosts would be gone, meaning that he would be stuck with two monsters with zero attack points and one with five hundred. Not a very desirable position in terms of force.

"_I still have no way of knowing what his alternative strategy would be. Therefore, I will have to take the gamble and proceed_."

Jason pointed authoritatively.

"Hyper Psychic Blaster, annihilate his Stronghold Shadow – Defender."

The tall warrior raised his cannons once again, and let lose beams of teal energy from the barrels. They slammed into one of the banner-holding men, atomizing him within seconds. As he vanished, there was a sudden drop in the power of Sentry (3000/1300), the Defenders (1200/2000) (x2) and the Base Guardian (1700/3000).

(Jason: 7800, Mandarin: 5400)

"How pitiful," chuckled Mandarin. Jason raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

"My turn ends." His facedown from the previous turn would remain adequate insurance.

Mandarin drew with a flourish.

"First, I will attack your Hyper Psychic Blaster with my Base Guardian, sacrificing one thousand of its defense points in order to ensure its survival!"

The horseman threw his banner aside, and drew both daggers from his belt. He urged his horse forward and attempted to stab the titan on Jason's field, but was deterred by a single blast. He was knocked off his horse, but manage to scramble back on as it whinnied and rode back to Mandarin's field (1700/2000).

(Jason: 7800, Mandarin: 4100)

Jason only stared in amazement. "_Why would he perform an attack which __**had**__ to fail, losing thirteen hundred life-points and wasting one thousand of his Base Guardian's defense points in the process_?"

"Now my Sentry will attack your pathetic Hyper Psychic Blaster!"

Jason watched in shock as the cloaked man stole across the field again, stabbing his dagger down into the warrior's shoulder. However, at the same time the Hyper Psychic Blaster raised his arm and fired a round into the Sentry's gut from the cannon he held. The cloaked man staggered backward, staring at the gaping, bleeding hole in his stomach in horror. He fell backward, but at the last second threw his dagger forward, catching the Blaster straight in the chest, causing it to explode as well.

"Now your Defenders (0/2000) (x2) and Base Guardian (500/2000) lose the power they gained," commented Jason.

Rikuo stared at Mandarin in shock, along with the others.

"_This guy is playing some kind of bizarre suicide tactics. That's two suicide attacks in one turn. What the hell is he trying to do_?"

Mandarin merely allowed a dark smile to grace his face. "I am indestructible, Mr. Becker, you would do well to understand that. Now I end my battle phase and move to main phase two. I use Fortification Fusion in order to fuse the two Stronghold Shadow – Defenders on my field and the one in my hand in order to call upon Stronghold Shadow – Impregnable Protector (0/4000)!"

Jason watched in shock as the three monsters slammed into each other, creating a spinning vortex. Appearing out of the vortex was a hulking giant nearly ten feet tall. He was dressed in shining white armor, with a helmet that obscured his feature. Both his hands held a gigantic, dome-shaped shield which had a small spike protruding out of the center. One both his shoulder pads were small guns, loaded with six rounds each.

"_Four thousand defense points_…." thought Jason with growing trepidation.

"I know what you're thinking," chuckled Mandarin. "Four thousand is a lot, but you should relax. Impregnable Protector cannot be played in defense mode."

Jason looked at him with incredulity. "_It must have an ungodly effect then_….."

"For now, I will merely switch my Base Guardian to defense mode, and add another facedown. That will end my turn."

Mandarin grunted as the effect of Fortification Fusion took its toll on his life-points.

(Jason: 7800, Mandarin: 3100)

Jason drew authoritatively, and suddenly noticed Impregnable Protector's (500/4000) stats.

"Explain yourself."

Mandarin smirked. "It's rather simple really. Whenever either player is dealt damage, the attack points of Impregnable Protector increase by half that amount."

Jason scowled. For a fusion monster that consisted of three components, that certainly would not be its only effect. He would certainly need to be careful about this. Even though all of the powerful monsters he had managed to get out on his first turn were gone, his deck certainly packed more punch then that.

"I summon Psycho Commander (1400/800) in attack mode."

With this, a saucer-shaped formation made its presence known, designed with chrome metal and small antenna-like towers revolving around the base. Out of the top-center hatch emerged a green-army-dressed individual, with white gloves on its hands, and a black visor over its head. Four, glaring, red eyes could be seen from the visor. At the front of the saucer, a long, dark-metal cannon with a green barrel deployed.

"Psycho Commander attacks Impregnable Protector."

A sphere of white energy began to form at the front of the long, dark cannon. The Commander tensed himself up, and then let the power lose in one go in the direction of the shield-bearing titan. Just as it was about to go crash and smash the unfortunate monster to pieces, an appliance materialized behind the two of Mandarin's monsters. A wire stretched out, snapping a pair of metallic plates around the Base Guardian, and pulling it in the way of the attack. It snapped its banner forward, throwing the Commander back.

(Jason: 7200, Mandarin: 3100)

"Magical Arm Shield, I presume," said Jason coldly.

"Indeed," chuckled Mandarin. "I used it to have Base Guardian Now comes the interesting part. Since you were dealt six hundred points of damage, the attack points of my Protector (800/4000) further increase."

"_I need to destroy that Protector before its attack points get out of hand_," thought Jason quietly.

"I set one card facedown. That will end my turn."

Mandarin drew, and a maniacal grin graced his face.

"Here comes my field spell card, Special Relativity Field!"

The area around them began to warp, the gloominess of the castle turning into pure white. The spectators looked around in confusion as the floor beneath them turned into an inky black, losing its depth in the process. It was like standing on the surface of a deep, dark ocean.

"Thanks to this field magic card, whenever the attack points of a monster increase or decrease, an identical change occurs in the life-points of the controller of the monster. However, if there is a change in the monster's _defense _points, that change is replicated in the _opponent_'_s_ life-points."

Jason grimaced. That was just perfect…. So if he wanted to destroy Base Guardian, he would drain himself of life-points in the process."

"Here's the best part, Jason! Once per turn, by sacrificing one thousand of my Protector's defense points, I can special summon one level four or lower Stronghold Shadow from my graveyard, in defense mode. I choose Stronghold Shadow – Defender (0/2000) in defense mode."

The monster which was a component of both the Protector and the Base Guardian materialized in between them.

Mandarin grinned. "Now do you understand what's going to happen? Since I sacrificed one thousand of my Protector's defense points, the effect of Special Relativity Field will have drained you of one thousand life-points. Since you received damage, Protector will gain attack points, which are doubled due to the presence of my Defender!"

The floor beneath Jason began to warp, and a bolt of energy jumped up, slamming into his chest. He grunted and fell to one knee.

(Jason: 6200, Mandarin: 3100)

"By the _other_ effect of my field magic card, I will gain one thousand life-points since my Impregnable Protector (1800/3000) gained attack points!"

(Jason: 6200, Mandarin: 4100)

Jason forced himself not to allow a faint smile to grace his face. "_He will attack Psycho Commander with his Impregnable Protector. Then, I will activate its effect and pay five hundred life-points in order to have his Protector lose those many attack points. It's the crux of his strategy, without it, he will fall apart_."

"I switch Base Guardian to attack mode, and will have it attack your Psycho Commander!"

Jason watched in shock as the rider galloped across the field and urged his horse to run the robotic man down. However, it was quick to react, letting lose a small blast from its cannon, which the rider was still able to catch on its shield. He was driven back, weakened, but still alive (500/1000).

(Jason: 6200, Mandarin: 3200)

"Now since I activated Base Guardian's effect and sacrificed one thousand defense points, you will lose that same amount due to Special Relativity Field! Then, Impregnable Protector will gain half that amount of attack points due to his own effect, which is doubled due to Defender. Then, I gain those many life-points thanks to Special Relativity Field!"

(Jason: 5200, Mandarin: 4200)

Jason barely had time to recover from the bolt of energy which had run up his body from the pitch dark floor when Mandarin spoke again.

"Now, my Impregnable Protector (2800/3000), attack his pathetic Psycho Commander!"

The titan, which had been kneeling all this time, stood up. From underneath its helmet a pair of hate-filled eyes glared out at he who dared to invade what it was charged to protect. A sphere of crimson energy formed in both the cannons on its shoulders, and fired out in the direction of Jason's monster. They slammed into it, and within seconds nothing was left on his field.

(Jason: 3800, Mandarin: 4200)

"_A very effective strategy_," observed Rikuo. "_It will be interesting to see how Jason gets himself out of this… If he _does_ lose however, I won't have a problem with this nut. He is so dependent on that Fortification Fusion trap card to summon his Stronghold Shadow fusions, once I get Jinzo on the field, he's done_."

"Now, since you lost life-points, Impregnable Protector will gain an identical amount of attack points!" crowed Mandarin.

Jason forced himself not to allow any emotion to grace his face as he stared down the now extremely powerful beast (4200/3000).

"I move to main phase two, and normal summon the monster I returned to my hand when I activated Base Guardian's effect and drained it off its defense points. Come, Stronghold Shadow Sentry (1800/1300)."

The cloaked man materialized into play once again, and as he did, tendrils of energy began to move out from the Sentry to each and every other monster on Mandarin's field.

"Don't forget, due to his presence, each other Stronghold Shadow gains three hundred attack points, which is doubled due to the presence of my Defender."

The Protector (4800/3000), Defender (600/2000), Base Guardian (1100/1000) and Sentry (2400/1300) all glowered down at Jason.

"You have dared to infiltrate the stronghold of the Mandarin, and now its guardians will make you pay!" crowed Mandarin. "I set a card and end my turn. Take your last pathetic move, Jason Becker, and let's see what you can come up with now."

As he spoke, he grunted as Fortification Fusion delivered a jolt to him. Not that it mattered, as his Protector (5800/3000), got _even_ stronger as a result, and due to Special Relativity Field, he regained those life-points once again.

Jason drew, his poker face not giving away a single emotion. Sure, he was up against a ridiculously powerful strategy, but after Dracula he felt ready for anything.

As the thought of the demonic vampire used by Panik crossed his head, he paused and stopped short.

How _had_ that duel ended? He was surprised that he couldn't really seem to recall it.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Relativity Field. Volcanic Fusion. Solar Chaos Hydra."

The voice hung in Jason's mind like three agonizing, consecutive notes in the most sorrowful symphony ever sung.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jason shook his head. How had those facts suddenly entered his head? Up until that point he felt sure that he could not recall how the duel had ended. He had not even thought about it prior to this moment, being so caught up in the return from Necropolis, and then his own departure to the Valley of Spirits. Now, when he had thought about it, his mind seemed blank at first. Then, it was as if somebody had slipped the information in externally.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Scared, Jason?"

In the nightmarish landscape of his own mind, Jason whirled around to see another man standing directly opposite him. They were identical twins, except that the other Jason was wearing a trench-coat, and had a sadistic, easy smile on his face, as compared to the frustrated confusion on that of Jason's.

Jason froze.

"Yes, Jason…. I am back. Back, at long last," he drawled.

"This…. This is not possible," choked Jason. "It's an illusion. It was, last time. It was because of Dracula."

The other Jason shook his head.

"That poor bastard Panik? He was one clueless fool. He couldn't even control Dracula well enough to keep himself from being affected by its power. You should've seen the look on his face when I came out to finish him. The utter frustration, the _terror_…. It was beautiful, Jason, absolutely beautiful," he murmured.

"Get the _hell_ out," spat Jason, a ragged tone taking over his voice. "You're not real anymore."

"Oh, I assume that's what dear Eizan told you, didn't he?" replied the other man, a touch of menace creeping into his voice.

"He was half-right. You see there really would've been no way for me to finally break out to the surface once more…. But times change, Jason, circumstances change. Within the next thirty minutes, this entire planet is going to be one massive playground. Once you surrender control of this body to me…."

His eyes glimmered green. "Then, Jason, school will be out."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Are you so terrified of dueling me that you can't even take your move?" sneered Mandarin.

Jason had acquired a kind of distracted look, his eyes clouding up. Mandarin's words snapped him out of his reverie.

He spoke in a tired, ragged voice. "Monster set, defense mode. Turn end."

"How pathetic!" spat Mandarin. "I would have expected a challenge from the supposed flagship of Eagle! I sacrifice one thousand of my Impregnable Protector's defense points in order to special summon another one of my Stronghold Shadow – Defenders (0/2000) in attack mode."

A sick grin spread across his face. He didn't need to explain what was going to happen next. Since Protector had lost defense points, Jason would lose an identical number of life-points due to Special Relativity Field. Since damage was dealt to a duelist, the Impregnable Protector would gain attack points, which would be _quadrupled_ thanks to the presence of two Defenders in play, not to mention the boost from Sentry, which was now at twelve hundred per monster. To top it off, Special Relativity Field would grant Mandarin life-points equal to the attack points gained by his monsters.

Jason grunted in pain as an electricity bolt racked his body from the ground, while a soft glow surrounded Mandarin instead.

(Jason: 2800, Mandarin: 11200)

Meanwhile, the Impregnable Protector (9800/2000) was now immeasurably powerful, while the two Defenders (1200/2000) (x2), Sentry (3000/1300) and Base Guardian (1700/1000) were hardly anything to sneeze at.

"The duel ends now," announced Mandarin. "Stronghold Shadow – Sentry attacks your facedown monster."

The cloaked man stole across the field again, and the facedown monster flipped face-up to reveal a tiny man dressed in a white lab coat. He wore a helmet which had its top completely transparent, exposing a large, grotesque looking brain. It had abnormally long fingers and animalistic, yellow eyes. It let out a small groan as it was destroyed.

"Ah, Psychotic Reviver (200/900)," chuckled Mandarin.

Jason nodded, a small inclination of his head which was barely perceptible.

"Once removed from play Psychic type monster which is level four or lower may be special summoned.," muttered Jason.

The familiar yellow blocks appeared on Jason's field and melded together into the familiar form of Clevonce (1200/400).

Mandarin growled in frustration. "Base Guardian attacks."

The horseman charged forward, but was stopped by an invisible field around the Psychic monster.

"I pay eight hundred life-points by Clevonce's effect to negate your attack," breathed Jason.

(Jason: 2000, Mandarin: 14400)

"Impregnable Protector's (13000/2000) turn," intoned Mandarin.

A crimson beam left the titan's shield, and was once again blocked by the field around Clevonce.

(Jason: 1200, Mandarin: 17600)

Mandarin hissed in irritation, even as Impregnable Protector's (16200/2000) strength grew.

"I will suicide one Defender with your Clevonce."

The shield bearing guardian attempted to barrel his banner into Clevonce, but was _again_ stopped by the barrier.

(Jason: 1200, Mandarin: 20800)

Mandarin paused in annoyance, ignoring the further strength in attack points of the Impregnable Protector (19400/2000).

"I refuse to allow you an opportunity to summon a Synchro monster next turn with your pathetic Clevonce, even if it as at the cost of thousands of attack points! My final Defender, attack!"

The last monster on Mandarin's field was again stopped by the repetitive barrier.

(Jason: 400, Mandarin: 24000)

Mandarin's hands were shaking in fury. Impregnable Protector (23600/2000) was now so strong that even if Jason probably combined the attack points of every monster in his deck, he wouldn't be able to pull out a win. But what did it matter if he couldn't use those attack points _right_ _now_?

"I end my turn," he snapped, annoyance evident in his voice.

Jason breathed out and felt another small occurrence of pain in his gut. The effect of Psychotic Reviver dealt him damage equal to the level of the monster he had revived, multiplied by one hundred, during the end phase of that turn.

(Jason: 200, Mandarin: 24800) (Impregnable Protector: 24400/2000)

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Eli Chavez was a God-fearing man. He listened to every word that the Spanish pastor uttered in the local church, hadn't picked a fight with another soul in his entire life, and went about the business of tending his llama as honestly as possible.

Yet, he couldn't bring himself to believe that what he was witnessing was the will of God.

It was a huge, no, gigantic, no, _colossal_ sphere of emerald energy bearing down upon the planet's largest continental mountain range. Eli stared up at it from the lower reaches of Pico Bolivar, which stood nearly seventeen thousand feet to begin with.

Eli was one of the few llama farmers who knew the torturous terrain of the Cordillera Oriental ranges, and was able to get his herd over some difficult patches to an endless expanse of fresh grass in a gigantic valley. He had done so as normal that morning, leaving at six a.m. sharp. Oddly, he had noticed a green star in the dark early morning. He thought nothing of it, he was not an educated man, surely such things were for the great American and British scientists who operated in circles Eli could only dream of to worry about.

He had sat under a tree and dozed for a few hours, until the repeated bleating of one of his llamas woke him. He had wearily risen, and suddenly froze as he noticed that the green glow in the sky was now larger than the Sun. Having never studied anything related to basic science, it didn't occur to Eli that the object was _not_ larger than the Sun, rather, merely closer to the Earth, thereby seeming larger.

He had been educated only to a certain degree, that too at home by his mother. She had been insistent that the Inca Sun God, Inti, was the patron of all in existence and none could exceed His expanse and power. To witness something that overwhelmed Inti, to Eli, was the equivalent of coming face-to-face with the Antichrist.

He collapsed onto two knees. The Venezuelan Government had managed to evacuate the nearby villages, but hadn't been able to reach the llama farmers who worked in the higher, more hazardous terrain.

He collapsed onto his knees, staring at the almost hypnotic glow of the emerald green sphere which had heading towards him at an ungodly speed. He could notice that underneath the blazing green flames were the crags and depths of a rocky surface.

"_Un meteoro_," he though blankly as the llamas bleated loudly and ran off behind him.

He heard a distant scream. "_Padre! __**PADRE**_!"

He turned to see his fourteen year old sun, Carlos, running towards him, his face an image of sheer terror as he leapt over the crags and rocks towards the grassy expanse where his father was kneeling.

Eli groaned. Why, _why_ had he taught Carlos the tricks of the trade, the skill needed to navigate this area? So that he would be able to have his own llamas graze here in the future, he supposed. Now that knowledge had doomed him. Carlos had always been a headstrong boy. Most likely, the government had come to the villages to order them to evacuate, and Carlos would most likely have slipped through their fingers in order to come to his father.

The sobbing teenager arrived at Eli, who clutched him in a horrified hug.

Father and son stared up at the oncoming source of oblivion. It was probably a few thousand feet above the peak of Bolivar.

"_Ten misericordia__de Dios_!" shrieked Eli.

Then, something happened which shocked Eli even more than the original sight of the object. As he screamed out his last hope for mercy, the gigantic object literally stopped before his very eyes. He stared on in terror, waiting for it to continue. However, it just stopped: right there and then, hovering maybe twenty thousand feet above ground level.

Slowly, ever so slowly, the colossal meteor began to split up into several different pieces. The emerald light was so blinding that if one even tried to observe what was going on, it would be impossible. Both father and son ducked their heads, praying silently as large groaning sounds could be heard from the sky above them.

When they raised their heads again after about five minutes, they were both shocked to see _nothing_ in the sky above them, except for the distant trail of green light as _whatever_ things the first object had transformed into rocketed off in multiple different directions.

Eli and Carlos both stood, visibly shaken.

"Nunca olvides, Dios es grande," murmured Eli, as the two walked away together, trembling.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jason collapsed as another punch slammed into his face, loosening a tooth.

"You don't DESERVE the power this body holds!" screamed his attacker, kicking him in the ribs.

Jason staggered upwards. "_Get… out_," he coughed.

For his efforts he was dealt a hard kick in the ribs.

"I _was_ out," spat the other man. "Your dear adoptive father made sure of that. However, times change, circumstances change. This body is like an inert weapon. Now, due to certain factors, its power is going to get activated again. I was able to take control against Panik only because you were weakened by Dracula. If I don't do so at this point, however, the latent energies we possess will be too much and this body will be destroyed."

He picked up Jason by his collar and looked him in the eye.

"You can't handle it. Ever since the Jade Star changed course for Earth, I've been waiting for this moment."

Jason spat some blood out of his mouth.

"You're _not real_."

"It's that pathetic attitude of denial that got you in this situation in the first place," was the reply. "Of course you knew something was up prior to this when you couldn't remember the conclusion of the duel against Panik. All you remembered was having your life-points reduced to zero, but then I'm sure you subconsciously concluded that I stepped in and saved your sorry behind in the first place."

Jason didn't reply.

"Why didn't you say anything to Eizan? What was it, Jason? Unable to accept that I was back again, to take what was rightfully mine?"

A terrifying, sadistic smile spread across his face.

"Or maybe….. Maybe you were just more terrified of what they would do to you when they found out that your supposed condition had resurfaced. The drugs… The grueling therapy… The sleepless nights…. Was that what frightened you more than the proposition of surrendering to an individual greater then you in every possible way?"

He drew back a fist.

"You'll have plenty of time to mull it over while I clean up _your_ mess."

Jason attempted a last ditch surprise punch, but it was weak and ended up as nothing more than a weak tap to his opponent's head.

"Time's up, Jason."

The fist connected, and Jason fell prone to the ground… Unconscious.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"What in Bahamut's name…." murmured Ryu.

He, Yugi, Daniel, CJ, Kaiba, Brian and Serena had joined the rest of the Eagle staff in the first floor of the building above ground. Tea was with them as well, still very shaken, but the moment they had heard about the gigantic projectile that had split up over Venezuela, with one of the pieces heading towards New York, even she was determined to find out what it was.

They were staring at an absolutely enormous green sphere, hovering maybe five thousand feet above ground level, in the middle of New York City. It stretched perhaps ten miles in diameter, and had a pulsating green glow which seemed to block out the natural light provided by the Sun.

"Yugi…." muttered Kaiba. "That color…."

The young King of Games turned to face him, and their eyes met. Both instantly knew what the other was thinking. Before they had an opportunity to voice their thoughts, the gigantic sphere began to tremble. They watched in awe, realizing it was more like a giant machine. A huge cliff on one of its rocky faces seemed to be under immense internal pressure, and as a result was pushed outward. Meanwhile, beneath it a rock face seemed to be contracting inwards.

Millions of people in New York City watched, in front of their very eyes, as the gigantic piece of rock seemed to transform itself into some kind of enormous, hovering station. The entire process took maybe five minutes as everyone watched, transfixed.

Soon, the glowing sphere was gone, and seemed to be replaced by a colossal, floating city-like machine.

"_How very Transformers_," mused Brian.

Graham McBride, Eizan's secretary, called to them, nervously. "I was just contacted by Mr. Nakamura. He insisted that everybody make their way back down to the underground base, which needs to be sealed as soon as possible."

No one in the room even seemed to hear him. Another Eagle official switched on the news to CNN.

From one of the faces of the floating machine, an emerald beam shot out down towards the ground. This part seemed to be over the Hudson River, and this resulted the water beginning to boil at an ungodly rate beneath it.

A few eyes were averted to the TV, as they could not make out details from their vantage point so far away.

A reporter was speaking in a trembling voice while the camera was zoomed in over the opening in the station.

"It seems to be transforming into some kind of machine… This only goes further to confirm the assumption we made only a few short hours ago that we are indeed not alone in this Universe. This theory was put forth by scientists when they realized that the rapid acceleration and change in direction of the original meteor was too drastic to be caused by natural factors. It was confirmed when it broke up over Venezuela into several different spheres, including the one which has transformed before our very eyes, which were directed towards major cities across the planet, which include Washington DC, Los Angeles, London, Moscow, Beijing, Mumbai, Singapore, Tokyo, Buenos Aires, and others, in addition to New York."

Everyone more or less blanked out the reporter's words when the green light cleared to reveal a figure standing on a hovering plate merely a few feet above the now sizzling surface of the Hudson River. The camera zoomed in to reveal the horrifying details.

It was a large, reptilian, quadruple creature. However, it reminded one of a centaur, with a torso that extended up vertically from the base of four legs. It resembled a fish to a certain extent, with scaly green skin and flipper-like projections on its feet. A long, thick tail flopped out behind it. It wore gray and crimson armor which stretched over nearly its entire body, except for its feet and long, toned arms. Attached to the back of the armor was a breathing apparatus which covered most of the details of its face, thankfully, with two tubes entering what must be nostrils and a bit in between a pair of scaly lips. A pulsing, green stone was set in the center of its armor. It held a long metal tube in each hand.

"Good God…."

The massive, hovering station began to fire out more energy beams. Most were not over the river, however, and whatever surface they impacted on were completely incinerated. As the beams faded, more and more creatures showed themselves. Details could not be made out as they were either too far away or not covered by the news channels.

Brian broke the tension nervously. "Well…. They don't look very peaceful."

The Legion had arrived on Earth.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**AHA! I enjoyed writing this one immensely! Sorry it's a little short by my standards, things just need set-up. From now on, it's non-stop action ^^**

**Review!**


	36. The Legion

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR: The Legion

**My apologies. I just got 5D's Tag Force 5 and it's just too damn addictive :P I bought maybe 40 of the Dragon packs and pulled just ONE Blue-Eyes! ONE! It's a damn RARE card. I pulled like three or four Five God Dragons, Dragon's Mirror, and Prime Material Dragons, which are ULTRA rares for crying out loud! What gives?**

**Excuse the rant :P I think I'd better switch back to NBA 2K11**

**Dark Oynx: Hahaha, yeah, Sigma FTW! He's one of my favorite characters to write, both for dueling and in terms of character. Kickass guy. **

**Candyman123: Well, at least you won't have to wonder forever :P**

**Btw, congratulations candyman123 on being the 200****th**** reviewer! It's a great milestone, considering I got 191 for Advent which had 47 chapters, and this will be the 36****th**** chapter of Nightrise. Thank you to all my readers. Without you guys, us writers would be nothing.**

The Overlord bowed as it entered the giant, dark room.

The terrifying, low, flat voice echoed from within it, orders were issued, in a language no human being would be able to understand.

"_Send forth all forces_."

The Overlord gargled a response, in a nightmarish, raspy voice, which sounded more like a series of hisses and growls.

"What of the Pharaoh?"

"_I will __**break**_ _him_."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I don't have a good feeling about this," mumbled David to no one in particular

Max replied sarcastically. "Jeez Dave…. Twenty-something giant, floating, alien war machines of death float out of the sky; if you could find one person on the planet who _does_ have a good feeling about this, I'll eat every card in my deck."

Aaron rolled his eyes. Sometimes it _was_ hard being the straight man on a team of wack jobs. He kept his eyes fixed on the TV screen, which depicted the unreal scenes in Time Square. Yet another green ray had been fired out of the colossal, hovering, battle station, and left a reptilian, barely humanoid individual standing in its wake as it vanished.

He tore his eyes away from the screen as his phone buzzed. A text message.

He checked the number, and slowly, a satisfied grin spread across his face. Without looking at the bickering pair of Max and David, he hollered out behind him.

"Boys, there is a possibility someone is going to be in need of our expertise."

He turned to face them.

"Just in case…. We're going to Moscow."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Bakura, Deondre, and Rikuo were keeping one eye on the duel, and one on each other.

Deondre was first to it. "I'll take this punk."

Rikuo swore. "Of all the audacious dog demons…"

Bakura raised an eyebrow. "If I recall, you were given the opportunity to take down the Gatekeeper."

Rikuo snorted. "The _Gatekeeper_? That's like allowing someone a single French fry but denying him a Happy Meal."

Sarah snapped angrily at both of them. "Just shut it with the analogies would you! Jason isn't out of this duel yet."

Bakura raised an eyebrow. "He faces a deficit of nearly twenty five thousand life-points, and an army of monsters, one of which has over twenty thousand attack points. Mandarin also has a facedown card just in case he can pull something out, not that it looks very likely considering he will have only three cards in his hand, plus Clevonce, once he finally takes his draw phase."

The Thief King narrowed his eyes.

"Speaking of which, what the bloody hell is he waiting for?"

The two demons turned a glance to the field as well. Other then Mandarin's Impregnable Protector, Sentry, Base Guardian, and two Defenders bearing down on the lone Clevonce, Jason was standing with his head drooped, long black bangs covering his eyes.

"Take your move," demanded Mandarin.

He got no reaction as a response.

Sarah frowned, a little worried. "_What is going on here…? Jason _never_ lets his opponents intimidate him. Granted, it's a very tight spot, but reacting like this…. It's just not _like _him_."

"What's the matter?" spat Mandarin. "The pride of Eagle! Eizan Nakamura's golden boy! You pull off a fancy opening move, and then what? All out of tricks? I should have chosen the Wolf Demon General or the Thief King has my opponent. At least _then_, I'd have had some sort of a damned _challenge_!"

He hurled out the last few words as loudly, bitterly and scornfully as possible, as if the mere words could cause Jason indescribable pain.

"_How does he know so much about Jason?_" thought Sarah furiously.

Silence reigned.

Rikuo spoke roughly. "The duel is over. Pick between me, Deondre and Bakura, Mandarin, there's no need to continue-…."

A chilling, hollow laugh echoed through the room.

"There is _every _need to continue, foolish demon. Somebody here hasn't gotten the pain he deserves."

Everyone looked at Mandarin, expecting to see him as the source. His lips were sealed, however.

Then their gaze turned to the true source. Jason.

"You've been a rather interesting opponent."

Rikuo froze. That was _certainly_ not Becker's voice.

"However, you will have to excuse me while I disembowel you and your pathetic Stronghold Shadows in the next few minutes."

"Tough words, Jason, tough words, when all you have is one pathetic monster against my army, and a disadvantage of nearly twenty-five thousand life-points."

The Eagle agent tilted his hands upward. "Whoever said I was Jason?"

Sarah's hands flew up to her mouth.

"Call me Quinn."

His eyes were glowing a brilliant emerald.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Stage one complete_. _Mandarin had served his purpose_.

The face of Dartz spread into a wide smile.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"So what now?" breathed the voice into the receiver which Reflect held to his ear.

The President of Paradias allowed himself a leisurely smile.

"Things are falling into place, my friend. Fitting together like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle…"

"Enough with the theatrics, Reflect," came an impatient reply. "I've held up my end of the bargain. What about yours?"

"I can spot a certain flaw within that sentence."

He heard a snarl of frustration. "I did what you told me to, damnit. I'm warning you-…."

Reflect gave a shadowy laugh. "_You_? Warning _me_? I'm the most powerful man in the world's most powerful criminal organization. You're a cheap traitor to your comrades, who would kill you if they realized what you were up to, with no hesitation whatsoever."

"The original terms of our agreement-…"

"I have changed those terms," interrupted Reflect. "I want you in Moscow."

"Are you _insane_? In case you haven't noticed, _**aliens**_just dropped out of the sky. I can't exactly hop on an American Airlines to Russia you know."

"Oh, be creative," replied Reflect impatiently.

"What _do_ you expect me to do?" snapped the mole. "The seas are safe for now I suppose, but I'm not exactly in a position to hijack a damn submarine and get it across the Atlantic myself, and then _hitchhike _two and a half thousand miles from Lisbon. It'd take me three weeks. Your agent is good but under the circumstances I _highly_ doubt that he'd be able to wait that long. If you _really_ needed me there, couldn't you have planned this damn operation _before_ these reptilian freaks dropped out of the sky?"

Reflect sighed. "It's precisely the fact that these 'reptilian freaks' dropped out of the sky that allowed me to organize this operation. I suppose we could spare a company jet. Hop to it, your flight will leave La Guardia in less then half an hour."

There was dead silence. "You're signing my death warrant."

"Our guests will not be too interested in the odd aircraft, at least not _yet_. Give it less than twelve hours, things will change."

"What about the return journey?"

"Let me worry about _those _arrangements. All you worry about is executing the contingency orders to the letter."

He heard a sigh. "Why _me_?"

"Frankly I would prefer Ms. Taylor, but she's a little too loyal to the old man, isn't she?"

There was a momentary silence. "Fine. I'm leaving. Give it a little more than a half hour, they cannot notice that I'm missing, and I'll also have to use these damn underground catacombs, those scaled miscreations will be busy wreaking merry hell on the streets."

"Thirty minutes. Not a second longer."

"You're hardly making things any easier for yourself with this kind of attitude!" was the snappish reply.

Reflect spoke in a dark voice. "And you, my friend, are hardly making things any easier for your imprisoned comrade by speaking to me in such a manner."

He got an answer in a sad, defeated tone. "Fine…. Just help him would you."

"Follow my orders, and you'll be helping him yourself."

With that, Reflect disconnected.

He paused momentarily, and made another call.

Diablo answered in his rough, deep voice. "Yes."

"The mole is on its way. When the job is finished, I want a bullet through somebody's brain. Or somebody's neck broken. Or a knife in somebody's gut. Or whatever the hell it is you feel like doing at that particular point in time."

Diablo privately wondered if the old coot was losing it. A mole in one's enemy organization was a rarity in these circles, and they should be preserved with all possible care. His, however, was not to question why. If he did, and Reflect turned out to be in a bad mood, he might send Sigma to pay Diablo a visit. Diablo was not afraid of a single man on the planet, but even so he wouldn't be as confident with his chances against Sigma as he would against someone else.

So, his reply was simple, short, and to the point.

"I get the idea. Consider it done."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The vanguard of the creatures stared down at the humans gathered around the river, its serpentine tail lashing before hitting the ground with a heavy thud. From behind its gas mask it slit like pupils dilated as words began to flash across its visor in a strange, otherworldly language which none could read but the new arrival itself.

_Species: Homo Sapiens_

_Capabilities: Limited technological warfare, substantial global population, possible phantasmagorical abilities present in key individuals, also classified as 'Shadow Games'._

The people continued to murmur in a mixture of fright, awe and even disgust. Meanwhile, words continued to appear on the creature's visor.

_Current status: Mass psychological unrest, extreme levels of anxiety and agitation, limited coordination._

_Threat Levels: _

_Duelist Capable: Moderate_

_Non Duelist: Nonexistent._

_Suggested course of action: Begin full scale assault and force targeted individuals into open terrain exploiting mammalian desire to protect one's kin._

_Execution: Imminent, permission to engage granted._

Suddenly the beast threw back its head and gave a roar that was answered by each and every one of the creatures still emerging from the vessel above.

"What the hell is that all about?" Yugi yelped putting his fingers in his ears, the collective sound of growing

thousands of the creatures was rising to an incredible pitch.

Ryu's eyes narrowed as something deep within his blood resonated in answer to the call. "Its a battle cry Yugi...this is an invasion force."

"Mr. Nakamura wants us to get back down _now_," reiterated Graham, an added note of urgency in his voice.

Forget Yugi, Tea, Kaiba and the demons. Not even the Eagle operatives present seemed to be in the mood to listen to him.

Their eyes remained transfixed on the television screen. It was focused on the unmoving… _thing_, that had touched down from the colossal, hovering craft. High definition ensured that every detail of the beast's unbelievable visage was visible to them.

"That stone…." trailed off Kaiba staring ahead. He continued to stare on ahead at the pulsating green rock, embedded deep within the monster's armor.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Maximillion Pegasus dropped his glass of Italian wine to the ground. It shattered, allowing the expensive drink to soak his carpet. However, he barely noticed. He was too busy staring at the TV screen in his private chambers, which depicted the current scenes in Tokyo. Staring, specifically, at the battle station which was hovering above it.

His mind flashed back perhaps ten years.

"Can it be…?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The truck driver never really saw it coming.

He had heard about some kind of UFO on the radio, and the government warning everyone to stay at home, but who really gave a damn? Five thousand big ones if he made this delivery of time. He had even noticed the hovering station as he drew into New York, but a joint or two prior to the drive had made him completely immune to fear of any kind. So much so he had even run the hastily constructed roadblock the National Guard had placed across the tunnel leading into the city. A mass panic had resulted in tens of thousands of people jumping into their vehicles and making a run for it, resulting in the exits of the city at both the Washington Bride as well as the Tunnel being choked, what with accidents and breakdowns. The driver ignored it all.

He was so busy thinking about all the beer he could buy with the payment that he didn't notice the looming figure standing in the road until the very last minute.

He braked hard, and honked in fury. His vision was blurry, but he was still able to yell out angrily. "Watch it, damnit….!"

The figure turned to look at him. He could make out that it was tall and bipedal, perhaps nearly eight feet, and was wearing some sort of dark blue armor. Its scales were an ugly combination of gray as well as crimson. In one hand, it held some sort of blaster.

"What in the-…." he swore.

He didn't have the time to complete the sentence. The _creature_ raised its weapon, and he got a slightly better look at it for a second. It was unlike any gun he had ever seen, and in his shady dealings, the driver had seen plenty. The barrel measured nearly four feet in length, and was equipped with a complicated scope which was so large that it was a wonder the figure was able to hold it up at all. However, before he was even able to process these thoughts, the figure had pulled a trigger he couldn't see. An emerald burst issued forth, and burned its way through the window. The driver endured exactly three and four tenths seconds of absolutely screaming agony before he, and the entire cabin of the truck, was incinerated.

Casualty number one. And plenty more where that came from.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The transfixed expressions on the faces of those within the Eagle headquarters turned to horror as they continued to watch the screen.

Lives were being taken. Innocents, trying to escape the madness, who were taken without an inkling.

"Get down _now_," snapped one of the Eagle officials. "The trouble is brewing closer to Times Square, we'll have _just_ enough time to seal the underground level before those _things_ get here."

Kaiba turned to glare at him.

"Do you expect _me_, Seto Kaiba, to hide, cowering in a little hole in the ground while those sideshow freaks kill innocent people out there?"

There was a flash of the Millennium Puzzle and Yami's deep voice sounded out.

"Kaiba can you just act _sensible_ for once? This is bigger than us, we _never_ anticipated something like this. We may have dealt with all kinds of foes the Shadows threw at us but _extraterrestrials_, Kaiba, _extraterrestrials_…."

"If the goddamned Council thought we were capable of taking down Apocalypse I think a bunch of these disgusting reptiles shouldn't be much of a problem," spat Kaiba.

Ryu groaned. He raised a hand, and seemed all set to knock the CEO unconscious so that he could be _dragged_ down if need be, when they were all stopped short by an absolutely bloodcurdling shriek. It was coming from beneath them.

Daniel widened his eyes.

"They're in the bunker."

Everybody paused, unable to speak with shock.

"THEY'RE IN THE BUNKER!"

"We have to get out of here, _now_," breathed Graham.

This time, nobody argued.

Yami took an involuntary step towards the elevator, but one of the Eagle officials stopped him impatiently.

"I don't know how the hell they got into the damn bunker, but the elevator shaft runs all the way down. You lot need to take the stairs. Get to the roof, we're getting a helicopter. We'll cover you."

Before the ancient Pharaoh could reply, the official silenced him.

"The chopper will have enough fuel to get you out of the city. Once you're in Jersey, head south. The trouble is here, as well as in Washington. Get to Florida, we have another garrison there. The agent-in-charge there will put you in touch with Mr. Nakamura. The Archangel will be coming with you, and what with your-….," he gestured vaguely, "abilities, you all _may _just make it out in time."

"What about those in the infirmary?" snapped Kaiba.

"They will be evacuated through alternative means," pressed the official.

Zerato swooped in out of nowhere, joining them.

"Mr. Kaiba_, now_."

"I'm not running, goddamnit!" spat the holder of the Blue Eyes White Dragon. "My brother as well as the woman I love are _both_ down there; if you expect me to just make a dash for it, you are sorely mistaken."

"Kaiba is right," affirmed Ryu. "Two Demon Lords are down there. I'm not abandoning them."

As he spoke, his hair began to turn golden.

Another bloodthirsty howl was heard from the ground floor, along with frantic yells. Gunshots were fired.

"You do _not_ know what is coming," put in Zerato.

"Oh, and you do?"

The Archangel met the hard stare of the CEO. "Yes, I do."

Kaiba swore. "Damn it all….!"

Before anyone could react, he was on his way down the stairs.

Zerato's eyes widened. "That _fool_."

"I don't care _what _it is that's down there, I will not let Joey Wheeler be taken by these monsters!" snapped Yami, and made to follow the CEO.

Zerato gave Ryu, Daniel and CJ an imploring stare.

"I will accompany the Pharaoh and Kaiba down, we will make it out. Please, don't do anything foolhardy."

Ryu was about to speak, but was cut off by the Archangel.

"If I cannot get the two of them out alive, the Demon Lords will be all that stand between Apocalypse and total destruction. Reunite with the rest of your party, and Zeruge will find you. The Council will know what to do. Go, now, I beg of you."

Reason seemed to work with the Grand Dragon General a little better.

"_Kaiba and the Pharaoh should be enough to get Siegfried and the others out_," he thought silently, and nodded to Daniel and CJ.

"Let's go."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kaiba was pressed against the wall, breathing heavily, Yami beside him. A ragtag bunch of Eagle agents had barricaded the door leading down to the bunker. Something was behind it; that was for certain. Something big, and something extremely dangerous.

One of the agents stared at the CEO and Yami in shock.

"What in the _blazes _are you two doing here?" he screamed. "We're risking our lives to get you out of here!"

His words were punctuated by a giant thud against the door.

"If we needed to be rescued by you guys I don't think we'd be worth rescuing," said Kaiba nastily. "Now, get the hell out of here and let us deal with whatever freakshow is behind that door."

Zerato had made his way down by now. He put a hand on the Eagle agent's shoulder and nodded.

"We'll take it from here. Get as many people as you can into helicopters, and make for Florida."

The Eagle agents seemed to be obey Zerato unquestioningly. They abandoned the posts they had taken up behind upturned desks and pillars, handguns held loosely as they stalked grimly up the stairs. They were looking at the trio of Yami, Kaiba and Zerato almost pityingly… As if they were the condemned ones.

Kaiba took a deep breath, and flattened himself against the wall next to the handle of the door: he didn't want to get hit by tens of kilograms of wood right in the face when whatever creature behind the door burst through.

The thuds continued, sounding out above the otherwise empty silence.

It was probably the last few seconds of peace they would experience. Not that they still really had the time to contemplate this new development. A final, extra loud bang was heard, and the wooden slab was thrown off its hinges.

Time seemed to freeze momentarily.

The abomination which stood in the doorway measured maybe nine feet in height, easily dwarfing the tallest of the three: Kaiba. Its skin was a deep shade of orange, and looked heavily mutated, with all kinds of scars and inflammations covering it. Unlike most of its other comrades, it wore no helmet, instead with a giant reptilian frill that bordered its head. Pieces of armor clinked together over its body, leaving its spider-like, knobbly hands free though. In one hand it clutched a writhing man by the neck, probably one of the many Eagle agents who had been unfortunate enough to remain trapped underground for the carnage. Extending out from its chest was a cannon-like blaster with three barrels. They glowed a deep green.

"What in Ra's name…." mumbled Yami.

It let out a horrifying screech, and mercilessly snapped the man's neck. Yami was broken out of his reverie, and snarled with indignant anger. Before he could do anything, however, the beast was hit with a sphere of white energy which left Zerato's smoking hand. It caught the blast directly on the chest, and was knocked away from the entrance, into one of the walls.

Kaiba and Yami both stared at it.

"What are you waiting for?" bellowed Zerato. "You think it's done for? I'll deal with it, _go get your friends_."

Deciding it was a good time to not argue, the two rivals hurried down the stairs into the vast bunker. The last thing they heard was a cry of exertion from Zerato and an infuriated shriek from the creature, before they were swept up in a mass panic of half-dead Eagle agents and a whole swarm of creatures.

Kaiba deftly ducked a wild slash of an energy sword from one of the invaders.

"This is madness!" he hollered. "We won't even make it halfway to the infirmary, let alone back!"

Yami was too busy letting out a burst of golden energy from his Puzzle into the chest of a slightly smaller attacker, this one in black armor.

Thankfully, a new wave of Eagle agents had entered the area from one of the tunnels. The singular advantage they had over the invaders was their knowledge of the underground complex; it was easier for them not to get lost.

A hail of bullets slammed into a multitude of creatures attacking the stragglers. The bullets didn't seem to do any real damage to the mutant like beasts, let alone kill them, rather, it was akin to a tap on the shoulder. If anything, it served to distract them from their injured prey. This gave Yami and Kaiba a chance to break left, toward the area they knew housed the infirmary.

"What monstrosities!" gasped Yami.

"Don't keep your hopes high," snarled Kaiba. "They seem to be pouring in from the east, and if they've already made it that far I don't think a bunch of guys with guns are going to be able to stop them."

"Who _are __**they**_?"

"I don't know," said Kaiba flatly. "I don't think anyone does, other than Zerato… We'll get answers from him later."

They made their way swiftly to the infirmary. Inside, a bunch of doctors and nurses were huddled up together, trembling.

"Our timeframe to get to the infirmary, get Serenity, Wheeler, Mokuba _and_ Siegfried out along with these people and back to the stairs is maybe three minutes," growled Kaiba from the side of his mouth. "We need to be quick about it."

Yami smiled reassuringly at the head doctor, despite not feeling the same way himself.

"Don't worry. Get the patients, we're getting out of here."

With transfixed expressions on their faces, the medical practitioners made to gather up the various injured or unconscious individuals lying on the beds. Some, like Siegfried and Joey, were okay to simply lift up and carry on one's shoulders. There were a couple of other Eagle agents who were a little too badly injured, and had to be rolled out on stretchers.

"_Where's that damn angel_…." thought Kaiba urgently.

It seemed too late. A hulking, quadruple form came into the view of those in the infirmary. It was almost identical to the very first, centaur-like creature the group had witnessed descending from the floating battle station, except this one wore black armor. It held the two same tubes, except for the fact that burning green energy blades were visible from the openings.

Yami was framed in the door, his muscles tensing has screams of terror sounded behind him.

The creature snarled and bounded forward, moving both blades in perfect synchronization. The Millennium Puzzle glowed slightly, and a translucent golden shield appeared in front of the ancient Pharaoh, blocking the blades.

Yami would never really have any idea as to whether or not he could have been able to match the creature offensively after that. Thankfully, this was the case because Zerato had decided to make a grand entrance, blasting it off its feet with another sphere of brilliant white energy. He had a bunch of injured, but armed Eagle agents at his heels.

Yami turned to the Archangel, who was panting. He carried numerous wounds from what seemed to have been a brief yet brutal battle from back at the entrance to the bunker.

"COME ON!"

The attendants at the infirmary frankly made their way through the door, abandoning all caution about perhaps injuring their patients. Kaiba followed, with Mokuba on one of his shoulders.

"I'll handle our friend here!" hollered Yami to the Archangel. "They'll need your help to make their way to the helipad.

Zerato didn't move, glancing hesitantly from the stirring beast to Yami.

"GO!"

There wasn't any more time to argue. The troop moved off to the right as fast as they could, leaving Yami alone with the centaur-like extraterrestrial in the empty corridor.

"Just you and me, my friend….. Just you and me," murmured Yami, as the creature slid upwards across the linoleum floor.

To his eternal shock and surprise, the creature _spoke_.

"You will feed the wrath of the Legion."

It wasn't really even _speaking_ as such, it was more of a raspy gargle. It was echoing in the background of some kind of strange growling snarl which seemed to be leaving the same creature's mouth at the _same _time.

Yami stared on, unable to shake off his surprise. The creature seemed to be speaking into some kind of apparatus which covered its mouth and most of its face. Was it some kind of language translator? If so, that was eons ahead of Earth technologically.

As he gazed at the creature, taking in its horrific features, he thought back to Necropolis.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Flashback_

_Belial drew calmly. "I summon my Legion Shocktrooper (1900/1400)!" Slithering out of the darkness of the garage was a large, reptilian, centaur-like creature. It resembled a fish to a certain extent, with scaly green skin and flipper-like projections on its feet. A long, thick tail flopped out behind it. However, equipped with advanced mechanical battle armor with a glowing green stone set into its chest. It holds two huge glowing energy broadswords a breathing apparatus fixed over its face._

_End Flashback_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Why are you here?" he asked, slightly flustered.

The creature's jaws curved upward, almost into a _smile_. This exposed numerous fang-like teeth the size of knives. It retracted its blades and pushed the tubes into a metallic belt which was clipped to its torso.

It retrieved another object from the same place, a kind of sphere. It split into two half spheres, which suddenly hovered into the air. Without warning, one of the half spheres flew out towards Yami, morphing itself into a kind of wristband as it went. He swore as it slammed onto his wrist, firmly attaching itself in place. The other band, meanwhile, was firmly attached to the creature's wrist.

Yami struggled to rip it off, but it seemed firmly fixed in place.

"Duel."

Once again, there was a background of a raspy growl as the creature spoke. Yami's eyes bulged out as a green Duel Disk clicked into place on the arm of the extraterrestrial beast. It resembled the Chaos Duel Disk used by Paradias operatives only to a certain extent…. It was just that the Shocktrooper's Duel Disk looked a whole lot more _alive_. The deckslot was a solid, emerald-like green, while the area where cards were to be placed resembled the fins of a fish, a lighter, more yellowish-green, like that of the scales of a reptile.

"_Aliens dueling? And we thought we'd seen it all_."

"_You think this is going to work_?" asked Yugi grimly, as his darker half slid his own DD2 on.

"_We don't have an option. At the very least it'll draw attention from the other infiltrators and give the others time to escape. Anyway, we need to start being a little more proactive. I won't stop until we get to the bottom of this_."

(Shocktrooper: 8000, Yami: 8000)

The extraterrestrial creature was barely able to hold its cards within its fin-like hands. Drawing its sixth, the raspy voice echoed across the empty corridor.

"Legion Warrior (1800/1400), offensive position, normal summon."

An almost mutant-like, silvery creature outfitted with black armor materialized from the shadows onto the Shocktrooper's field. It was roughly as big as a large rhinoceros, with disproportionately large hands and feet, each about as big as a desk. Its eyes were like a pair of deep, hollow black voids. A thorny frill framed its head, with green stones embedded in its chest cavity and each shoulder. Its claws had spinning laser edged teeth like futuristic chainsaws.

Then the Shocktrooper slid two cards into its magic and trap card zone, the nightmare voice sounding in Yami's ears again.

"Defensive maneuvers are set in place. The enemy is given an opportunity to organize tactics."

Yami drew silently.

"I summon Breaker the Magical Warrior (1600/1000) in attack mode!"

A mage with mostly maroon armor and a cape, with gold trim and some blue jewels, appeared onto the field. He had a hood over his head, which covered blue skin. In his hands were a sword and shield, showing he wasn't just a mage, but was also a warrior.

"Since I just normal summoned Breaker, his effect activates. He now gains a Spell Counter, granting him an additional 300 attack points (1600 + 300 = 1900/1000)."

A small crimson ring of energy materialized around the sword of Breaker.

"Breaker, attack his Legion Warrior!"

The spellcasting swordsman charged across the field, and brought its blade down onto the towering mutant. The sword cleaved through the armor like a hot knife through butter, splitting the creature in half. Momentarily, the pair of pieces hung around, before exploding. Breaker maintained the pose for a second before sheathing his sword and returning to Yami's field.

(Shocktrooper: 7900, Yami: 8000)

The Shocktrooper let out a small groan. Yami noticed an electric spark around the band on its wrist as its life-points fell slightly.

"Reinforcements are called."

To Yami's eternal surprise, a second monster appeared on the Shocktrooper's field, identical to the first, except that it was larger and more muscular (2000/1400).

"When Legion Warrior is killed, information concerning the enemy is relayed to reinforcements. FOR THE LEGION!"

The Shocktrooper yelled out the last three words much more loudly, startling Yami. From what he gathered of the creature's rants, when Legion Warrior was destroyed in battle, another one was special summoned from its owner's deck, with that monster's attack points set at the attack points of the destroyer plus one hundred.

"Very well," he growled. "I activate my quick-play spell, Magical Dimension! By sacrificing a spellcaster on my field, I can special summon another one from my hand, and destroy one monster on your field. I choose my Dark Magician Girl (2000/1700)!"

A golden statue held up by chains in four different directions appeared. The top half opened, sending out a beam of energy at the maroon mage. The mage vanished, and the beam returned to within the statue.

Opening once more, the statue shot out a new beam. Forming in front of the statue, a young woman with long blonde hair, bright blue eyes, wearing a skimpy blue and pink mage's dress that showed her cleavage quite well with the dress barely covering her back side, a blue and pink mage's hat, and a staff in her right hand took to the field.

She fired out a small sphere in the direction of the Legion Warrior. Just as it was about to impact, the Shocktrooper reacted.

"Evasive action is taken."

One of the Shocktrooper's facedown cards flipped up to reveal Interdimensional Matter Transporter. Just as the Dark Magician Girl's attack was about to impact it, the creature of battle vanished into thin air.

Yami frowned. "_He wants that monster to survive_…"

"Dark Magician Girl, Dark Burning Attack!"

A pink, spear-shaped bolt of energy left the mage's staff, and slammed into the Shocktrooper. Without warning, the band on its wrist suddenly exploded with electricity, and its victim let out a demonic howl of agony.

Yami looked on, disconcerted. The electricity continued to wrack the body of the creature until its life-points stopped dropping.

(Shocktrooper: 5900, Yami: 8000)

"_I think there's some kind of correlation between the damage done and the amount of electricity someone is zapped with if you're dueling while wearing one of these bands_," muttered Yugi through their mental link.

Yami gritted his teeth.

"_Well then I suppose I'll just have to try not to take damage then…_"

"Then I set one card facedown and end my turn," declared Yami confidently.

The Shocktrooper drew.

"The need for evasive action has passed."

The Legion Warrior re-materialized on its field.

"Reorganization of forces…! Power Split, activate!"

The Shocktrooper began to dissolve into green sludge to Yami's disgust. The pile of sludge split into two further parts, which began to morph into two further shapes.

The first was a very advanced looking fighter jet. It was covered in heavy black armor exoskeleton, with the barrels of glowing cannons nestled at the back, glowing with emerald energy. The source of this was a green, glowing stone which sat between the two cannons. Its hull was very large, relative to the rest of its parts.

The other monster seemed to be made of the sludge itself, the only difference being that it was a deep shade of red. It was barely humanoid, with a bulbous head, tapering down to a thinner torso with spindly hands sticking out, and disappearing away into a barely visible tail. Two holes in the slime seemed to be its eyes.

"At the cost of a Legion-type monster, reorganization of forces occurs in the form of as many Legion-type monsters as possible from his hand, as long as the total strength of the reinforcements is equal to the strength of the dead soldier. Legion Armored Transport Craft (1000/2000) and Legion Plasma Titan (1000/1000)!"

Yami stared blankly at the Shocktrooper. "_It's speech patterns… They're so…_bizarre!"

"Legion Hunter, normal summon (1600/800)."

An amphibian like creature materialized onto the field of the Shocktrooper. It was bipedal, with turquoise skin. Its torso, shoulders, and half of its legs were covered in jet-black armor, with glowing green stones set in both its shoulders, as well as its chest. It held a crimson rifle in one hand, and glared down at the increasingly nervous Dark Magician Girl through the scope.

"Legion Hunter obeys commands unquestioningly. A monster-type is declared, and action will be taken in accordance with the suggested course. Spellcaster type is suggested."

A bolt of energy left the rifle and slammed into the Dark Magician Girl. She gave Yami a sad, pained smile, before her entire body dissolved away into nothingness.

"When a monster is destroyed outside of battle, Legion Armored Transport Craft grants four hundred life-points per fallen Legion-type field operative. Plasma Titan benefits, gaining an equal amount of strength as per the life-point increase."

(Shocktrooper: 6700, Yami: 8000)

Meanwhile, the Plasma Titan glowed with energy as its attack points took a turn up (1800/1000).

"Offensive, tactics, initiate. An assault is executed."

"_This is going to hurt,_" thought Yami grimly.

It did. The Legion Hunter fired off a bolt of green energy at him from its rifle, while the Armored Transport Craft let lose twin beams of energy from its cannons. The Plasma Titan vibrated for a second, and a part of its body separated from it, flying in the direction of Yami. The three attacks impacted him simultaneously, but it was nothing compared to the electricity which shot up from his right hand just a few seconds later.

He fell to his knees, clutching his chest with one hand and just barely stifling a cry of pain as his life-points plummeted.

(Shocktrooper: 6700, Yami: 3600)

"The adversary will attempt reorganization of tactics," echoed the Shocktrooper.

"I've decided that I'm about sick of your prattling!" snapped Yami as he staggered upwards.

"Draw!"

He snapped the top card off his deck and looked at it. Allowing himself a faint smile, he thought, "_The duel ends here_."

"I activate Monster Reborn, to special summon my Dark Magician Girl (200/1700) once again!"

The female mage reappeared in front of Yami, as he continued. "Then comes my facedown Sage's Stone, to call upon the one who has served me loyally for millennia. Answer me call and bring defeat to my foes…! Dark Magician (2500/2100)!"

Appearing next to his apprentice was the stronger mage in purple armor with flowing purple robes. He wore a strange set of armor, with a strange mage's hat, and had a powerful green staff that was nearly as tall as his body. His long hair that could be seen hanging out of his hat was purple and his eyes were the color of lilac.

"Then I activate Dedication Through Light and Darkness! I sacrifice Dark Magician to special summon Dark Magician of Chaos (2800/2600) from my deck!"

**The Dark Magician disappeared. A fiery pentagram formed on the field a slowly a mage in black tight fitting armor rose up through the flames. His blue skinned slightly gleamed in the flames, and his eyes were closed shut. He opened his eyes, to reveal flaming pupils. He then took his powerful staff in his hand and swung it out, making the flames on the field instantly disappear.**

"When Dark Magician of Chaos is special summoned, I can add another magic card to my hand from my graveyard. I choose Monster Reborn, to once again call upon Dark Magician (2500/2100)!"

Completing the trinity of mages was Yami's favorite monster once again.

"I equip Dark Magician of Chaos with Diffusion Wave Motion! At the cost of one thousand life-points, he will now attack all your monsters one by one. Chaos Scepter Blast!"

The legendary Chaos Mage raised his staff triumphantly, and it began to glow with black, chaotic energy at the tip. He swept his staff downwards, and a sphere of it came away and sped towards the trio of monsters on the Legion Shocktrooper's field. It split into three further spheres, with each taking out one monster at a time.

(Shocktrooper: 2700, Yami: 2600)

"Dark Magician, Dark Magician Girl, end this duel now!"

The two spellcasters crossed their staffs, and the point where the two weapons met began to glow with purplish black energy. Teacher and pupil dropped their rapiers simultaneously, the sphere flowing out towards the Shocktrooper, who was still writhing from agony as a result of the electricity which was shooting through his body due to the attack of the Dark Magician of Chaos. He was blown off his feet completely by the twin blasts.

(Shocktrooper: 0, Yami: 8000)

The ancient Pharaoh glanced at his life-point counter.

"What's this?"

He was distracted, however, by the screams of pain from the Shocktrooper. He looked on in shock to see that the electricity from the band continued to wrack its body. It let out one final shriek before its flesh began to literally wither away into nothingness. All that was left was a lingering trace of a green gas, which seemed to get absorbed by the green stone which was originally set in the Shocktrooper's chest: as it were, the stone seemed immune to destruction by the electricity. Within seconds, the creature was completely incinerated. The band which seemed responsible for its destruction clanked to the ground, along with the stone.

A metallic clank was heard. Yami looked up, alarmed, to see another creature stepping forward to take the place of the one that Yami had just defeated. Stepping down, it took the band from the ground and slipped it on. The green stone lay there, continuing to glow intensely.

(Shocktrooper Two: 8000, Yami: 8000)

"Fallen troops are to be replaced. The enemy will continue with his chosen course of action."

Yami frowned. "_So, a chain duel… As per the rules, my life-points get reset to eight thousand after my opponent loses. There is the risk of my decking out, but hopefully I'll have plowed through enough of these jokers by then to ensure things go the way I need them to_."

Yami didn't have any cards left in his hand, but with his trinity of magicians in play, he wasn't worried.

"I end my turn."

The Shocktrooper drew, and its raspy voice echoed out.

"Legion Shocktrooper (1900/1400), summon."

A monster identical to its controller materialized onto its field.

"Effect, activate. Cards are discarded, an equal number of reinforcements are called upon. The enemy may not be engaged for the duration of the turn."

The freakish creature slid two cards into its graveyard, and a pair of Shocktrooper tokens (1900/1400) (x2) appeared next to the original.

"_What's he playing at_?" thought Yami.

"Double Summon, activate. One more normal summon may be conducted during this turn. Come, Legion Attack Craft (1200/800)."

A jet black space fighter appeared among the swarm on the Shocktrooper's field, its body smooth and shining, meaning it had very thin plating. The forward part of it was split down the middle as well, a few gun turrets visible in the space between the two halves. It was covered with advanced, extraterrestrial weaponry, and had a green stone set in between the two turrets.

"Effect, activate. Legion Attack Craft requires sacrifices in the form of Legion-type monsters. An equal number of cards belonging to the opponent will be terminated."

Yami gasped as the trio of Shocktroopers transformed into a trinity of green orbs, which were absorbed by the space fighter. There was a bit of a small groan as the machinery within it creeked, and the Attack Craft fired out three consecutive spheres of green energy in the direction of the three magicians on Yami's field. They merely smiled sadly at him as they were decimated, one by one.

"Turn end. The enemy may plot a course of action."

Yami drew angrily.

"I summon Rapid-Fire Magician (1600/1200)!"

A mage with long flowing purple hair, a black pair of leather pants, a short sleeved cloak with black flowing cloak, an odd black hat, and two black finger cut off gloves then appeared. In each hand he held a staff with bird like claws, which clutched small orbs. To top it all off, around nine different colored spheres formed an arch around him.

"Attack his Legion Attack Craft now!"

The mage let lose a sphere of black flames from the tip of its staff. The flames collided with the machine, which was almost instantly destroyed, leaving bare, scrap bits scattered around on the floor in front of it.

(Shocktrooper Two: 7600, Yami: 8000)

The Shocktrooper let out a slight screech as electricity racked its body from the band.

"I will end my turn," breathed Yami.

The Shocktrooper snapped the top card off its deck.

"The species of the opponent is prone to irrational and emotionally driven thinking," droned the nightmare voice.

"Pot of Greed, activate."

Looking over the three cards in its hand through the visor covering its primal yellow eyes, the Shocktrooper slid one into its magic and trap card zone.

"Tribute for Phalanx, activate. One Legion-type monster within the deck is terminated. One Legion-type monster with a level lower than the sent monster is added to the hand. Legion Plasma Titan (1000/1000), is terminated. Legion Grey (300/200), will be added, and normal summoned."

Yami grimaced as the familiar silhouette of the disgusting, sludge-like monster appeared on the Shocktrooper's field before vanishing in a flash once again.

A tall, thin mutant appeared on Belial's field, filling it up. It was roughly humanoid, and extremely slender. It had long limbs, blood red eyes, and a large green stone settled in its chest. From its hands spread out numerous, tentacle-like fingers. Its body seemed to be made of pieces of some jet-black material as it bent over at an unnatural angle, leering at Yami.

"Double Spell, activate. One card is discarded, a spell card is taken from the adversary's graveyard. Monster Reborn is chosen. Card, activate. Legion Plasma Titan (1000/1000), come."

The red slime began to form over the field of the Shocktrooper, taking the large, lumbering, humanoid shape.

"Legion Grey is tuned with Legion Plasma Titan. Synchro Summon, Legion Avatar – Brood Mother (2600/2000)."

The thin tuner monster once again evaporated into spheres of light, surrounding the living tower of slime which itself had turned into a glowing star. The trio began to spin around, disappearing into a large vortex of light, from which emerged a tall, screeching female fiend, covered in a black, armor like-hide, with a number of green stones set into the armor like lavish jewels. She had four, clawed arms, which were slashing wildly at thin air, which were attached to frilly spines on her shoulder, with a similar one framing her head.

"A Legion-type Synchro monster summoned with Legion Grey as a Synchro material is strengthened by four hundred for every terminated Legion Grey."

The Brood Mother (3000/2000) was hit by a stream of green energy from the Shocktrooper's graveyard.

"An offensive assault is initiated. Legion Avatar – Brood Mother will terminate Rapid-Fire Magician."

The screaming female general charged across the field. Two of her arms grabbed the mage on each side, pinning its arms to its side. The other two ripped its head off in a most gruesome fashion, spilling blood and body parts all over the place. It took all of Yami's discipline to not look away.

"It seems a traitor has been discovered within the ranks of the enemy."

To Yami's shock, the headless body of the late Rapid-Fire Magician reached down and picked up its own fallen head. Somehow, it jammed it back onto the remnant stump of its neck. The result was not pretty, but a green glow had entered its eyes as it trotted over to the Shocktrooper's field. A tentacle reached out from the Brood Mother's back, attaching itself to the point where the now dead magician's head was loosely connected to the rest of its body.

"Upon the termination of a monster by Legion Avatar – Brood Mother, a Brood Token with identical statistics and effects is special summoned to my field."

Yami grimaced as bolts of electricity shot up his arm. The pain was getting to him, as much as he tried to ignore it. Both the Brood Mother and the Brood Token (1600/1200) snarled at him.

(Shocktrooper Two: 7600, Yami: 6600)

"The enemy is given an opportunity to reorganize tactics."

Yami drew.

"_Heart of the cards, now would be a good time to help me out…._"

He looked at the card and exhaled.

"I set a monster in defense mode and end my turn."

The Shocktrooper drew.

"A course of action is decided upon. An attack is initiated. Brood Token targets the enemy's monster."

The magician, which was looking more and more disgusting by the second, raised its staff and a bolt of crimson energy lanced out towards Yami's field. The card image soon vanished to reveal a young mage in a kneeling position. The mage had blonde hair that stood up somewhat, a red bandanna that was somewhat long in the back, purple body armor that covered its body, except for its arms, and had a green staff positioned defensively in front of itself. The energy struck the mage, causing it to shatter almost immediatley.

"When Apprentice Magician (400/800) is destroyed, I may special summon one level two or lower spellcaster from my deck in facedown defense mode," declared Yami with a faint smile.

"Brood Mother will initiate the second stage of the assault," droned the Shocktrooper in its bizarre voice.

Yami didn't want to see it again. He looked down, averting the goings on upon his field from the line of sight. It was grotesque enough for his actions to be justifiable, as the card flipped up to reveal, predictably, another Apprentice Magician, which was decapitated by the nightmarish Brood Mother.

Slowly, it somehow put itself back together and trekked over to join the Shocktrooper's other monsters as a Brood Token (400/800). Another tentacle from the Brood Mother ensured it would remain there.

Yami slammed another card facedown on his deck, and exhaled.

"Turn end. The enemy may reorganize tactics."

Yami had to admit he was surprised. First off, he still hadn't been able to grasp the concept of _Aliens_ _dueling_. Second, it was even more shocking that the Shocktrooper was aware that he had possibly used the second Apprentice Magician's effect to special summon a third one, which, with eight hundred defense points, would be too much for the four hundred of his Legion Brood token.

On Yami's part, it was a very good double bluff, as the Shocktrooper was about to find out. If his next draw panned out the way he wanted it to, the duel would end. If not, he still had a very good chance of getting back into the duel in any case.

"I activate Graceful Charity."

Yami snapped three cards off his deck, and held one up. Repayment of Losses. He slid it, and another card into his graveyard before drawing a further one.

He grinned as he looked at his next cards. Perfect.

"I activate Secrecy of the Magician! This works like Book of Moon, but for spellcaster type monsters. I can remove one monster in your graveyard from play, and special summon one spellcaster type monster from my removed from play pile, at the cost of a mere one thousand life-points!"

(Shocktrooper Two: 7600, Yami: 5600)

The word 'mere' didn't seem to quite fit the agony Yami endured as the dreaded shocks once again wracked his limbs. He ignored it as best he could:

The Legion Grey's silhouette flitted in and out of existence, as the Brood Mother let out a low groan while its attack points fell (2600/2000).

"Meanwhile, I'll special summon my Dark Magician of Chaos (2800/2600) once again!"

The powerful chaos mage appeared on Yami's field once again, dressed in its black bodysuit, with its crimson staff pointed at the Legion Brood Mother.

"Then I activate its effect, allowing me to take a spell card from my graveyard. I choose Monster Reborn, which I activate immediately. Come to me again, Dark Magician (2500/2100)!"

Appearing without a moment's hesitation was the purple robed mage once more. He instantly crossed his arms with his staff in hand upon his reappearance.

"I flip my facedown Magician of Faith (300/400)."

The image of the brown backed card vanished, instantly revealing a young female mage with long pink hair up in a pony tail, wearing purple and pink robes with a yellow cord belt, holding a long golden staff with a crescent moon at the top of the staff.

"Then I use her effect, which allows me to return one spell card from my graveyard to my hand. I choose Monster Reborn again, and use it to special summon Dark Magician Girl (2000/1700)!"

The blonde haired young woman with blue eyes, a revealing blue and pink mage's outfit, and a small golden staff formed in front of Yami.

"Then I tribute my Magician of Faith to call upon Cybernetic Magician (2400/1000)!"

A small flash appeared on the field as the young female mage vanished, and a new mage clad in white appeared. He had a small pointed hat, a white and silver trench coat/robes, blue pants, white boots that went up to his knees, and a small l-shaped rod that had a small bit past the corner of the L size. His hair was blonde, and his skin tone was light green.

He smirked at the Shocktrooper.

"I admit to a bit of a gamble on that last move. You could have attacked my Magician of Faith and flipped it a turn early, disrupting my strategy. You thought I was going to be predictable and choose to instead special summon my third Apprentice Magician (400/800). Just goes to show that wherever you've come from, intending to take our planet, you are _not_ going to beat us at our own game."

Yami pointed a triumphant finger in the direction of the Brood Mother.

"Now, I use Cybernetic Magician's effect, discarding one card from my hand in order to reduce your Legion Avatar – Brood Mother's attack points down to two thousand!"

The white robed mage twirled his staff and let out a small white sphere, which struck the hideous, tentacle creature (2000/2000).

"The duel ends now! Dark Magician of Chaos, lead the charge and destroy Brood Mother. Chaos Scepter Blast!"

Yami's strongest magician fired off a sphere of black energy at the Synchro monster, scoring a direct hit. The blast exploded just as it touched its target, blowing the abomination's head off. As a result, a shockwave travelled down its spine and severed the tentacles attaching themselves to the pair of Brood Tokens, which exploded as well.

(Shocktrooper Two: 6800, Yami: 5600)

Yami smirked. "I guessed right. When the Brood Mother is destroyed, she takes all Brood Tokens with her. Now, Cybernetic Magician, Dark Magician, and Dark Magician Girl, attack his life-points directly!"

Three of the quarter of magicians raised their staffs as the fourth stood by and watch. A hail of energy waves, one purplish-black, one pink, and one a bright white, slammed into the Shocktrooper one after another, knocking him off his feet.

Yami grimaced. Would it happen again?

It did. Yami's second opponent thrashed in agony as thousands of volts continued to wrack its body. Within seconds, it too had been vaporized.

Yami had been so focused on the duel that he did not notice that he had acquired a small gathering of spectators: none of them human.

They hissed and roared as another Shocktrooper stepped forward and slid the band on. Now two stones lay glowing next to him.

(Shocktrooper Three: 8000, Yami: 8000)

"_Sure you can continue, Yami_?" asked Yugi, concerned, through their mental link.

Yami shrugged. "_I hardly have a choice. This was the plan, it's best to stick with it_."

The Shocktrooper drew.

"Defensive tactics, initiate. Two cards are set. Turn end."

Yami drew, and let a faint smile show.

"I activate Dark Magic Attack!"

As he spoke, the Dark Magician raised his free hand, and a sphere of purple energy began to form within it.

"When Dark Magician is in play, I can use it to destroy all magic and trap cards on your field!"

The sphere was released, and slammed into the images of the two brown-backed cards. They exploded, but not before they were shown to be Mirror Force and Hyper Refresh, respectively. The Shocktrooper's plan had not paid off.

Yami pointed at the Shocktrooper's field triumphantly.

"My magicians, attack his life-points directly!"

A hail of different colored attacks left the staffs of the quartet of spellcasters on Yami's field, slamming into the Shocktrooper. Before they even touched him, thousands of volts of energy shot through his body, drawing shrieks which none could hear but the surrounding, hissing spectators, and Yami himself.

For the third time, Yami's attacks had ended the life of one of the extraterrestrial invaders. To be honest, he didn't feel all that bad about it.

Another Shocktrooper approached the grizzly remains and slipped on the band.

Yami paled inwardly. "_How many are there_?"

(Shocktrooper Four: 8000, Yami: 8000)

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sarah had fallen to her knees.

"NO!" she screeched. "Get the hell out!"

She was met by a piercing emerald gaze.

"Ah… Sarah. I seem to recall meeting you once. Unfortunately the moment you became aware that I had taken control you informed the guards present, which resulted in my subjection to another rather grueling session of therapy."

Rikuo, Bakura and Deondre continued to stare on in horror. What the hell was going on?

"I didn't really appreciate that… I will get appropriate revenge when necessary. At this point, however, it seems I will be Mandarin's tour guide on tonight's trip to hell."

The giant man seemed flustered. "Those are tough words, Jason, or whatever the hell it is you want to call yourself-…"

"The name," came the drawling retort, "is _Quinn_."

"SHUT UP!" screamed Sarah. "Fight him, Jason, _please_!"

Quinn's smile broadened.

"_Him_? Fight _me_? Maybe you should feature on Comedy Central, Sarah. You should have seen him. It was so pathetic."

He raised a hand absently, observing it.

"To think that disgusting, weak aberration actually controlled the power within _this _body….."

He gave a short, bark-like laugh.

"He cried, you know. Like a child. He cried, while begging me to help him-…"

His words were cut off because Sarah had bounded across the hallway and delivered an absolutely devastating punch to his jaw, before anybody could stop her. Despite her lithe frame, Sarah spent a considerable amount of time in the gym, and a single well aimed blow from her with the appropriate amount of power behind it could break anyone's neck.

Momentarily, Quinn's head hung back.

"Get back here, foolish girl!" snapped Bakura, taking a step forward.

Quinn's body was starting to glow. At first, it was just a gentle, lime green. Within seconds, the aura had exploded into a deep emerald which matched his eyes. Slowly, he craned his neck forward, forcing Sarah's fist back.

She stepped back in shock. One single muscle in his neck was strong enough to counter all the strength in her arm.

He flashed her a sadistic grin.

"My turn."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Eizan knew his worst nightmare had been realized.

The Jade Star had arrived. Its denizens were probably flooding all over the world at this point, wreaking havoc. Eagle would be a mess. The hunt for the Seals of Immortality would probably take a back seat as the Council debated what to do about this newest development. Most likely, they wouldn't offer much help due to their non-intervention policy. Then there was Paradias. God only knew what Reflect was up to. Eizan knew deep down that his rival had anticipated the arrival of the Jade Star just like he had. Whether he had been prepared for the sudden jumpstart of its arrival time was an unknown factor. There were still four Seals out there, one in the hands of a madman who was powerful enough to rule the City of the Dead, and the other three behind the infinite layers of protection that the Council had placed on them so long ago.

Eizan gripped his fist tightly as he tried to stare down into the mist from the cockpit window. Surely things could not get worse.

Within the next five seconds, he was proved wrong. Very, _very _wrong.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Bakura had just gotten to Sarah in time to generate a shield of energy using his Millennium Ring. Had he failed to do so, her fate would have been death, certainly.

The reason for this was that barely a second after Quinn had uttered those words, his entire body seemed to be eclipsed by an aura of shining green light. Another second or two later, and the energy had exploded outward. Basically, anything in its path had been destroyed. Destroyed was actually a bit of a mild word. Completely decimated, atomized, and obliterated would prove to be a more apt description of what happened.

The light was really too blinding for the demons, Sarah or Bakura to see anything behind the shield the latter had created. All that their sensory organs could pick up was the sound of crashing rocks from the ceiling and walls of Mandarin's gigantic palace. Most of them even clanged off the energy shield.

Even after the entire palace had more or less crumbled around them, vision was near zero due to the cloud of dust which had risen up.

Coughing and waving her hand to clear the air in front of her eyes, Sarah squinted to get a look at the dueling field, her heart beat through the roof, terror filling her senses.

Jason, no, _Quinn_, was standing in the exact same position, that same mild, terrifying smile gracing his features. Mandarin stood on the other end behind his army of monsters, a look of complete horror plastered across his face.

There they stood, in the open valley, Eizan's plane circling around. The mist had disappeared, presumably as a result of Quinn's outburst.

He laughed again, that same bark-like chuckle.

"Now, as for you, Mandarin…. Where were we?"

(Quinn: 200, Mandarin: 24800)

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**HAHAHAHA I love cliffies :). If I switch to another game from Tag Force I can guarantee a very fast update. Enjoy :). **


	37. The First Cut is the Deepest

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE: The First Cut is the Deepest

**At last. My sincere apologies for the delay.**

**Candyman123: Thanks. Don't you have any other thoughts on the chapter?**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: Legion forever :D. They kick ass, that's for certain. As for how much, we'll wait and see.**

**Atemu's Sis: A good point. I've tried to make it clear earlier: the Council is not ALLOWED to interfere with anything. The fact that Apocalypse is actually messing with the natural order of things by acting independently makes him a deviant. If the Council were to step out and fight the Legion, they'd be no better than him in principle.**

The original mist-filled valley was now clear. Where Mandarin's colossal palace had once been, now pieces of rock and rubble lay around. Standing in the center of the destruction was the source of it all: Quinn. Directly opposite him was Mandarin himself, backed by an army of Stronghold Shadows, which were bearing down on Quinn's lone Clevonce. Even if one neglected card advantage, Mandarin had a gigantic advantage in terms of life-points, twenty-four thousand eight hundred to Quinn's pedestrian two hundred.

Sarah, Rikuo, Bakura and Deondre looked on, the former terrified, and the latter three bewildered.

"What is going on here, girl?" hissed Rikuo.

Sarah was unable to answer. She had fallen to one knee, a lone tear rolling down her cheek.

Quinn ignored the spectators.

"Now, as for you, Mandarin….. I think it's time I clean up Jason's mess."

"Try it!" spat his opponent.

Quinn drew languidly, bringing his total hand size to three.

"Personally I find this deck a bit of a bore, but I don't need anything much to defeat you comprehensively. I activate the magic card Synchro Boost. It equips to one monster on my field, increasing its level by one, and attack by five hundred."

Clevonce (1700/400) glowed momentarily.

"Useless!" howled Mandarin.

Quinn's face lit up with that same, sadistic smile once again.

"Solar Flare Dragon (1500/1000), come and serve me."

His field seemed to explode with flames. In the thick of it was a single dragon, about fifteen feet long. One could not tell the difference between the dragon itself and the fire that surrounded it. Its head was blackened and the skull seemed to be partially exposed, with horns on either side. Large, fiery wings opened from its back and it roared at the far more powerful Stronghold Shadows.

"Solar Flare Dragon, Clevonce… Disappear! Synchro Summon, Solarkinetic Dragon (2500/2300)."

Panik gasped as the Psychic monster vanished into two spheres of light, and was soon joined by a third after the dragon evaporated as well. They formed a triangle, and the entire field was enveloped with light. When the light began to dim, a tall, draconic form was towering over Jason's field as lightning flickered around it, and a low wave of fire washed over the ground.

It was a mechanical-looking dragon, but one could see it was still living and breathing. Parts of it were had a shade of metallic crimson, especially its wings, which flared out behind. Its claws looked like they had been made of metal, and each one was as long as a sword. As one went lower down, it began to look more and more machine-like, with the barrels of flamethrowers visible and spitting out small spheres of fire. The lower part of its body was completely mechanical, with its machine-like body open and a mess of wires and circuits hooking it to the ground. It roared out at Mandarin, and the aura of flames around it flared outwards. It had a large brain visible on the back of its head.

"So you choose to use that pathetic monster to match my Stronghold Shadows?" retorted Mandarin.

"Indeed I do," replied Quinn calmly. "When my life-points are lower than those of my opponents, Solarkinetic Dragon gains the difference in attack points."

Mandarin's lower jaw fell open like a cash register as the drake's attack points skyrocketed, making it easily the strongest monster in play (26100/2300).

"Thanks to your helpful Special Relativity Field, I will gain an equal amount of life-points."

(Quinn: 24800, Mandarin: 24800)

"It doesn't matter how many life-points you have!" panicked Mandarin. "My Stronghold Shadows will still defeat you!"

"That is going to be rather hard if they're dead, isn't it?" yawned Quinn.

He tapped a button on his Duel Disk, and the lone facedown card flipped up.

Mandarin recoiled in shock.

"Not Burst Breath!"

"I tribute Solarkinetic Dragon, which happens to be a dragon type monster, in order to destroy each and every monster on your field which has attack points lower than his own," concluded Quinn, eying the five Stronghold Shadows. The look within his emerald eyes was almost…. _bloodthirsty_.

The newly summoned Synchro monster let out a mournful growl, knowing that its fate was sealed. It unfolded its wings, revealing that a sphere of glowing flames had been growing within them. It let out one final, pained screech before the flames exploded outward. The Solarkinetic Dragon itself was seared to the bone right away, its howls of pain being out short by the complete and total incineration of its source. The waves moved forward and blazed over the five Stronghold Shadows, reducing them all to cinders within moments. They didn't stop there, however, moving on and consuming a horrified Mandarin.

Quinn's sadistic laughter echoed out as his opponent howled in pain, the flames searing his skin and burning up his clothing which did not consist of armor. Even as the flames cleared, Mandarin was forced to shrug off the metallic part which still remained, lest he risk being permanently burned by the white-hot steel.

"Such exquisite agony," whispered Quinn. "It's delicious, it really is."

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?" roared Rikuo.

Quinn turned to face the Wolf Demon General, a look of utter disdain on his face. "How many times must I repeat myself, mutt? My name is Quinn."

Rikuo was breathing fast, utter shock and anger in his eyes.

"Where…. Where is Becker?"

Quinn let out a mirthless chuckle. "Jason? That whiny loser isn't coming back anytime soon. Any time at _all_, most likely. A real man faces the music, and let me tell you, Jason's singing was extremely off key."

He flicked a strand of hair which had fallen in his face. "I have no argument with you, Amero. You and your demon friend, along with this wannabe burglar here should scram. Sarah and the others are going to get what's coming to them regardless, and I must warn you, if you stand in my way then I don't care how old you are, I will rip you to shreds with my bare hands and move on."

Rikuo glared at him, black lightning beginning to sparkle in his hands. Bakura, too, seemed infuriated at the strange individual's comments, and his Millennium Ring was beginning to glow.

Quinn raised an eyebrow. "So it's a battle you motley bunch want, is it?"

He raised his free hand, and green energy began to form ."I'll be happy to give you one. Then I'll dance on your gravestone."

A heaving, panting voice echoed out.

"Damn you, Quinn, Jason, whoever the hell you are…. I'm still around, and you are not running away from this duel."

It was Mandarin. Quinn quirked an eyebrow.

"Ah yes. I'm going to have to teach you to finish what you started."

"Strong words, you disgusting child!" spat Mandarin. "In case you haven't noticed, the both of us have nearly twenty-five thousand life-points remaining, and plenty of cards left in our respective decks. This duel is far from over."

Quinn smirked. "You really do talk too much, my awkward little friend. I'm going to make sure the first thing I do is burn your tongue."

"You entered _my_ hell, little man," hissed Mandarin. "Now, you are going to be punished by the devil…. _Me_."

"You're not the devil, you're practice."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Duel Academy?" ventured Kevin cautiously. "Are we after the Legendary Demons or something?"

Angel smiled a superior smile to him.

"Not the Academy, persay," he drawled. They were standing behind a large piece of undergrowth, and could make out the dim shapes of Chancellor Sheppard and Vellian Crowler herding a bunch of students into buses. It was evident that after the arrival of the extraterrestrial 'visitors', parents had insisted upon their children being sent home.

Of course, it was a tactical disaster. Kaiba took paranoia to a whole new level, so the Academy was built like a fortress. The bunker was well-stocked and could take many students during a siege, and besides, it was in the middle of nowhere… Certainly preferable to being in the line of fire in big cities.

Humans, thought Angel dispassionately. Emotional, foolish creatures. Letting their feelings come in the way of tactical sense. Ah well, their loss.

He jerked his head to one of the cliffs. "There's a cave there…."

"What about it?" pressed Kevin.

"Your path to defeating Mr. Kaiba," came the low chuckle in reply.

"Stop talking in riddles," snapped Kevin.

Angel looked at him, and a dark look crossed his face. "Watch your tone."

Kevin paled. "I'm sorry…. sir."

Within seconds, that same jovial glint was back in Angel's eyes.

"Hurry now. This is the first of two tombs we have to visit."

"Who's tombs are they?"

"Oh, don't worry yourself about the second one," quipped Angel. "You will have your hands full here."

"Then what about this one? Whose is it?"

Angel let out a dark chuckle.

"Nightshroud."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

(Shocktrooper Ten: 0, Yami: 6400)

Yami let out a heavy gasp as his body count now went into double digits, nodding appreciatively to the Mirage Knight (5000/2000), which had just finished off his last opponent. For the last three duels it had been in play thanks to his handy continuous trap Imperial Iron Wall, which prevented cards from being removed from play. Thanks to Big Bang Shot, it was dealing a lot of damage with each attack, and had allowed Yami to dispatch a few Shocktroopers with considerably greater ease. Best to stick with what worked….

"Come and get some!" he bellowed to the mass of extraterrestrials which had clogged the hallway around him.

They roared in reply, and his Millennium Puzzle exploded with golden energy.

A faint grin crossed his face. The thrill of battle. Nothing beat it. He was enjoying this… Somewhat.

Suddenly, the mass was parted by a towering figure. It seemed almost identical to the first one that had burst through the door and engaged Zerato in battle. Quite possibly the same one… The thought sent a shiver down Yami's spine. That would mean, of course, that the angel had been killed. He didn't quite want to contemplate that possibility at this point, choosing instead to size up his latest opponent.

He was an impressive fellow, standing nearly nine feet tall, and dwarfing his brethren in the process. His armor was a dark hue of orange, with the same speaking apparatus exiting his helm as the rest, and somehow making its way across his deformed face towards his jaws, which bared teeth the size of knives. A tail maybe four feet long, give or take, swept out behind him. A Duel Disk which had a very large clip on mechanism was attached to his bulging right arm. Somehow, in his clawed fingers, he held a deck.

Immediately, the ruckus ceased as the remaining Shocktroopers stood, silenced, almost _respectful_. This seemed to be their commander….

"You shall be destroyed ," he gargled.

"FOR THE LEGION!"

Yami ignored the chorus of hissing voices which had joined in to what seemed to be this species' trademark chant, choosing to look down at his five card hand. If they had sent in a bigger gun, that meant his plan was working. Just this one more duel, hopefully….

The beast attached the band to its wrist, and fired off its holo projectors.

(Commander: 8000, Yami: 8000)

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The figure sneered inwardly.

Ten Shocktroopers in an hour? The Pharaoh was good, definitely.

Maybe it was time to mix things up a little….

He tapped a few keys on the keyboard in front of him. Perfect. Let the old coot try this out….

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"A counteroffensive is to be launched," rasped the nightmare voice. "Normal summon, Legion Crawler (300/800)."

The Commander's monster seemed to fit its name rather aptly. It was a disgusting thing, resembling a mutated worm for all the world. It stretched maybe five feet in length, and its skin was a mixture of pink and a hue of light crimson. Spikes stuck out through most of its body, and two, cruel, slit-less eyes peered out at Yami and his Mirage Knight (3200/2000).

Yami shivered. The Legion's monsters kept getting freakier and freakier….

"Effect of Legion Crawler, activate. Both players tribute one monster in play. Then, one level four or lower monster is special summoned from the hand."

Yami swore as the worm wriggled its way across the field, and threw itself onto his knight. The brave warrior struggled, but with every movement, the serrated blades which made up the crawler's armor slashed it apart. In a final, last ditch attempt, he buried his scythe in his attacker's head. Too late, however. Staggering backwards, the Mirage Knight let out a pained moan before collapsing to his wounds. Next to him, the Crawler exploded as well.

Yami was furious, but decided not to show it. The speed with which his eleventh opponent had defeated the one card which had allowed him to race through his previous opponents was shocking. Well, what option did he have…

"I call upon Skilled Dark Magician (1900/1700)!"

A mage in black robes with large shoulder pads, a green staff held in two hands, black gloves, a black helmet, and only his face visible appeared.

"Come, level five monster: Legion Absorber (500/2000), defensive position."

A strange, sickly pale and almost skeletal figure materialized onto the Commander's field. Its skin was a very pale shade of blue, with most of it sinking over its framework, hanging lose. It had no legs, with just a pair of arms somehow being held up by an invisible force. The creature's fingers were disproportionate to the size of the rest of its body, strangely thick, and giving off a mild aura of green energy. A stone of a similar color was set on the creature's forehead, above two lidless, slit-like eyes.

Yami growled. With only five hundred attack points, it was sure to have a fairly strong effect.

"Card set. Turn end."

Yami drew, bringing his total hand size to five. A strategy began to form in his mind.

"You come to our planet… Killing its people and purging its resources…. And you expect us to lie down and take it?" he snarled.

He clicked a button on his Duel Disk, and the field spell card zone opened. Yami slipped a card into it.

"I will show you the power that we of this Earth command! I activate the field spell Magical Citadel of Endymion!"

The area around them began to shift and transform. The ground beneath them turned a lush green, and a towering castle rose up behind Yami. It consisted of one turret in the middle which dwarfed everything around it, and a quarter of others surrounding it, balanced on a giant ring. The entire structure was glowing with energy, white rings of it floating around the turrets.

"Every time I activate a spell card, Magical Citadel of Endymion gains one counter," continued Yami. "As to what purpose they serve, you will be let in on that soon. For now, I call upon Magical Exemplar (1700/1400)."

Materializing onto Yami's field was a lady dressed in a flowing blue gown, with a line of white symbols emblazoned across the front. She had straight black hair coming down to her shoulders. Benevolent features were framed by a solid gold necklace, paired with a similar crown on her forehead. Her hands glowed with white energy.

"Then I activate the spell card Gather Your Mind. This allows me to add one spell card called 'Gather Your Mind' from my deck to my hand, although I can only activate one copy per turn. In essence, it serves to provide me with more spell counters, specifically, one for my Magical Citadel of Endymion, and two for my Magical Exemplar, and another one for my Skilled Dark Magician."

As he spoke, the female spellcaster began to glow, with two of the symbols on her gown lighting up.

"Then I activate Pot of Duality, which allows me to look at the top three cards of my deck, add one to my hand, and return the other two back in any order."

He looked at the top three cards and smirked.

"I think I'll just add this one to my hand: Skilled White Magician (1700/1900). Since I just activated another spell card, my Magical City of Endymion another counter, and Magical Exemplar two. Now I use my Exemplar's effect: once per turn I may sacrifice any number of counters on him, and special summon a spellcaster in my hand or graveyard of an equal level! I choose my Skilled White Magician (1700/1900)!"

A mage in white robes and cloak with a white hood and staff appeared onto the field in a crouching position. On his cloak, there were three half spheres: one on each shoulder, with one on his chest.

"Now, since my Skilled Dark Magician has three spell counters, I can sacrifice him to special summon my Dark Magician (2500/2100) from the graveyard!"

The black robed magician vanished, all three orbs lit up, and was replaced by the iconic purple one, holding his long green staff at the ready.

"Then I activate yet another spell: Foolish Burial. I choose to send Dark Red Enchanter (1700/2200) from my deck to my graveyard, and in the process grant Magical City of Endymion and Skilled White Magician both a spell counter each, and Magical Exemplar, two."

Yami found the appropriate card in his deck and slid it into his graveyard.

" Now, I show you the might of my Citadel: I can remove spell counters from it, once per turn, in place of those belonging to any other card which may require removal of spell counters! So I remove two from my Citadel, and sacrifice Skilled White Magician, who already has one on it, in order to special summon from my deck Buster Blader (2600/2300)!"

The white mage smiled slightly as his three counters dimmed and he vanished, only to be seen placed into the large pot. In his place, a large warrior with purple, silver, and some gold trimmed armor, a purple hood over his head, with red eyes, two small prongs on his head, and a large lance on his back appeared onto the field.

"This ends now! Dark Magician, destroy his Legion Absorber! Dark Magic Attack!"

Raising his staff, the purple armored mage fired a blast of green energy straight at the strange beast. The sphere slammed into it, but was momentarily stopped by an invisible field. Yami looked on it surprise as the Absorber wriggled its body, and the field expanded. The sphere went right back, splitting into three separate ones as it went, and slamming into the trio of monsters on Yami's field (1700/2100) (1800/2300) (900/1400).

(Commander: 8000, Yami: 7700)

"What's this?"

The Commander droned a reply. "When a spell card is activated, Legion Absorber gains an Infection counter. Monsters on the field of the adversary will lose points multiplied by the number of counters present of their current battle position."

Yami frowned. This was not good…. Now even his Buster Blader, as strong as it was, could be defeated by an average level four beatstick.

"Very well," he snarled. "I set my final card facedown and end my turn."

The Commander drew.

"Legion Absorber is shifted to an offensive position."

The sickly thin, frail creature, which had been floating in the air with its legs crossed up until then, stood up right, and gazed across at Yami's Magical Exemplar, Dark Magician, and Buster Blader.

"Normal summon, Tribe-Infecting Virus (1600/1000)."

Appearing next to the skeletal Absorber were three beasts, all covered in disgusting purple warts, and looking as sick as any individual Yami had ever seen. One was a standing, reptilian beast, gagging as its hands clutched its throat. The second looked a bit like a crocodile, rolling around in misery and groaning as searing pain shot through its body. The third looked barely alive, a baby dragon which was basically skin thrown over a skeleton. From behind them, a cat peeked out warily. It seemed to be unaffected by the affliction which harmed the other three.

"Discard, one card. Type declared: spellcaster."

Yami looked on in horror as the skin of the trio of creatures began to change color to a more healthy shade of a pale blue. A dark mist materialized over them, and floated over to Yami's Dark Magician and Magical Exemplar. The Buster Blader snapped his head around in shock as the mist descended upon his two comrades. They fell to the ground, choking in agony as the disease seared their skin. Soon, they were gone.

The ancient Pharaoh looked up fiercely. "You will pay for that!"

The Commander ignored him. "Spell card, activate. Monster Reborn. Special summon, Dark Magician (2500/2100)."

Yami didn't really know what to think anymore. He could only look on helplessly as his favorite monster, the one closest to his soul, the star of his deck, appeared next to the trance inducing monster and the extremely sick triplets. There was a momentary look of fleeting sorrow on its face, but it quickly changed to a derisive sneer.

Meanwhile, since another spell card had been activated, the Legion Absorber gained another Infection counter, meaning Buster Blader (1600/2300) was weakened even further.

"Dark Magician, put offensive tactics into action. Chosen medium of combat: Dark Magic Attack." Yami braced himself as his favorite monster unleashed a devastating sphere of green energy at its former ally and one of its most important partners. The Blader attempted to parry with its sword, but was unable to: the attack ripped right through it and went on, crashing into Yami.

He fell to one knee, gasping in pain.

(Commander: 8000, Yami: 6800)

"Tribe Infecting Virus and Legion Absorber will conclude the offensive sequence."

The dark mist floated over again, choking Yami. Meanwhile, the skeletal absorber slowly walked across the field, a sickly smile spreading across its features. It raised a single, spider like hand, and pressed one finger against Yami's forehead. Indescribable pain shot through him, and he roared in pain, falling down on one knee, unable to breathe.

(Commander: 8000, Yami: 4700)

"Card set. Turn end."

Yami drew heavily. A look at his next card brightened his demeanor, however.

"I play Pot of Avarice, returning Skilled Dark Magician, Skilled White Magician, Dark Magician Girl, Magical Exemplar, and Cybernetic Magician back to my deck so that I may draw two cards."

He did so, and looking over the bare two cards in his hand, a strategy formed in his mind.

"I activate my facedown magic card, Call of the Haunted! I revive Buster Blader (2600/2300)."

He waited with baited breath as the powerful swordsman once again appeared on his field. Without fail, the five Infection counters kicked in, lowering its attack points once again (1600/2300).

"There's still time for a turnaround! I activate the quick-play spell card, Code Change! Now, if there is one card in play with an effect which relates to a particular monster type, I may change that type to any that I desire until the end of the turn. Now, Buster Blader gains five hundred attack points for every dragon type monster on both fields or in both graveyards. Now, I choose to change that to Legion-type!"

The Commander still looked unperturbed as the swordsman's attack points increased once again (2600/2300).

"Now, attack and destroy his Legion Absorber!"

The warrior charged across the field. The sword flew up, and slowly, it fell, severing the head of the terrible monster from its body. It was left rolling to the ground, before both the headless corpse and the head itself vanished into thin air.

(Commander: 5900, Yami: 4700)

"Then I set one card facedown," he breathed. "That ends my turn." Despite the expiration of Code Change's effect, Buster Blader's effect did not change: since the Absorber was off the field, it now retained its original attack points.

"Draw."

The Commander now held five cards to Yami's zero.

"Discard, one card. Type declared: warrior. Tribe Infecting Virus, activate."

Yami smirked as the mist began to float towards his Buster Blader.

"This, time, I'm ready! I chain my facedown Forbidden Chalice! One monster in play gains four hundred attack points, but has its effect negated until the end of the turn. I know just which monster I want to choose…!"

He pointed triumphantly at the Commander's monster as its attack points increased slightly (2000/1000). The mist vanished, however.

The Commander did not seem to perturbed. "Two cards set. Dark Magician and Tribe Infecting Virus, switch to a defensive position. Turn end."

Yami drew calmly. "I play Graceful Charity, allowing me to draw three cards at the cost of discarding two."

He slid two cards into his graveyard. "They were both Repayment of Losses, meaning I can draw an additional two cards. The total number of counters on Magical Citadel of Endymion now numbers five."

Now holding a total of four cards, a strategy began to form in Yami's mind. "Then comes Snatch Steal! I may take control of one monster on your side of the field, at the cost of affording you one thousand life-points per each of your standby-phases. Now, return to me, Dark Magician!"

The grateful mage walked over to Yami's field, taking his place next to Buster Blader.

"Now, Magical Citadel of Endymion has six counters. I can pay all of them in order to special summon to my field from my hand Endymion, the Master Magician (2700/1700)!"

Appearing next to the other two monsters was an even stronger one. He stood nearly seven feet tall, and looking at him, one was reminded of Dark Paladin (2900/2400), which, ironically, was the fusion of the other two monsters present on Yami's field. He was dressed in a purple garb, with lines of ivory blazing through it, interlaced with gold at some points. He had an elaborate magician's hat which was even longer than his head, with two giant ivory tusks attached to his shoulders. He held a long purple staff in his right hand, and gazed out at the Commander angrily.

"When Endymion is special summoned by this means, I may add one spell card from my deck to my hand!" declared Yami. "I choose the third Repayment of Losses."

Finding the card in his deck, he added it to his hand and then surveyed the field.

"Now I activate Endymion's effect: once per turn, I may discard a spell card to destroy one card in play. I send Repayment of Losses, giving me one further draw. My choice is none other than your facedown card on the right!"

The purple magician let out a blast, which slammed into the brown-backed card. It flipped over to reveal Mirror Force, which drew a faint smirk from Yami.

"Now, I switch Dark Magician to attack mode. The duel ends now! Endymion, Dark Magician and Buster Blader all attack you directly!"

The Commander reacted at lightning speed, for the crowd had gone silent around him. "Reverse card, Magic Cylinder, activate. Chosen attack to be redirected: Endymion, the Master Magician."

It was a last-ditch effort which just about saved the Commander. The Blader slammed his sword into his master's adversary's gut, dropping him onto one knee. This allowed a sphere of green energy from the Dark Magician's staff to hit him full on the face, throwing him to the ground. It seemed as if a wave of black flames from Endymion was poised to deal the finishing blow to the Commander, who was already writhing from the electric shocks he was sustaining due to the band attached to his wrist, when a pair of purple cylinders materialized on his field.

Endymion's blast entered one, and seemed to be absorbed. The other one let out a wave of similar colored energy. It slammed into Yami, dropping him to one knee. The mass of gathered Shocktroopers shrieked in bloodlust as pain wracked the nerves of both duelists.

(Commander: 800, Yami: 2000)

Slowly, they struggled upward.

Yami recited his final words, panting. "I end my turn."

The Commander drew easily, seemingly shrugging off the pain he had sustained from the previous attacks.

(Commander: 1800, Yami: 2000)

"Nightmare's Steel Cage, activate."

Yami swore as the familiar, dreaded bars of the shadowy cage materialized around him and his trio of powerful monsters. This would remain active until his second end phase post activation, resulting in both players being unable to attack until then.

"Normal summon, Legion Grey (300/200)."

A tall, thin mutant appeared on the Commander's field, filling it up. It was roughly humanoid, and extremely thin. It had long limbs, blood red eyes, and a large green stone settled in its chest. From its hands spread out numerous, tentacle-like fingers. It's body seemed to be made of pieces of some jet-black material as it bent over at an unnatural angle, leering at Yami.

"Turn end."

Yami drew, snarling in frustration. "I pass, there's nothing I can do!"

The Commander drew. "Monster set, defensive position. Turn end. The opponent may organize tactics."

(Commander: 2800, Yami: 2000)

Yami snapped the top card off his deck, and froze.

_Slifer the Sky Dragon._

"_Should I do it_?" he wondered.

If he did decide to tribute Buster Blader, Dark Magician, and Endymion the Master Magician to summon the legendary Egyptian God, it would have two thousand attack points by virtue of his holding three cards. Was it worth it to give up a combined seventy-seven hundred attack points for a mere two thousand?

He stared long and hard at the red-rimmed card.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Flashback_

"_You seem to forget that as long as Obelisk is in play, even your most powerful monsters don't have a hope of defeating me."_

"_Arrogance is appalling," replied Jason softly. "No one monster can ever win a duel. Don't you know that?"_

_Yami was dumbfounded. He himself remembered saying these words to Marik back in Battle City, when he had first defeated Slifer the Sky Dragon. Had he become so accustomed to using the Gods that he believed victory was automatic when their power was used? No, he told himself. He had defeated Marik without using the God's power._

_End Flashback_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Flashback_

_Jason's words had struck a chord in him. Since then, he had felt uneasy even when he looked at one of them._

"_Do it, Yami," echoed Yugi's voice, bearing down on him. "Finish it."_

_Yami closed his eyes for a moment, and then looked up, glaring at the Paradox brothers. "This is the end. I sacrifice my Tricky, and Yugi's Twilight Shadow Steel General and Shield Guardian to call upon the one monster that will send you and your Dark Guardian to the void."_

_End Flashback_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Yami spoke slowly, enunciating each word carefully.

"I set a card and end my turn."

He folded the remaining cards in his hand tight against his wrist.

As he spoke, the Nightmare's Steel Cage exploded, freeing up the trinity of Yami's monsters.

The Commander drew.

"Flip summon, Legion Shocktrooper (1900/1400)."

The appearance of the centaur-like creature drew roars of approval from the spectating extraterrestrials.

"Legion Shocktrooper and Legion Grey are tuned. Synchro Summon, Legion Avatar – Spike Dragon King (2400/2000)."

The two monsters materialized into glowing white orbs. One of them split into two smaller ones, specifically the orb of which Legion Gray was a source. The trio formed a triangle, which began to expand and fill the entire field with green light. Appearing from within the light was a large dragon, covered in lime scales. It had two large horns over its eyes, each glowing a dark crimson. Four large wings cast shadows over the Commander's field. A large green stone remained embedded in the creature's chest.

"Spike Dragon King's effect, activate. Five spell cards are removed from the opponent's graveyard, and Spike Dragon King gains three hundred attack points per removed card."

Yami's eyes bulged as the dragon's attack points went through the roof (3900/2000).

"Once per turn, Spike Dragon allows me to activate the effect of a removed from play spell. Choice: Fissure. Dark Magician is destroyed."

A grizzly hand emerged from the ground and pulled the magician into a gaping cavern.

"Legion Avatar – Spike Dragon King targets Buster Blader in battle."

Yami continued to watch on as the horrific dragon slammed its horn into the Blader's chest. The swordsman attempted to fend him off with his weapon, but it was to no avail. He let out a pained cry before he shattered into millions of pixels.

(Commander: 2800, Yami: 700)

"Turn end. The enemy's chances of success are postulated to be two point seven four percent under present circumstances."

"Wouldn't you like that to be true?" snapped Yami. "I chain my facedown Mirage Ruler, which will allow me to special summon each monster that was destroyed last turn back to my field in face-up attack mode, _and_ return my life-points to their previous level."

As he spoke, the Dark Magician (2500/2100) and Buster Blader (2600/2300) rematerialized next to Endymion.

As he drew, a thought passed his mind. "_I have no choice_….."

Heavily, he plucked the three cards off his deck. "Very well, playtime is over. I sacrifice Buster Blader, Dark Magician and Endymion, the Master Magician, to call upon my Egyptian God card! Arise, the Saint Dragon, the God of Osiris: _SLFIER THE SKY DRAGON_!"

As these words rung from his mouth, the entire area seemed to freeze momentarily, all sounds coming to a halt.

Then the peace was torn asunder.

Black clouds had begun to gather overhead, pulsing with the omnipotent power of the gods. Far off in the distance the cry of thunder resounded, and lightning streaked across the winds of one of the most powerful storms began to beat against both duelists, but they were about to find out that these winds were _not_ from a mortal storm.

They were the winds of wings beating. And the sound's provider was emerging from the largest of the thunderheads.

The monster could easily have stretched out to be three miles in total length, with mighty claws reared out before it. The mighty pinions of the dragon came out to darken the playing field, while at the same time it's two golden eyes scanned the arena, wise yet brutal in combat. From both of its double maws there was a constant rumbling, like the onset of contained thunder, ready and willing to strike out at any moment. It's great coils throbbed and undulated with every spasm of its sinewy muscles, while it's long claws dug deep into the earth as it let fly it's mighty roar, as though to challenge all that stood against it.

"_The heavens twist and thunder roars, signaling the coming of this ancient creature, and the dawn of true power._"

The Commander looked on stonily at the mighty God, which absolutely dwarfed the dragon on his field.

"Slifer has attack points equivalent to one thousand multiplied by the number of cards in my hand," continued Yami. "I hold three, meaning Slifer has three thousand attack points!"

"The opponent's monster is registered as being weaker than Legion Avatar- Spike Dragon King," droned the Commander.

"Perhaps now," replied Yami. "It will be, however, when I activate the Card of Sanctity!"

Yami quickly drew till he held a full hand, while Slifer let out such a loud screech that it caused all the Shocktrooper's to cry out in pain (6000/6000).

"_Still not enough_…." Yami thought, looking at the two monsters. Slifer could easily crush the Legion Avatar, but the Commander would survive with seven hundred life-points remaining. Yami was tiring fast…. He had to end the duel now.

"I play this continuous spell card: Technique Desecration! This can only be activated if the both of us have only one monster in play, each. Now, during each player's turn, their monster gains the effect of the other until the end of the turn. Now, I can activate the effect to use one removed from play spell card: My choice is none other than Graceful Charity! I draw three cards and then discard two: both of which happen to be A Second Chance, which can be removed from play in my graveyard to allow me to draw two cards each, for a total of four!"

The Commander took a step back in shock, as Yami pointed triumphantly.

"Now, Slifer the Sky Dragon (9000/9000), _obliterate_ his Spike Dragon King! THUNDER FORCE!"

Upon heeding the final command, the legendary God unsealed the first of its two mouths, and within this collected an orb of thunderous energy that could be felt even from the sidelines. As this ultimate weapon of damnation grew ever wider, the skies and the earth grew brighter with the immense luminosity that had become Slifer, for the dragon itself was glowing with the same strength as Ra itself. As for its accursed target, the Legion Avatar was so fixated on the approaching doom that it could not even try to avoid the assault. And for a moment, and only to the well-trained eye, only a giant crimson, sinuous form was visible. But this view was fleeting at best, and within a moment, all was engulfed in a flash of brilliant white, in which stood the two duelists.

(Commander: 0, Yami: 2000)

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I set my final card facedown," chuckled Quinn, sliding it into his spell and trap card zone. "That will do it for me."

Mandarin drew, wincing from the burns that covered his body, and grunted once again as Fortification Fusion drained him of one thousand of his life-points.

(Quinn: 24800, Mandarin: 23800)

"I summon Stronghold Shadow – Golem (200/2000)."

Appearing on Mandarin's side of the field was a hulking, barely humanoid figure. It was covered mostly in darkness, and the details of its features were somewhat difficult to make out. Through observing its silhouette, however, it was possible to determine that the being was composed entirely of rock which seemed to have been put together in a roughly human shape, complete with limbs and a head, and animated with a kind of sorcery.

Quinn threw his head back and let out a shriek-like laugh. The green energy began to come off his body once again, slamming into the golem's body. The darkness began to fade, and the energy waves left deep scars on their victim.

"STOP THIS!" howled Mandarin.

Quinn continued to laugh derisively, eying his opponent with a disdainful look.

"GOLEM! SHOW HIM THE MEANING OF PAIN!"

Just the third non-fusion Stronghold Shadow used by Mandarin during the duel charged across, and threw as powerful a punch as it could in the direction of Quinn. He snorted and caught the gigantic rock fist in his right hand. The force of the bunch sent a small jolt of pain up his arm, but it was easily ignorable. It took a single flick of his wrist in order to snap the golem's arm. It let out a pained groan. Strangely, the Stronghold Shadow seemed far more damaged then Quinn himself.

(Quinn: 24600, Mandarin: 23800)

"Are you finished?" sang the demented young man.

"When Stronghold Shadow – Golem deals you damage, I may add one level four or lower Stronghold Shadow from my deck to my hand. I choose Stronghold Shadow – Sentinel (1000/1000). Now I move to Main Phase 2."

As he spoke, he quickly located the card and added it to his hand.

"During Main Phase 2, if I have another Stronghold Shadow in play, I may special summon Sentinel to the field. Arise!"

Mandarin gave a grand flourish as a tall, handsome man appeared next to the dark rock-like beast. He wore silver battle armor and held a European broadsword in one hand, nearly six feet long. It had diamonds of various colors embedded in its hilt. On his other arm was a gleaming shield with the symbol of a lion on it. He held a green banner in that hand, with gold hair falling to his shoulders.

"One thousand attack points will not go a far way to scare me," Quinn retorted with a mocking yawn.

Mandarin's eyes gleamed. "Keep talking, boy, keep talking. If Fortification Fusion is in play, the effect of my Sentinel will grant one Stronghold Shadow in play an additional battle phase _after_ my Main Phase 2, at the cost of five hundred of his defense points. I choose the Sentinel (1000/500) himself, obviously. Now, cut him to pieces!"

The knight charged gallantly towards Quinn, dropping the banner. He brought the sword down in the direction of his master's adversary as he hard as he could. Quinn did not even dignify him with a look, and yet was able to catch the blade in between his thumb and forefinger. Looking up, a brief look of irritation crossed his face: the blade had nicked his thumb and drawn a bit of blood.

"That wasn't very nice."

The blade suddenly began to glow with emerald energy. The knight looked on in amazement, trying to pull it away from Quinn's grip. For some reason, he simply could not. In fear, as the blade began to heat up, he even attempted to drop it and make off, but it seemed glued to his hand. Quinn's wrist tensed, and several bolts of green power shot up the length of the sword and electrocuted the knight where he stood. For a minute, it was so blinding that one could not even see what was going on: finally, when they were able to do so, the result was horrifying.

Trekking back to Mandarin's field was something that could no longer be classified as a human being. Its skin was seared to the bone, which could be heard rattling in its armor. It barely had a face any longer, and no weapons to speak of.

"That's a preview for what you have coming to you, Mandarin," chuckled Quinn, obviously amused by his opponent's discomfort.

(Quinn: 23600, Mandarin: 23800)

"You talk an awful lot for somebody on the back foot," snapped Mandarin. "I set one card facedown and end my turn."

Quinn let out an exaggerated yawn as he drew.

"What was Jason thinking about…." he mumbled. "Ah, yes…."

He held up the card to a stunned Mandarin without even looking at it first. He also called out its name before he did so.

"The Card of Demise."

"How…. What on Earth…?" blustered the older man.

Quinn grinned at him, a sick, bloodthirsty grin. "See that guillotine there? You're going to be praying for that soon."

Quickly he picked up the top five cards from his deck.

"Now…. Ah yes this should do it. I activate the facedown Call of the Haunted in order to special summon one monster from my graveyard. Come and burn this cretin to the ground, Solar Flare Dragon (1500/1000)."

The writhing, serpentine wyvern covered in flames once again materialized onto Quinn's field.

"Next I chain Inferno Reckless Summon," he sang.

Rikuo, Bakura and Deondre were all staring at him oddly. Sarah, meanwhile, had all but buried her head between her knees. It seemed all she could do to hold back her tears.

"Since Solar Flare Dragon was special summoned, and his attack points are less than fifteen hundred, I can call upon two more copies from my deck. You also have the advantage of special summoning as many copies possible of a monster you have in play, although the restriction of fifteen hundred attack points does not apply in your case. I'm sure you don't have the intelligence to make any use of it so it's hardly a concern."

Mandarin glowered at him. "I'll show you…. Come, two more Stronghold Shadow – Golems (200/2000) (x2), this time in defense mode."

Another pair of dark, rocky figures appeared on Mandarin's field, covered in black, misty fog.

"How pitiful," spat Quinn, as two more fiery dragons appeared on his field (1500/1000) (x2).

"You're one to talk," shot back Mandarin. "Your dragons cannot match my Golem's defense points!"

"Perhaps, but your Sentinel and attack mode Golem can be picked apart," replied Quinn lazily. "Solar Flare Dragons one, destroy his Sentinel.

The flaming dragons howled and flapped its wings, making its way across the field. Opening its maw, waves of flames issued forth. They washed over the knight that Quinn had disfigured not five minutes ago, reducing the already seared man to a pile of ashes.

Mandarin fell to one knee as his chest tightened, pain searing his body.

(Quinn: 23600, Mandarin: 23300)

"Ah, don't worry," chuckled Quinn. "Your Sentinel was already dead, all my Solar Flare Dragon did was put the corpse out of commission. Now that's been done, my other lizard can burn your pathetic Golem away to nothingness."

Mandarin's eyes bulged as the flames issued forth again, this time from the middle wyvern. They slammed into the remnants of the darkness, setting the rock alight. The Golem let out a small groan of pain before the flames completely consumed him, leaving nothing behind.

(Quinn: 23600, Mandarin: 21000)

"Then I set one card facedown and end my turn," finished Jason's second personality.

As he spoke, all three dragons suddenly opened their maws and let lose identical spheres of flames simultaneously. They slammed into Mandarin, who had just gotten to his feet, and knocked him back down again. His skin was glowing a bright red. Only the magic of the Shadow Game was preventing him from feeling the agony.

"What…." he choked.

"Solar Flare Dragon deals you five hundred points of damage during my end phase," said Quinn, almost bored.

(Quinn: 23600, Mandarin: 19500)

The master of the Valley of Spirits staggered upward.

"I draw…" he groaned, eyeing Quinn with the utmost hatred.

"Then I pay one thousand life-points to keep Fortification Fusion in play," he breathed.

(Quinn: 23600, Mandarin: 18500)

Mandarin observed the two cards in his hand.

"I fuse my two Golems," he growled heavily.

Quinn raised an eyebrow as the pair of shadowy rock figures were pulled into a vortex. Slowly appearing from within it was a towering form. It stood nearly ten feet tall, and from one end to another was nearly as broad as the both of its fusion components combined. The new creature was not covered in shadows like its predecessors, and instead seemed to be glowing with blazing flames which were located deep within its own being. The creature was made of a deep black obsidian rock, and had two heads sprouting out of its broader than usual neck in grotesque fashion.

"You now face my Stronghold Shadow – Giga Rock Golem (1000/3000)," growled Mandarin.

"If three thousand defense points are supposed to scare me, you'll have to do better than that," sneered Quinn. "I'm not used to being afraid of walls: instead, I prefer to tear them down."

"You're rather mistaken," spat Mandarin with a derisive sneer. "Stronghold Shadow – Giga Rock Golem cannot be placed in defense mode. However, it has a rather helpful effect to make up for it: once per turn, I can reduce its defense points by the attack points of one monster you have in play. In doing so, I can destroy that particular monster. So I drain fifteen hundred of his defense points in order to obliterate one of your Solar Flare Dragons!"

The now weakened Golem (1000/1500) raised its arm, and curled its fingers into a fist, which began to glow with flames. Drawing it back, it unleashed a wave of red fire in the direction of one of the three dragons on Jason's field. In response, the wyvern let lose a stream of flames of its own. The two attacks clashed, and struggled momentarily before that of the Golem won out and incinerated the dragon.

"Don't forget that since my Golem's defense points were reduced, by the effect of Special Relativity Field you lose an equal number of life-points!"

(Quinn: 22100, Mandarin: 18500)

"I then set one card facedown and end my turn," concluded Mandarin nastily.

Quinn drew.

"Time to speed this up, don't you think? I activate my facedown Polymerization."

The spectators, with the exception of Sarah, who had a very agitated look on her face, all perked up with interest as the two dragons slammed into each other. They began to swirl in a vortex similar to the one that Mandarin's two Golems had disappeared into, and from within it emerged a similar result to Mandarin's fusion one turn earlier: a monster with a body nearly the same as the two of its components, but with two identical heads. It also had a pair of large wings which flared out behind it, unlike its snake-like components.

"You now face Solar Eruption Dragon (2500/1500)," commented Quinn.

Mandarin narrowed his eyes as the twin-headed creature threw back both its heads.

"Now it will attack your pathetic Golem," chuckled Quinn.

The dragon let lose streams of flames from both its maws. Just as it seemed as if the Giga Rock Golem was going to meet its end, Mandarin tapped a button on his Duel Disk. The golem collapsed onto one knee, and crossed its giant arms over its chest. The flames crashed against the humanoid's guard, but for some reason were unable to burn through.

"I activated my facedown Shadow Guard," explained Mandarin. "At the cost of the level of a Stronghold Shadow multiplied by one hundred, I can switch it to defense mode until the end of the turn, and return its defense points back to their original value (1000/3000)!"

(Quinn: 23100, Mandarin: 17500)

Quinn scoffed. "You're beginning to bore me, Mandarin. I set one card facedown and end my turn."

As he spoke, the dragon unleashed two spheres of flames from its jaws. They slammed into Mandarin, bringing him down to one knee.

"I forgot to mention that annoying little detail that on any turn that Solar Eruption Dragon does not deal you battle damage, his effect deals you a further one thousand damage during my end phase."

(Quinn: 23100, Mandarin: 16500)

Mandarin drew, with a queasy look on his face as his continuous trap drained him of a further one thousand life-points.

(Quinn: 23100, Mandarin: 15500)

"I sacrifice twenty-five hundred of my Giga Rock Golem's defense points to send your pathetic dragon into the Abyss!" spat Mandarin.

The Golem (1000/500) groaned softly, and stood up, metal body parts creaking as it did. It trudged across the field and grasped the writhing dragon's heads in its hands, before slamming them into each other hard. The wyvern wailed before it was shattered into millions of tiny pixels, with not a trace remaining.

"And since I reduced the defense points of Giga Rock Golem by twenty-five hundred, you lose that many life-points," crowed Mandarin.

(Quinn: 20600, Mandarin: 15500)

Quinn paused, pretending to examine his fingernails. He was aware of the fact that Mandarin had fixed him with a furious glare for the lack of attention he was paying his opponent, and looked up with a grin.

"You will pay for not taking me seriously," choked Mandarin.

"I'm enjoying the open air for the first time in eight years," retorted Quinn. "Excuse me for not being a stick in the mud like Jason."

Rikuo broke in, his voice teetering on the brink of confusion and anger.

"You're….. You're referring to Becker in third person?"

Quinn turned to face him. "You catch on quickly, don't you?" he said disdainfully.

The Wolf Demon General's features became marred with anger. "Where the hell is he?"

Quinn gave him a withering look.

"C'mon, didn't anybody _miss_ me? I make an entrance after nearly a decade and people are just asking me questions about a scared little boy who didn't understand the power he possessed, and was unable to control it either. Isn't my sparkling personality a breath of fresh air after the dreariness of that fool?"

Rikuo just glared at him.

Bakura took a step forward. "We want answers. Now."

Quinn looked amused. "You lot are hardly in a position to make demands. But if you are so achingly desperate to understand my origins, why don't you ask Sarah over there about them? Or better yet, Eizan. I'd suggest you hurry because once I'm finished with this bald guy I'm going to make him wish he was never born."

He raised his free hand. It crackled with green energy as a devilish look entered his eyes.

"I have a duel to finish, so figure things out yourself. The planet is going to hell anyway, I want to enjoy myself after spending so long cooped up in a tiny sector of Jason's subconscious. I'm not going to bother answering your pitiful questions."

The Wolf Demon General, Thief King, and Deondre all turned to look at Sarah pointedly.

She was clutching her hand to her chest, a pensive look in her eyes.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Flashback_

Seated on one of the sofas, with a mop of thick, long hair coming down over his eyes while his head was bent forward, was a twelve-year old boy. He wore a simply, black T-Shirt with spotless blue jeans. Nothing seemed out of place about him, not his raven-like hair, his lean build, or his brown eyes. No, it was his blank expression that seemed very strange.

Sarah looked cautiously at Eizan, who forced a smile and nodded. She tip-toed towards him, being watched by the others all the time.

"Hi," she said, rather breathlessly. "I'm Sarah."

The boy did not break his staring match with the floor. "Sarah," she repeated. "Sarah Taylor. What's your name?"

A barely audible, emotionless voice left the boy's mouth. "Jason."

The level of blankness in the syllables he had just enunciated caused the adults to flinch. But the innocence of childhood had not left Sarah, and she didn't seem to notice. She sat herself on the couch next to him.

_End Flashback_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Now _Sarah knew why Eizan had been so uncomfortable on that day.

He had seen _Quinn_ before.

Sarah had never encountered him, thankfully, with only five further appearances occurring post the first time she met Jason.

Brian had. The stories…..

On the face of it, Quinn hadn't done anything crazy yet. Well, she supposed, blowing up the palace while they were all _standing in it_ probably did count. It was more how he blew it up that had shocked the hell out of her rather than the fact that he had blown it up. _That _perfectly fit what Eizan had told her about Quinn's personality.

But where the _hell_ had he gotten that kind of power. Jason had _never_ exhibited any kind of paranormal abilities.

Bakura seemed to be losing his patience. "Now listen here, girl-…"

"_Can you cut her some slack_?" admonished Ryou through their mental link.

"_What are you talking about_?" grumbled his darker half.

Ryou replied in an exasperated fashion. "_For Pete's sake Bakura just because _I'm _used to having a crazed separate personality in my life doesn't even everyone else is! Let me handle this_."

Bakura was in the process of formulating an affronted remark which began with the words, "_You're calling _me_ a crazed separate _-…" before Ryou forcibly took control of his body and put Bakura's grumbling consciousness back into the Millennium Ring.

He went up to Sarah and spoke to her softly.

"Sarah…. Can you please tell us what's going on here?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The sinuous form of Slifer the Sky Dragon remained in front of Yami, roaring out at any potential challengers. Its controller had fallen down onto one knee, gasping with the exertion of calling out the second most powerful monster he had at his disposal.

The Shocktroopers had formed a ring around him, evidently stunned by the ease with which he had put down their Commander whose deck was specifically designed to counter his spellcaster theme. He allowed himself a pained grin which almost seemed more like a sort of ugly grimace.

He knew none of the surrounding Shocktroopers would have the courage to take him on at this point, either physically or in a duel, what with Slifer the Sky Dragon currently in play. Maybe it was time to put the next phase of his plan into action.

"Slifer…." he called out weakly.

"Return."

Painfully, he plucked the card off his Duel Disk and slid it back into his deck. With a terrifying roar, the legendary Egyptian God of the sky disappeared into nothingness.

The blow came just as Yami had expected it. A powerful punch to the side of his head which he could quite frankly have easily blocked. But that would be rather counterproductive, wouldn't it? There was a short jolt of pain before he finally let the darkness take him and slipped into temporary unconsciousness.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Delightful…." mused the figure.

The Pharaoh was definitely all that he was cracked up to be, indeed.

Now the old man was his. He hadn't expected it to be this easy, but with the power of the Legion at his command, anything was possible.

It was time to set up the rematch of the millennium. With some strings attached, of course.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, Quinn was succeeding in infuriating Mandarin even further.

"Just you wait, impudent brat," snarled Mandarin. "I am going to rip you to pieces. Rather, my Stronghold Shadows will do it for me. Giga Rock Golem, attack his life-points directly!"

A stream of black energy exited the palm of the towering, twin-headed beast, and slammed into Quinn. He raised a hand with a bored look on his face, and a translucent green energy shield appeared in front of him. The black energy struggled against it momentarily, but was soon deflected away, striking the ground and leaving a small, dark patch.

(Quinn: 19600, Mandarin: 15500)

"I set two cards facedown and end my turn," finished Mandarin, eying Quinn with a fixed stare.

"Quit looking at me like that," snapped Quinn as he drew. "It's really starting to piss me off. And pissing somebody off the first time they have some real freedom after eight years isn't a very nice thing to do, is it?"

Mandarin shirked away, an angry snarl disfiguring his face.

"Since you don't seem in the mood to be nice, neither will I….. Here comes Magic Shard Excavation. By discarding two cards from my hand, both of which happens to be Repayment of Losses, granting me two further draws, I can add one spell card in my graveyard to my hand. How about Level Modulation, which Jason was so kind as to dump in the graveyard during the first turn? I'll play it immediately, allowing you two further draws, which I'm sure you're incapable of taking advantage of, in order to special summon Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV8 (3000/1800) to the field in attack mode."

A pair of metal feet suddenly appeared on the field, and metal claws shot out of them. From there, small, beefy, metal legs emerged, and soon a metal, rough body attached to it. After, a pair of metal arms showed up, with metal, pointy wings on the back. The shape started resembling a towering dragon materialized onto Jason's field. Attached to its back were thick, dark-metal wings. It had quite a defined physique

"So your favorite monster rises once more," spat Mandarin. "I'd like to see the good it can do. Especially since it cannot attack on its first turn when being special summoned by the effect of Level Modulation."

"Oh you will," drawled Quinn. "Are you familiar with the phrase "rules are meant to be broken"? Here comes Quick Attack."

Mandarin's eyes bulged as the silver leviathan opened its jaws, and black flames began to build within them.

"Black Flare Inferno Cannon."

Its crimson eyes glinted as the dragon let lose a stream of flames in the direction of the Golem.

"Hold on!" spat Mandarin. "I am not as foolish as you would like me to be. Level Modulation allows the monster special summoned by said effect to neither attack _nor_ activate its effect the turn it is summoned. You got around the attack restriction with Quick Attack, but I may still activate spell cards if I so wish. I use my facedown card, which happens to be a second copy of a quick-play spell I'm sure you're familiar with: De-Fusion!"

The two headed golem dematerialized into two small spheres just as the wave of flames was about to slam into it. The spheres began to grow larger until they took the shape of the two original Stronghold Shadow – Golems (200/2000) (x2) that were the Giga Rock Golem's components. They took their place on Mandarin's field, flanking the empty space where the Giga Rock Golem had resided just seconds earlier.

"Now a replay occurs," continued Mandarin nastily.

Quinn shrugged. "Very well. Obviously your monsters have been special summoned in defense mode, but Horus shall target the one on the left in any case."

The dragon spat out another stream of flames, but Mandarin was ready, again.

"I chain the effect of a certain monster in my graveyard I'm sure you will remember: Stronghold Shadow – Defender (0/2000)! Once per duel, I may remove it from play in order to negate the attack of one of your monsters which targets a Stronghold Shadow on my field. You gain one draw, however."

As he finished speaking, an invisible barrier materialized between the two Golems and the attack of Horus, preventing the latter from reaching the former.

"If you want to keep delaying the inevitable, why don't you do it in a constructive manner?" suggested Quinn. "Get something to eat, pray to whichever God you believe in: it makes more sense to spend the penultimate minutes of your life like that then scrabbling to save your monsters, wouldn't you agree?"

"Your arrogance will be your undoing, boy," snapped Mandarin. "I will make you pay during my own move. "

"I both these cards facedown and end my turn," finished Quinn, ignoring the furious words of his opponent.

Mandarin drew.

"_Perfect_…." This time, he could not help but groan in pain as Fortification Fusion drained him of even more life-points.

(Quinn: 19600, Mandarin: 14500)

"I activate my facedown Call of the Haunted, to special summon the Stronghold Shadow – Golem (200/2000) that your pathetic Solar Flare Dragon destroyed a few turns ago."

Joining the two monsters on Mandarin's field was another one that looked exactly the same.

"Your end has arrived!" cried out Mandarin. "I use my continuous trap to fuse all three Golems to bring out one of the most powerful monsters my deck is capable of producing. Arise, Stronghold Shadow – Titan Czar Golem (1000/5000)!"

The trio of monsters were sucked into a vortex once again, and from within it began to emerge a colossal form, easily a match with Horus for size. Unlike its predecessors, the regular Stronghold Shadow – Golem, and Giga Rock Golem, the new arrival was made of a dark toned metal. In a strange way it looked quite mechanical, with its hulking arms connected to its overly huge chest by barely visible wires. In fact, every single part of its body seemed to be out of proportion. Its arms were a lot thicker from the elbow up until its hand, which was actually just a curved slab of steel, while the section from elbow to shoulder was rather spindly in comparison. Its head was barely a tenth the size of its torso, with two sky blue, slit-like eyes peering out at Horus. A small blue diamond was embedded in its chest.

"Just like my other Stronghold Shadow fusions, he cannot be special summoned in defense mode. However, as I'm sure you would have guessed, it has all kinds of abilities at its fingertips. For instance, I may reduce its defense points by one thousand in order to destroy one card on your field."

The fusion monster spread out its arms and let out a thunderous roar. The glowing diamond began to crackle with blue energy, spitting out a long beam at Mandarin's command, in the direction of Horus.

"You're mistaking me for an amateur and that is going to be your undoing," yawned Quinn. "I chain my facedown Interdimensional Matter Transporter, which removes Horus from play until the end of the turn. Really now…. Did you expect me not to be prepared for a stunt like that?"

Just as the blue energy was going to hit the dragon, it disappeared into empty space. The beam struck a patch of the ground where Horus had been, leaving a dark burn mark.

"And now you get to deal me one thousand battle damage. I'm terrified," drawled Quinn sarcastically.

Meanwhile, a jolt of electricity shot up his body. After all, since the Titan Czar Golem (1000/4000) had lost defense points, Special Relativity Field dealt Quinn an equal amount of damage.

(Quinn: 18600, Mandarin: 14500)

"Not exactly," chuckled Mandarin. He gave a grand flourish.

"By removing one of Titan Czar Golem's fusion materials from play, I may switch his attack and defense points until the end phase!"

He slid one of the Stronghold Shadow – Golem cards from his graveyard, and the metallic beast on his field began to glow (4000/1000).

"Since it lost three thousand defense points and gained an equal number of attack points, Special Relativity Field benefits me and burns you!"

(Quinn: 15600, Mandarin: 17500)

"Now my almighty Stronghold Shadow – Titan Czar Golem will attack your life-points directly!"

The metallic colossus on Mandarin's field unleashed a searing beam of energy in Quinn's direction from the diamond in its chest. It hit him full-on, and as it did, his green aura flared. Blue and green energies clashed momentarily, before the latter finally won out, throwing the energy away from Quinn. The damage, however, was done.

(Quinn: 11600, Mandarin: 17500)

"Main Phase two. I play this continuous spell card, Temple of the Kings. Now I may activate trap cards on the same turn that I set them."

A sick grin spread across his face.

"Now, you see the ultimate combination that my Stronghold Shadows form with Special Relativity Field. I set and activate on the same turn, this: Bad Reaction to Simochi!"

The infamous continuous trap materialized next to Fortification Fusion and Temple of the Kings.

Quinn chuckled. "So your plan as of now is to drain me of my life-points by increasing your monsters' defense points, and instead deal me that much damage through your continuous trap? This is going to be a hell of a lot easier than I thought."

Mandarin seemed to get even more riled up by that comment. "You're all talk and no action! Watch, now, as I end my turn. Although I lose the life-points I gained when my Titan Czar Golem's attack points changed, mine are merely returned to their original value. However, thanks to Bad Reaction to Simochi, you _lose_ three thousand points, which my fusion gains back as his defense points. In fact, every time you make an attempt to increase your monster's attack points, the combination of effects of Special Relativity Field and Bad Reaction to Simochi will drain you of that many life-points!"

Quinn still seemed unworried. Mandarin was too busy basking in his glory to notice, otherwise he would've begun boiling with rage.

"I set my final card. Enter End Phase. Now my Titan Czar Golem's attack and defense scores get reset to one thousand and four thousand respectively, meaning the both of us lose three thousand life-points!"

Just as he finished speaking, Mandarin gagged as his life-points were drained. Quinn seemed unaffected, however. Then, Horus rematerialized.

(Quinn: 8600, Mandarin: 14500)

"It is my draw," intoned Quinn, snapping the top card off his deck and looking at it.

"I set this one card facedown. Now Horus will target your Titan Czar Golem. Black Flare Inferno Cannon."

A stream of jet black flames exited the mouth of the silver wyrm. Just as they were about to impact, Mandarin tapped a button on his Duel Disk.

"I activate my continuous trap card, Astral Barrier! Now I may allow any attack you declare to become a direct one to my life-points if I have a monster in play."

The titanic, mechanical golem took a brief step aside, narrowly avoiding the flames, which went on to hit Mandarin in the chest. He let out a howl of pain as he was knocked off his feet. The black fire continued to lick at his skin, and a malicious grin graced Quinn's face.

(Quinn: 8600, Mandarin: 11500)

"You like the pain, don't you? I can tell. Any fool who would use a card as pathetic as Astral Barrier must be a masochist. Why did the first person I get to kill after all this time have to be someone who enjoys it?"

He chuckled, and added following an afterthought, "Oh, my mistake…. You're technically the second, although the first was barely alive to begin with. You could say I just put his corpse out of commission. Not a very nice gift to someone who allowed me to take temporary control of the body in the first place, but then again, who said I was nice?"

These words drew a startled glance from the people on the sidelines.

Sarah broke her silence for the first time in a trembling voice. "You… You've come out _before_?"

Quinn turned to look at her. "Oh yes, Sarah. I'd almost forgotten you exist. Jason was a scared little bitch underneath it all. I've had my moments, yes, and he was a little too foolish to realize it. Even if he did, he was likely to terrified at the thought of the consequences that would ensue if he revealed it to anyone, he kept it under wraps. In a way his weakness proved to be a benefit, didn't it? Jason and I complement each other perfectly. He screwed up enough, now I suppose I can clean his mess up and take some time to enjoy myself."

Sarah's eyes widened with shock, but Quinn had already turned away from her, and was looking back at Mandarin.

"I end my turn."

Mandarin drew and swore as his life-points took a further dip.

(Quinn: 8600, Mandarin: 10500)

"Your end is drawing near," he growled. "I sacrifice one thousand more of my Titan Czar Golem's defense points in order to obliterate your pathetic dragon!"

The metallic monster's (1000/3000) chest piece began to glow again, unleashing a stream of blue energy.

"Predictable," scoffed Quinn. "I chain my facedown trap card Black Soul Flare. If I have a monster with the word Horus in its name, I can special summon from my deck another monster with the same. However, its level must be lower than the one I already have."

"How pitiful," spat Mandarin. "All you will be able to get is your pathetic Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV4 to protect your life-points."

Quinn's emerald eyes flared momentarily.

"Wrong."

An Egyptian man dressed in a white battle skirt, white armor over his chest, a black cape on his back, and a golden helmet on his head appeared onto the field in a crouching stance.

"What is that creature?" exploded Mandarin.

"A useless, servile monster called Horus' Servant (100/100). As long as it remains in play, any card with Horus in its name is unaffected by your card effects. Since your useless fusion's effect may only be used once per turn, Horus is safe."

"But your life-points are not!" roared Mandarin.

Quinn barely acknowledged the jolt of energy which went up his body.

(Quinn: 7600, Mandarin: 10500)

"Now I remove a second Stronghold Shadow – Golem, in order to swap my Titan Czar Golem's attack and defense points!"

The metallic monstrosity glowed once again as its stats were altered (3000/1000).

"You lose life-points once again!" crowed Mandarin.

(Quinn: 5600, Mandarin: 12500)

"Next turn your lizard will not be so lucky! Titan Czar Golem, destroy his Horus' Servant!"

The fusion charged up another sphere of energy, which headed in the direction of the small man. Just as it was about to impact, a total pole materialized between the attacker and its target. It let lose a wave of sonic energy, causing the attack to vanish.

"Command Silencer?" roared an infuriated Mandarin.

Quinn didn't even deign him a response in the affirmative as he drew a card.

"Fine," he spat. "I enter my end phase. Now, both of us lose two thousand life-points. I can afford it, unlike you!"

The Titan Czar Golem (1000/3000) glowed once, and both duelists felt sharp pangs of pain.

(Quinn: 3600, Mandarin: 10500)

"Next turn it will be all over!" roared Mandarin. "My Astral Barrier prevents Horus from destroying Titan Czar Golem, and all I need to do is switch his attack and defense scores once more, and Special Relativity Field will do the rest."

It was almost shocking to witness. Staring in the face of certain defeat with a two card hand, Quinn _still_ didn't seem to be in the least bit worried. In fact, he looked almost bored.

"I set both cards facedown. Now, Horus will attack your Titan Czar Golem."

"Astral Barrier protects it," came the hoarse reply, as the flames bypassed the titanic golem and slammed into him.

(Quinn: 3600, Mandarin: 7500)

"That will do it."

Mandarin drew shakily, and groaned again.

(Quinn: 3600, Mandarin: 6500)

"I remove the final Stronghold Shadow – Golem," he breathed. His lone monster's attack and defense points fluctuated once again (3000/1000), as did the two players' life-points.

(Quinn: 1600, Mandarin: 8500)

"This is the end," he gasped. "I move into my end phase."

As he fell to one knee, expecting his Duel Disk to power down, he caught a look at the life-point counters.

(Quinn: 3600, Mandarin: 10500)

He then looked at Quinn's field. Flanking Horus along with Horus' Servant was what seemed to be a six-winged, yellow dragon. It had a slender, glittering body and two-pronged claws. A sharp, orange-eyed glare originated from the beak-like face of the dragon, which had spike-shaped ears.

And oddly enough, Quinn was holding two cards: his hand had been empty at the end of the previous turn.

"Prime-…. Prime Material Dragon (2400/2000)?" spluttered Mandarin.

Quinn lazily indicated the two spell and trap cards on his field.

"The first card I activated was a quick-play spell called Gift of the Wyvern. By sending a level six or lower dragon my deck to my graveyard, I may draw one card for every one thousand attack points that the sent monster possesses. Following that, I activate my facedown trap Rebirth of Soul. I may only do so if a monster with the word "Horus" in its name is on my field. I can choose one dragon-type monster in my graveyard with a level lower than Horus and special summon it to my field. Since Prime Material Dragon is level six, it fits the criteria rather snugly. Finally, Prime Material Dragon's effect ensures that any damage to my life-points as a result of a card effect is converted to life-point gain instead."

Mandarin was silently fuming. He hadn't even bothered to try and get rid of either Horus or Horus' Servant as he had anticipated an instant victory. Now, since all three Stronghold Shadow – Golems had been removed from play, he couldn't even switch the attack and defense points of his Titan Czar Golem.

"And now my turn commences," continued Quinn lazily.

"Fool!" crowed Mandarin. "This is the fifth standby phase after you activated Card of Demise. Your cards are all discarded!"

Quinn smirked. "Come now, old man. I assumed you were a bit of a foolish old coot, but use your brains once in a while. I was prepared for an eventuality like this. One of the cards I discarded was the third and final Repayment of Losses in this deck, allowing me to draw one more card after the effect of Card of Demise resolves."

Mandarin waited with baited breath.

Slowly, his opponent drew one card, and turned it around, showing it to him.

"Underworld Gem?" roared Mandarin in sheer disbelief.

Quinn nodded. "By removing from play five cards in my graveyard, I may add one spell card from my graveyard to my hand. I choose the Card of Demise."

Mandarin continued to watch his opponent warily as he refilled his hand.

An amused Quinn pointed at the Titan Czar Golem. "Prime Material Dragon and Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV8 shall attack."

The two dragons let lose bursts of golden and black flames respectively. Once again, due to Astral Barrier, they bypassed the metal beast and slammed into Mandarin.

(Quinn: 3600, Mandarin: 5100)

"I set three cards facedown. My turn ends."

Mandarin drew, and groaned once again as Fortification Fusion dealt him damage.

(Quinn: 3600, Mandarin: 4100)

He looked over at the trio of monsters on Jason's field.

"This duel ends _now_!" he hollered.

Quinn met his gaze.

"Due to the effect of Temple of the Kings, I may set this trap and activate it instantly: Curse of the Fallen! Now I may remove one Stronghold Shadow in my graveyard from play in order to return one removed from play Stronghold Shadow back to my graveyard. I remove Stronghold Shadow – Sentry (1800/1300) in order to return one of my removed from play Golems back to the graveyard. I instantly remove it again, switching my Titan Czar Golem's attack and defense scores, and boosting both our life-points by three thousand!"

The metallic fusion (3000/1000) glowed once again.

(Quinn: 5600, Mandarin: 6100)

Mandarin continued aggressively. "Then comes this continuous trap: Escape from the Dark Dimension! I may now special summon one removed from play dark attribute monster to my field. I choose the Stronghold Shadow – Defender (0/2000) that I removed from play earlier on, in defense mode."

Materializing on Mandarin's field was an Oriental man dressed in red armor. He carried a giant shield on his right arm, and a banner in his left which depicted a black vortex. His head was covered with a horned helmet, and a flowing midnight blue cape floated in his wake. He was armed with two small daggers which were kept in his belt.

"I don't know if you were sleeping when I summoned this monster against your pitiful weaker half, but its effect is rather deadly," ranted Mandarin. "Any boost in attack points received by a Stronghold Shadow is doubled!"

The Titan Czar Golem (5000/1000) let out a screech. The tension was unbearable.

(Quinn: 5600, Mandarin: 8100)

"I have four of my spell and trap card zones full, and I know the perfect way to fill in the fifth," growled Mandarin.

"I call upon my final monster: Stronghold Shadow – Tactician (500/800)."

A small bespectacled man dressed in black robes materialized onto his field. He held a rolled up map in one hand, along with a small knife in the other.

"Stronghold Shadow – Tactician is unique from my other Stronghold Shadows in that while they attain power through fusion, Tactician happens to be a Union monster. Now I choose to use that ability, equipping him to my Titan Czar Golem to grant it five additional attack points, as well as the ability of dealing you damage equal to the attack points of any monster it destroys in battle!"

The small man leapt onto the much larger golem's shoulders, and grasped two handles which popped out of the metal (6000/1000).

(Quinn: 5600, Mandarin: 9100)

"I told you it would end now, impudent child!" screeched Mandarin. "Stronghold Shadow – Titan Czar Golem, obliterate his pathetic Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV8 and END THIS DUEL!"

For seemingly the final time, the steel titan unleashed a stream of blue energy, directed at the silver leviathan.

Quinn's eyes had been closed all the while, and when he opened them, a faint smirk was on his face.

"Yes, you were quite right. The duel is indeed going to end this turn. I'm about to show you why: facedown card, activate. Reverse Mage Power!"

Mandarin gasped as Horus' attack points went through the roof (6000/1800).

(Quinn: 8600, Mandarin: 9100)

"I don't care if your pathetic continuous trap grants your dragon five hundred attack points for every spell or trap on my field!" exploded Mandarin. "Both monsters will be destroyed and you will _still_ lose six thousand life-points!"

"That's not all." Horus unleashed its own wave of flames to match the stream of blue energy. The two attacks seemed evenly matched…. For now.

"I then activate Covering Fire. By sacrificing one monster on my field, I may add its attack points to another. I target Prime Material Dragon, boosting the attack points of Horus further!"

The golden dragon let out a mournful cry before it evaporated into nothingness. Horus roared out loud, and the wave of flames that it was releasing increased even further in size (8400/1800), pushing the Titan Czar Golem's attack back.

(Quinn: 5200, Mandarin: 9100)

"It's not enough to defeat me," panicked Mandarin.

"But this is!" thundered Quinn, his green aura flaring out around him. "My final trap: Matador Defense! Until the end phase, all monsters that battle lose attack points equal to their original defense points! Due to your especially useful field spell, that is enough damage to SEND YOU TO HELL!"

Mandarin screamed out in shock as the attack points of Horus (6600/1800), and Titan Czar Golem (1000/1000), all plummeted. Along with their masters' life-points.

(Quinn: 3400, Mandarin: 4100)

"NOT LIKE THIS!" he screeched as Horus' black flames finally overpowered the attack of his Titan Czar Golem. It rushed forth, burning both the metallic creature as well as the small, bookish man astride it. Their cries of pain were nothing, however, compared to that which Mandarin let out as the flames overtook him completely.

"Die."

Even as his life-points plummeted, the flames remained. Mandarin watched in shock as his very flesh began to evaporate around him, letting out one final screech before his entire world was consumed with blackness.

(Quinn: 3400, Mandarin: 0)

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A dark smile graced the face of Dartz.

The pieces were in play. Havoc would ensue. Of that, he was certain.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Sorry for the late update again . That final segment with Quinn and Mandarin was a pain to write. I think I dug myself too big a hole with all those continuous traps and spells, along with Special Relativity Field. Anyway, one of my favorite duels of the story is done. Hope to update soon :).**


	38. Rematch of the Millennium

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX: Rematch of the Millennium

**Ah, here I am. Not in a mood for the introductory banter, so I'll get right to the reviews….**

**Dinomus: Yes, you seem confused :P That means I'm doing my job…. Don't worry, everything will become clear…. By the end of the story :P**

**Master of the Library: You and anime… I won't say anything :P Although I do recall a lecture about a lack of an ability to distinguish between day and night in college, which makes things slightly suspicious :P**

**Atemu's Sis: That will become apparent now.**

**American Vigor: Thank you very much. That was a very good review, and I truly appreciate an author of your quality taking the time out to read my fiction.**

Certainly after spending so long working with the Infinity Council, Zerato knew what kind of situations one was likely to find himself in.

But this….. This defied logic. Almost.

The stream of warriors of the Legion _just didn't seem to end_.

How many of these reptilian abominations could fit in the Jade Star, thought the Archangel absently as he deftly avoided a jab from one of their energy blades to his head, and responded by unleashing a small sphere of white energy in the direction of his attacker. It continued forth, knocking the extraterrestrial off its feet.

Zerato had no idea if it stayed down, and probably never would, as he was too busy with fending off a quadruple creature that had latched onto his back.

He looked around him desperately. Their luck had been awful. As he and Kaiba had made their way up with the wounded and injured, the swarm had followed them. He spotted Ryu Zaytel and CJ Andersen, two of the Demon Lords, standing back to back a few feet from him and unleashing ferocious uppercuts in the direction of unending streams of attackers.

Brian Palmer, Seto Kaiba, Tea Gardner and Daniel Pilkington had managed to slip into the stairwell and were probably making their way up to the helipad. Along with them were a bunch of regular Eagle employees, helping the residents of the infirmary to safety as well.

_Where was Serena Avalon_?

He whirled from one side to another.

She was innocent. Just a twenty-four year old girl who happened to work for Eagle because she had been unable to cut it in the mainstream intelligence community. Surely, _surely_ she wasn't dead.

He blew another attacker away. His energy levels were waning.

He hollered across the room. "Politamus! I need your help!"

Ryu ducked under a lunging Shocktrooper and threw him over his shoulder. "I'm a little busy right now!" he roared.

Zerato took a step back as two more attackers blundered into each other, with him being their original target. It took two successive blows to the nape of the neck to disable them before he moved on.

"_So uncivilized_."

"The girl – Serena, Serena Avalon," he called out while letting out another sphere of white energy which knocked a handful of soldiers back. "Have you seen her?"

Ryu grimaced, taking a step away from a new swarm, leaving CJ to engage the whole lot temporarily.

"I have no idea where she is. The last I saw of her was with Daniel and Palmer, helping Kaiba take the incapacitated ones to the helipad. There is a chance they may have gotten separated."

With that, he snarled as his hair crackled with silver energy, before he let out a giant wave of golden energy in the direction of the creatures CJ was brawling with, just as his fellow Demon Lord leapt clear. For the moment, they were free.

Zerato clenched his fist. He was by far the oldest person in the building, even more so then the five thousand year old Pharaoh, and almost felt as if he was obliged to watch out for the others. Daniel and the other demons were more than capable of handling themselves, as was Yami. Kaiba may not have possessed any sort of special power, but the CEO possessed a sort of tenacity and sheer intelligence that made him possibly the most dangerous of the lot. The Eagle agents though….. Zerato himself had recruited them to this mission. If he hadn't made that trip to meet the Board of Directors, Serena would probably be working with filing cabinets in Las Vegas right now.

"There's no time," sighed Ryu. They could hear the rumble of more footsteps coming from the east.

"Damnit all," swore Zerato and grimaced, standing his ground.

"We can't save every Eagle employee on this base," exploded Ryu. "We are powerful, yes, but the sheer numbers of this new enemy are overwhelming. I would love to stand and fight but we'll achieve nothing even if we drive them out of the base. The entire city is crawling with them, we need to reach a place where we are allowed a certain degree of respite: it's the only decision that makes tactical sense."

Zerato bit his lip, eying the door that led to the stairwell.

"You have to come with us," snarled Ryu. "You're our only link to the Council!"

The Archangel dropped his head. A defeated look graced his features.

"Follow me," he mumbled.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kevin and Angel stared into the darkness of the cave. It was approaching evening now and the sky was overcast.

"Who is this Nightshroud guy?" questioned Kevin. "I mean, you said he's going to make me more powerful. But how can someone hide out in a damn cave for so long? I mean, is he even here?"

A dark smile graced Angel's face. "Oh, he's here all right."

The Dark King of the Abyss raised a hand, and a luminescent sphere of red flames materialized in it. The cave was instantaneously lit up. Kevin braced himself, expecting some kind of gigantic monster to appear out of the corner where it was lurking, but to his surprise, all he saw were rocks and various crags on the wall.

"I don't see anything…." pondered Kevin.

Angel made an irritable sound. "Three o'clock. On the ground."

Kevin turned his gaze to the instructed position.

Lying on the floor was a card.

Kevin walked forward warily and picked it up.

It was bordered yellow, just like a regular normal monster. However, it had no name, no stats, and no effect. The image present on it was simply a black mask, in the shape of a semi-circle with the ends curling upward. The two slits where one would normally peer through were colored a deep crimson. Surrounding the mask were multiple chains.

Kevin looked glum. "A card with no name or effect?"

Angel ignored him, snatching it from his hand.

"Nightshroud…. He is, well, a bit of a special case."

Kevin looked curiously at him.

"As the former King of Necropolis I know pretty much every detail there is to know about every scumbag in the book. Nightshroud would probably top the list. He originated from a sealed dimension called the World of Darkness. Yes, I know, quite the corny name," he agreed, looking at Kevin's raised eyebrows.

"He believed that all of humanity should be transferred to the world where he began his existence. It's a hellish place, not unlike Necropolis. When one's consciousness is transferred to the World of Darkness, they are forced to experience their worst nightmares for an eternity. His foolish belief was that if all humans gave up hope in despair, they would lack ambition, and ambition was what led to suffering.

"Somehow, his spirit was trapped in the old Obelisk Blue dormitory here at Duel Academy. A foolish student by the name of Yusuke Fujiwara heard of this, and made it is mission to perform a ritual of some sort in order to free Nightshroud and become the host of his soul. The ritual was interrupted by a friend of Fujiwara, one going by the name of Atticus Rhodes. The interruption resulted in a near fatal incapacitation of Fujiwara, and in vengeance, Nightshroud took control of Rhodes' body as his host. Eventually, Nightshroud was defeated by the host of the Second Horsemen of Apocalypse, Haou, who went by the name of Jaden Yuki. It was a Shadow Game, and the terms were that the loser would suffer with his soul trapped in a card."

He handed it back to Kevin.

"The power of one of the most terrifying dark spirits in history is within your hands, Kevin. However, know this: while he is within this card, Nightshroud still retains some element of sentience. There is a very good chance that he will attempt to seize control of your body when you harness his power. If you want any hope of surviving and retaining your sanity, fight it. If you subdue him, your deck will finally have the power necessary to crush Seto Kaiba."

Kevin stared at the card, and then back at Angel.

He could feel a strange pulse emanating from the card. A black aura was also glowing around it.

"What the-…"

He didn't have times to finish his words before the darkness took him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Yami came to feeling like someone had hit his head with a sledgehammer.

Come to think of it, the event probably had been something similar.

His vision was bleary at first, but slowly he realized there was nothing much to see. All he knew was that his hands had been cuffed behind his back, and when he came to, he had been on his knees. He could hear frightened whispers on either side of him. This resulted in a grimace. It seemed others had been taken prisoner as well.

He gave it some time, waiting for his head to clear.

A towering figure strode into the room. Yami focused his vision, and could tell it was not one of the centaur-like Shocktroopers. Instead, it was a bipedal creature that was probably as big as a sports utility vehicle. It held an energy gun in one hand, although it didn't seem to have much use for it.

The beast ignored the cries of fear from the other prisoners, as it continued to walk. Yami couldn't quite put his finger on it: but there was something about the creature's manner of walking which made it seem like it had a particular _direction_ to it. Almost as if it knew where it was going. He became almost absorbed in watching the giant extraterrestrial moving: moving towards him that is.

Why would they know he was special? They hadn't challenged anyone else to a duel back at the base, and now they seemed to be targeting him.

Yami felt cold steel against his neck. He grimaced, but didn't react.

"Get up."

Yami considered, and decided to ignore the command. He really _hated_ that voice, it almost sounded like a nail being scratched against a sheet of stainless steel repeatedly.

"_Get up_."

This time, Yami obeyed. It was a chore, considering his hands were locked in place behind his back, but he was able to get to his feet in a somewhat dignified manner.

"Walk."

As much as he tried to block it out, Yami couldn't help but listen to the speculations that echoed from the other prisoners. Most of them revolved around his slow and painful death.

The blaster continued to press against his back, directing him to the northwest. The creature stopped momentarily in the darkness and pressed a few buttons on the wall, a door smoothly slid open in front of them. This led to a slightly better lit corridor.

The light blinded him temporarily, but Yami was soon able to discern the features of the place he was in as he continued to move forward. The floor definitely did not seem to be made of any kind of metal, yet, it was perfectly solid. It had a look to it that made it seem almost…. _alive_. A deep crimson in color, the floor and walls were almost translucent. Buried inside them were green stones at random intervals, stemming from which were long tendrils that seemed to be sucking energy from them.

Yami turned his head away from his surroundings, focusing only on what lay ahead of him. It was certainly quite a long corridor, and the walk lasted almost five minutes, until they reached another door. This was operated in a different manner: the guard who was escorting him placed his gnarled hand flat against a transparent sheet. It beeped, and the door slid open. Yami braced himself and walked through it.

To his shock, they were not in another room.

They were standing _on top of the battle station_.

Yami knew this because from his vantage point he had a bird's eye view of Manhattan, below him. It was a mess.

Fires were visible all over the place. They were too high up to make out any details, but it was evident that battles were raging down below them; this he could conjecture through the fain sounds of multiple explosions every few seconds. It was now evening, and the sky was dark. He shivered as a gust of wind blew past him.

It was a full moon night, which provided enough illumination for him to observe that the platform they were standing on was rectangular in shape, and perhaps the size of a couple of football fields. Standing along the border were all manner of creatures: on one side stood a guard of Shocktroopers, on the other, giant beasts similar to the one that was guarding Yami. There were hundreds of them. They paid no attention to the new arrival, and seemed focused on what seemed to be orders which were being given out by an obscure figure.

Yami turned his head to try and make out the details of the battle station as a whole. It seemed large enough in terms of volume to contain the whole of the Vatican City within it, and then some. From what he could see, it was made of three sections: a middle one which was smaller than the other two in terms of length, but greater in width and broadness, also cylindrical in shape.

Attached to it on either side were two massive cuboids bigger than most skyscrapers. Yami could make out the east wing some thousands of feet away. It seemed they were standing on the top of the west wing.

His guard broke him out of his reverie, dragging him forward. A roar sounded from the gathered mass of aliens, and as one they began to move away, disappearing into various openings which opened in the ground beneath their feet, and doors on the opposite side of the platform. As they left one by one, Yami could make out the figure which had been seemingly given orders.

It was unmistakable.

It was a white-caped giant pacing himself toward them. He was a spirit of some sort, with dark-blue wings fluttering behind his back. He was donned in a long, cerulean robe that reached down to his sky-blue-booted feet. The top portion of his robe was masked by a type of metallic armor, with three gray pendant-like bulbs, two on the sides and one on the bottom-front. An enormous, smooth, ultramarine buster sword was in the clutches of his pale-skinned, right hand. His face was similarly light, with a full head of white hair, worn down, and reaching down to his chest. On top of his head was a type of flat, golden disk. His right eye was concealed, but his left was a bright green.

"Dark Marquis – Belial," uttered Yami.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Wake up, Kevin," drawled a voice.

Slowly, the former Paradias agent opened his eyes.

"What's… What's going on here?" he murmured, looking around. Where was Angel?

The entire area was shrouded in darkness. He could see nothing.

Kevin panicked. "Where am I? Who are you?"

"Come now, Kevin… Don't tell me you don't recognize this voice."

A cold feeling slipped under Kevin's skin.

"It can't be…."

"Oh, it can."

Black mist began to move together, resulting in the materialization of a lucid figure. He stood maybe five foot ten, with dirty blonde hair. He was dressed in a casual white shirt and jeans. Kevin knew everything about this person. It was all so familiar. Except for the eyes: they were glowing a deep crimson.

"Dad?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Well I am honored you remember me, Your Majesty," chuckled Belial mockingly.

Yami narrowed his eyes and shook off the grip of the last remaining alien. The wind blew his bizarre hair into his face, but he brushed it away with his shoulder, keeping his vision fixed on the Marquis.

"How is this happening?" he questioned.

Belial averted his gaze from Yami, taking a few lazy steps to his right.

"Explain this!" he reiterated. "Why have these…. These _things_ attacked Earth?"

Belial looked sharply up at him. "These _things_ are the Legion, foolish one. You may be five thousand years old, but the Legion has seen and done things that even you, in your age-old wisdom, would be unable to comprehend. Watch your words."

"You're worrying about my being offensive?" snapped Yami. "The _Legion_, as you call it, is down there killing innocent people! I allowed myself to be captured in order to come up here and seek explanations!"

"They are not innocent!" spat Belial. "Not one of them! Not one single member of the human race is innocent, do you hear me?"

Yami glared at him.

"You will have your answers. In fact, the whole world will," said Belial shortly. He motioned to the guard.

"Release him."

The creature grunted, and Yami felt its giant palms clasp his wrists. The cuffs clicked open, and Yami sighed in relief. Slowly, he rubbed his hands to restore circulation.

"How did you escape Necropolis?"

Belial turned his gaze to the city beneath them, with his back facing Yami. Other then the sound of distant explosions, no sound was heard between the two.

"I have my methods," uttered Belial in reply.

"So everything, it was all an act?" continued Yami. "I highly doubt you would have spent fifteen years commanding a ragtag resistance in Necropolis if you also happened to be a member of this Legion-…"

"A member?" snorted Belial, turning to face him again. "You are more foolish then I thought."

He lifted the patch covering his right eye. It too glowed an emerald green.

"I am the _Emperor _of the Legion."

Yami paused momentarily to digest this bit of information. Although, it was hardly surprising if he took into account several factors.

"I can see the power of the Legion before my eyes. If you really are in command of it all, why would you bother with Necropolis?"

Belial snorted again. "Do you believe I would sink so low as to play chess with the Dark King of the Abyss in that dump for more than a decade? No. I merely saw Necropolis as an opportunity: a chance to broaden my personal horizons. The perfect tactician always looks for means to empower one's own campaign. The rumors that the King possessed a Seal of Immortality was of interest to me. I simply provided the rebellious ones with the weapon and power to organize a motley resistance, all the while hiding in the shadows myself. My main focus remained the Legion. When I received news that you and others sent by the Infinity Council had arrived there, I realized that the pieces were being moved. The game was afoot: it was time to reveal my hand."

"But what was it about us as a group which made you enter Necropolis?" replied Yami, his curiosity growing.

Belial chuckled. "That key bit of information: I believe I will keep it to myself for the time being. Let's just say that a point had been reached when I realized humanity had to be punished. I could no longer allow the sinners to continue with their terrible ways, unrepentant, unstoppable. The Legion is not a destructive force, Pharaoh, it is a _cleansing _force."

"You are not making any sense," growled Yami. "If you are really the Emperor of the Legion, and you have spent decades in space, I fail to see what kind of argument you could have with the people of Earth. What crime could have possibly been committed against you that must result in the punishment of humanity as w hole?"

"_Don't presume to know what has been done to me_," hissed Belial, taking a step forward so that his face was only centimeters from that of Yami.

Yami matched his gaze, and slowly, the Marquis withdrew. A sphere of green energy had been crackling in his hand.

"It has only begun," uttered Belial. "You, Pharaoh, shall be the first to suffer the wrath of the Legion. In fact, the entire world shall bear witness to its greatest champion being brought to his knees."

Yami ignored his words. "What about Apocalypse? Do you realize that if he completes his quest to regain full power, even the Legion shall not be spared? You're interfering in a process which has far larger ramifications then you can possibly imagine."

Belial shook his head, almost pityingly. "Apocalypse is not a sentient individual, persay. He is a mindless force of destruction. The Legion is all-knowing: omnipotent and omnipresent. The Seals of Immortality shall be kept out of his reach, and there will come a time when even Apocalypse shall fall before the power of the Legion."

Yami looked at him incredulously. "Do you honestly believe that you are powerful enough to defeat a former member of the Infinity Council?"

Belial looked back at him. "I believe the Legion is capable of more than you can possibly imagine, through sheer will rather then might."

The words of the Marquis were not making sense to Yami at this point. Still, he continued.

"There will be a duel. If you lose, humanity shall pay its price."

To Yami's amazement, a floating screen was rising out of the ground. On it, was an aerial view of a place most familiar to him: Domino.

Yami's furious voice broke the silence. "You sick-minded bastard, I will never lose to you-…"

He was cut off by another screen rising out of the ground, this one opposite to the first. It depicted an island, mostly covered by a forest, with a shining castle in the middle.

"Whoever said I was to be your opponent?"

Belial pointed to one of the doors, which opened to reveal a depressed looking figure. The crimson shirt and trousers, the long silver hair: it was all oh-so familiar to Yami.

"I'm sorry it had to come to this, Yugi-boy."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kevin stared dumbly ahead of himself, unsure of how to react.

"You failed me, Kevin," uttered Adam, a devilish undercurrent present in his voice.

Kevin blinked. "Dad, I tried-…"

"BUT YOU FAILED!" hollered back Adam, startling him.

Kevin blinked again. His father was dead. What exactly was going on here?

Adam began to pace around his son. "I gave you life, Kevin. I brought you into this world, providing you with any means necessary to become a champion dragon duelist. All that you needed to do is defend my honor and defeat that scum Kaiba. YOU DIDN'T!"

Kevin felt to one knee, pressing his hand against his head. "Shut up!" he bawled. "You're not my father, my father is dead!"

"Yes, Kevin, your father is dead and you did nothing to avenge it," cackled the nightmare voice.

Kevin's head was spinning, as he tried to block out the words.

The first kick was hard and brutal, catching him in the ribs. It knocked him off his feet and down to the ground. He could see the taller, stronger form of his father leering over him.

"Even in death I am superior to you in every way!" howled Adam, kicking Kevin again, just as he staggered upward.

He gasped in agony, coughing up some blood in the process.

"You failed your father, Kevin."

The words rang through his mind again and again.

"_You failed your father, Kevin_."

He rolled on the ground, clutching his head as the blows continued to land.

"_You failed your father_."

He was teetering on the brink of complete insanity.

"_You failed."_

He didn't even know if the blows were continuing to occur, such was the pain.

"_You failed…. You failed…. You failed_."

"ENOUGH!" he screeched. The noises stopped.

Adam paused, and smirked.

Kevin trudged to his feet. "You…. You thing, whatever you are," he said venomously. "I am going to kill you and take your power for daring to insult the memory of my father. Then I will go after Kaiba, and soon my father will rest in peace."

He lunged forward viciously, the savageness of his attack taking Adam by surprise. The blow struck his mouth, loosening a tooth and driving him back. Adam's reflexes were still good enough to block the next blow, however, and follow it up with a knee in the gut.

Kevin was beyond pain now, though. His barrage of blows continued until the both of them stood facing each other, bleeding and panting.

"Perhaps you would like to make this a little more civilized," chuckled Adam.

"Fine," spat Kevin. "I'll crush you in a duel then."

Adam stood back, and the shadows began to manifest into a large, rectangular shape. It was a duel platform.

"Fitting, isn't it?" chuckled Kevin's tormentor. "We will do battle on the very stage which your father used to cheat his way to the top!"

"DON'T YOU DARE INSULT HIM!" screeched Kevin, snatching his deck out of his belt and placing it on the deck zone as he climbed up onto it.

"Your existence is insulting enough," replied Adam mockingly.

(Adam: 8000, Kevin: 8000)

"I shall begin this little game," chuckled the horrific apparition, "by normal summoning Luster Dragon (1900/1600) in attack mode."

A sapphire dragon with strong powerful arms and legs, bone like wings, and ruby colored eyes appeared onto the field with a small roar.

"I follow that up with two facedown cards, and end my turn."

Kevin drew aggressively.

"I summon Dark Crusader (1600/200) in attack mode!"

A man wearing a dark, blood-red cape leapt onto the field and drew out a short, but thick buster sword-like weapon. He wore dark, metallic armor, and had shoulder pads that were large semi-spheres. He had blood-red short hair on his head, and a golden-painted design across his forehead.

"Then I use his effect _thrice_, discarding three dark attribute monsters from my hand to the graveyard in order to boost his attack points by twelve hundred!"

The skeletal swordsman (2800/200) glowed with dark energy as his attack points surpassed that of the Luster Dragon.

"That's right," taunted Adam. "Continue to insult your father's memory: you weren't even worthy enough to wield his deck."

"SHUT UP!" screeched Kevin. He slammed another card onto the duel platform.

"Since I have three dark monsters in my graveyard, I special summon my greatest monster: Dark Armed Dragon (2800/1000)!"

Through nearly blinding darkness, a tall and scaley black dragon started to ascend. It had deep spikes sticking out of the end of its snake-like tail, though the tail fattened out at the peak. Blade-like wings were on the back of the monster, and sharp claws were its hands and feet; it wore spiked bracelets on its forearms. Its head had dark horns, with its face containing shadowy eyes and a dark-smoke-snorting nose. The teeth were nearly flashing white, but were noticeably sharp as well.

It gave a roar. It was not a deep, reverberating roar, but rather a screech, like a knife being drawn across perfectly smooth marble.

"Now I remove one of the dark monsters in from play in my graveyard in order to destroy Luster Dragon!"

The dragon bounded forward, and struck the sapphire wyvern with its claws. The latter let out a mournful growl of pain before it was shattered into hundreds of tiny pixels.

"Then I remove my other two monsters so that my Dark Armed Dragon can now obliterate your two facedowns!"

The dragon swung its tail around this time, the spike hitting the two brown backed cards one by one, and causing them to shatter.

"One of those cards was Repayment of Losses, so, tough luck," chuckled Adam.

Kevin ignored him.

"Now, Dark Crusader and Dark Armed Dragon will attack your life-points directly!"

Adam laughed brazenly as the pair of monsters charged toward him. The skeletal sword-wielder first slammed its blade into his arm, leaving a deep cut, while the dragon powered its paw into his gut, which began to leak blood.

Kevin stared in shock at the various injuries his monsters had inflicted on the nightmare spirit, but had seemingly no effect.

(Adam: 2400, Kevin: 8000)

"That's right, Kevin," sang Adam. "Hurt the man who gave you life, make the man who gave you everything bleed."

"YOU ARE NOT MY FATHER!" howled Kevin in fury. "I set my final card and end my turn! You will be finished after this!"

Adam drew. "I activate Trade In, discarding a level eight monster in order to draw two cards."

He looked over his new cards. "How perfect…. I play Premature Burial, paying eight hundred life-points to special summon Luster Dragon (1900/1600) back from the graveyard."

The glowing purple dragon appeared on his field once again.

(Adam: 1600, Kevin: 8000)

"Then comes Monster Reborn: this provides me with an opportunity to bring you face to face with your father's greatest gift to you: a gift you scorned and threw away. Now, that same card is going to come back to haunt you. Come, Tyrant Dragon (2900/2500)!"

Roaring onto the field was a dark orange dragon with a massive set of wings, powerful claws, sharp fangs, a strange skin hood around its face, and a strong tail. The dragon landed in front of Adam and let out a massive roar, showing its eagerness for battle. Meanwhile, the other dragon vanished next to it.

"Since I special summoned Tyrant Dragon from the graveyard, I needed to sacrifice a dragon-type monster. I'm sure you're quite familiar with its effects: it can attack twice if it's already destroyed a monster, and cannot be targeted by traps of any kind. In other words, both of your pathetic monsters are finished. Dictator Disaster Flame!"

The towering dragon opened its maw, and unleashed a wave of flames in the direction of the Dark Armed Dragon. The black creature attempted to fend the attack off, but to no avail. The fire washed over it within seconds, leaving nothing but a pile of cinders in its place.

(Adam: 1600, Kevin: 7900)

The Tyrant Dragon then turned its attention to the Dark Crusader, which was equally helpless as the fire consumed him as well.

(Adam: 1600, Kevin: 7800)

"Then I set one card facedown and end my turn," sneered Adam.

Kevin drew, staring helplessly at the Tyrant Dragon.

He had forgotten its power.

"I set this one monster facedown and end my turn," he sighed.

Adam snapped the top card off his deck.

"Come forth, Koa'ki Meiru Drago (1900/1600)!"

A draconic figure materialized next to the towering Tyrant Dragon. It looked like a regular dragon, with a long neck covered in frills, a pair of wings that seemed to keep it afloat in the air, and a tail as long as its body extending out behind it. However, it was completely a pale blue in color, almost the color of the sky. It stood out quite vividly in the darkness.

"Your worst nightmares are to be realized now, Kevin," spat Adam. "Drago prevents the special summoning of light and dark monsters: meaning your entire strategy has now effectively been shut down!"

Kevin gasped, his head spinning.

"_This is like living an actual nightmare! All my strongest monsters, Dark Horus, Dark Nephthys, Dark Creator…. They are required to be special summoned to be effective. As long as he has that blocked off, I'm in big trouble!_"

"Now, Tyrant Dragon, destroy his pathetic facedown!"

The towering wyvern unleashed a stream of flames in the direction of the card. It flipped up to reveal a furry, demonic creature. It looked a bit like a pumpkin, with orange skin, large, primal yellow eyes, and long, green limbs. The monster was easily recognizable as Sangan (1000/600), and was soon vaporized by the oncoming flames.

Even as Kevin weakly added a card from his hand to his deck, Adam pointed at him triumphantly.

"Dictator Disaster Flame!"

Kevin's former favorite monster glared cruelly at him, and unleashed another attack. This hit him in the chest, forcing him down onto one knee. The pain was so…. _real_. He didn't even have the time to scream out in agony before Drago hit him with its tail in the chest, knocking him off his feet just as he attempted to stagger up.

(Adam: 1600, Kevin: 2900)

"I must reveal a dragon type monster in my hand to keep Drago in play as I end my turn," spat Adam, holding up the Divine Dragon Ragnarok (1500/1100) . "Now, son, it is time for you to meet your maker. You were a fool to accept the Nightshroud card from your manipulative little master, and now I have the opportunity to take your body for an eternity."

Kevin tried to block out the voice as he drew despairingly.

"_You're pathetic_."

"_Unworthy_."

"_Useless. A failure_."

"_Never good enough…. Never good enough._"

The voices were building up to a crescendo. Kevin dropped his cards and slammed his hands onto his head, letting out a bloodcurdling shriek.

Adam smirked maliciously.

"_He's cracked_."

When Kevin lowered his arms, the apparition before him expected to see a defeated look of despair gracing his features. Instead, he witnessed the exact opposite: burning, venomous resolve.

"You think I'm pathetic…" growled Kevin through gritted teeth. "You think I'm worthless…."

He slammed his hand onto the platform, snatching the card off his deck.

"I AM BETTER THEN YOU!" he howled. "I believe in my own power! I WILL SHOW YOU! DRAW!"

Adam raised his eyebrows.

"I play the Card of Demise!" snarled Kevin. "I don't know how long you've been out of the game, old man, but this card allows me to draw until I hold five cards, although they will be sent to the graveyard But no matter: five turns is more than enough to defeat you."

His brow creased as he gazed at his new hand. Perfect.

"I don't even think I'm going to need five turns. I normal summon Armageddon Knight (1400/1200)."

A very large, red cape draped over the field, retracting into the cape of a tall, dark-haired warrior with very tan skin, who wore a chain mail-like vest, and metallic, open pants. He held a gray-handled sword of a pirate in his right hand.

"When summoned, he allows me to send a dark monster from my deck to my graveyard." He held up the card for his opponent to see. Left Leg of the Forbidden One (200/300).

"Then comes Burial from the Different Dimension. This allows me to return three removed from play monsters to my graveyard. I choose the very same three cards that I removed from play earlier on with my Dark Armed Dragon's effect."

"What's the point of this?" growled Adam impatiently.

Kevin's eyes glistened as he held up two cards. They were one in the same.

"Dark Factory of Mass Production?" panicked Adam.

"Indeed," growled Kevin. "Each one allows me to add two normal monsters from my graveyard to my hand. Since I used two, I can return four."

The crimson pentagram materialized behind Kevin, as the Armageddon Knight watched on in awe.

"No, no, no, that's only four!" howled Adam in despair.

Kevin ignored him and flipped all five cards around: Exodia the Forbidden One (1000/1000) in the center, added to his hand by Sangan.

A golden arm broke free of the pentagram, ripping a chain and causing dust and bricks to fly out in all directions.

Adam was seething. "You may have beaten me, young Hunter," he snarled, his voice changing.

Changing into the voice of Nightshroud.

"But I swear to the dark forces that birthed me: I will not give up until you are mine. One day, one day soon, Kevin Hunter, your mortal soul will be mine."

The winning duelist leered at him as the legendary god of destruction finally broke out of its bonds. It was immeasurably large, dwarfing even the Tyrant Dragon. Kevin spread out his arms in triumph as Exodia grinned horribly at his opponent, debris raining down over the field.

"Your time has come," intoned Kevin.

Adam glared at him, but didn't say a word.

"This ends now…. Exodia…. OBLITERATE!"

The Forbidden One enacted his command by drawing back its right hand, which had had a sphere of golden energy growing in it since Exodia himself had materialized onto the field. With a devilish roar, he thrust it forward, unleashing a devastating wave of golden energy. It consumed everything in its path, drowning out Kevin's maniacal laughter. Drago was the first to go, followed quickly by Tyrant Dragon; the both of them consumed effortlessly.

Adam himself was glaring at his opponent as the energy slammed into him.

The last words that echoed off his lips before his entire world was consumed were, "Damn you, Kevin Hunter."

(Adam: 0, Kevin: 2900)

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Yami looked at Belial furiously.

"Explain this at once!"

The Dark Marquis smirked and inclined his head to Maximillion Pegasus.

"Why don't you explain it to him, old man?"

Pegasus spoke in a quivering voice as he trudged forward, slowly coming into view. He made a defeated figure, with his shoulders slumped forward and the sparkle in his remaining eye absent.

"They came for me not two hours ago…."

He was clutching a deck in his hands.

"We must duel."

Belial nodded. "Yes, I thought the rest of the world could use a little entertainment."

Yami glared at him. "What makes you think I'm willing to duel him?"

Pegasus sighed, while their tormentor let out a shrill laugh.

"Yes, I had thought you two wouldn't be crazy about combating one another, even considering your past differences. That is exactly why I chose to…. Tack on some conditions."

He gestured to the pair of giant, floating screens.

"You see, this is quite a simple set-up. If you win against the creator of your little game, Pharaoh, his beloved island will be atomized by one of the Legion's fighters which has been deployed in the area."

Realization, sick, shocking realization began to dawn on Yami as the Marquis continued.

"If, however, Pegasus defeats you and regains his throne as the game's greatest, your hometown, Domino, shall be targeted immediately."

Yami stared at him in disgust.

"You sick, demented bastard-…"

Belial cut him off. "Insulting me will do you no good, Pharaoh. If you don't duel Pegasus, I will order the immediate decimation of Domino _and_ his island."

"What are you possibly hoping to achieve through this?" thundered Yami. "What have we done to YOU?"

Belial narrowed his eyes and spoke softly. "Humanity needs to be taught a lesson. It's nothing personal, you two are just pawns in a larger scheme of things."

Yami closed his eyes.

"_Grandpa…_"

A vision of the Kame Game Shop flitted before him in his mind's eye.

How could he allow that to ever be destroyed?

Then there was Pegasus. The poor man had nothing left. He may have seemed like the content billionaire with a few eccentricities, but deep down… He had been deprived of the woman he loved. His family was mostly gone, what with him being relatively old as well. For God's sake he was partially blind…. All he had was his work, the game he loved with his heart and soul.

How could one be so cruel as to deprive him of the home of all he loved?

"You will pay for this," spat Yami as he glared at Belial.

The Marquis shrugged. "Perhaps. Humanity must pay for this sins at this point, it was inevitable. If what I am doing is truly wrong, I have no shame in admitting that your statement may indeed come true one day. As of now, however, I must insist that the two of you get down your duel right now."

Pegasus was staring down at his feet, a forlorn look on his face.

"Please try to understand, Yugi-boy," he murmured. "I am fighting for my life's work here."

Suddenly there was a flash of light from the Millennium Puzzle, and in Yami's place was the seemingly less intimidating form of his hikari: Yugi Moto himself.

For some reason, however, Yugi did not seem to be his usual soft-spoken, quiet self. Instead, his eyes were burning with rage.

"We're talking about the lives of thousands of people here!" he snarled. "We're talking about my _home_."

Pegasus met his gaze. "That is understandable, Yugi-boy, but it's each to their own, unfortunately. I cannot allow the one thing that has driven me forward in my life since Cecilia died to be destroyed. It gave me purpose when I was on the brink. Besides, I too am trying to save lives here. My island is teaming with innocent Industrial Illusions employees."

Yugi glared at him. "Millennium Eye or not, you _haven't changed a bit_."

A dark look entered Pegasus' eyes. "Don't you dare presume that I will allow you to just stand there and judge me. You don't know a _thing_ about me."

"I know that you're a selfish old man, and that's what you will remain for an eternity," snapped back Yugi.

Belial watched the growingly heated exchange with amusement. "_Humans_…"

"_Yugi, let me -_…." Yami began, but was cut off.

"_No_," replied Yugi firmly. "_Domino is _my _home_. I _will defend it_."

Yami knew Yugi well enough to realize that on the rare occasion that he entered a mood like this, he was more or less impossible to reason with. He sort of inherited that trait from Yami himself, so the ancient Pharaoh couldn't really blame him.

"In fact," continued Yugi, taking out his deck and rummaging through it until he found a certain card. He held it up for Pegasus to look at.

"Reality Warp," recognized the creator of Duel Monsters.

Yugi nodded and pocketed it. "Now it's going to be just you and me, defending our homes. Later you won't be able to say that you didn't get a fair chance because Yami was able to step in."

Through their mental link, Yami's pleas to reconsider the action fell on deaf ears as the King of Games pulled his Duel Disk out of his jacket, and clicked it into place.

Pegasus glared at him while he picked one up which had been lying near him as well.

"You will regret this, Yugi-boy," he spat.

"We'll see."

(Yugi: 8000, Pegasus: 8000)

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Ok," breathed Deondre. "Psychopath number one has eliminated psychopath number two. Question is, what do we do with psychopath number one?"

Rikuo flexed his claws, keeping an eye on Quinn, who was laughing maniacally. "That answer should be easy enough…."

"NO!" screamed Sarah, startling everyone. "You can't hurt him! Jason is in there, somewhere!"

Rikuo scoffed at her. "Well, look, girl. You lot should have informed us about Becker having a crazy syndrome button in the first place. Second, why in the nine hells would someone who's not mentally right be heading up missions that determine the fate of the world?"

"He is fine! The dissociative identity disorder was taken care of over nine years ago!" retorted Sarah weakly.

Rikuo snorted and pointed at Quinn. "Then what do you call _that_?" he questioned sarcastically.

Sarah opened her mouth to answer, but words would not form. One could hardly blame her.

Rikuo shook his head, before then addressing Bakura and Deondre. "I will take care of this."

He began stalking over to Quinn.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jason had taken Quinn by surprise. In truth, he had been very _very _lucky. He had just regained consciousness and had chosen to lie there for a minute or two and instead _not_ alert his more vicious half of this occurrence, preparing to strike at the right moment.

It was a colossal uppercut that could have snapped a normal man's spinal cord. The force of it came from Jason's upward jump, knocking Quinn to the ground.

"You little-…." hissed the fallen man, immediately rolling away and staggering upward, nursing his bruised jaw.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Suddenly, Jason's body let out a strange heave of breath.

Rikuo raised his eyebrows as his hands suddenly began to crackle with green energy.

"Amero…" a choked voice echoed from Jason's throat.

The Wolf Demon General's ears pricked up. This was Jason's voice, all right.

"I don't know how much time I have," breathed Jason. "Kill me."

"Excuse me?" spluttered Rikuo, sliding into a defensive stance, arms raised. Bakura, Deondre and Sarah hurried up to flank him.

"Quinn is worse than anything you have faced," gasped Jason. He let out a groan of pain and fell to one knee.

"Jason!" cried out Sarah, taking a step toward him.

He raised a hand. "Don't-…" Sarah stopped in her tracks, her eyes a mixture of fear and confusion.

Jason breathed in and spoke again. "I am not strong enough to control Quinn. He is going to take control of this body permanently, very soon."

"What the hell is happening to you?" demanded Rikuo, gesturing to the green aura around Jason's body.

"WE DON'T HAVE TIME!" screamed Jason. "KILL ME-…!"

He was cut off suddenly as his chest suddenly twitched, involuntarily. He staggered upward, and the desperate, frightened tone was replaced once again by that gleefully sadistic drawl.

"Too late."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"You know, Jason, the Ninth Circle of Hell is divided into four parts," said Quinn languidly, massaging his right fist.

Jason lay on the floor, one arm broken, barely conscious.

"The first circle is for those who have betrayed their family."

He didn't get any answer, but continued nonetheless.

"The second is for those who have betrayed their guests."

Jason tried to get up, but his arm gave way, and he groaned in agony. Quinn let out a dark laugh.

"The third holds those who have betrayed their country, or an organization whom they were supposed to be loyal too."

Quinn knelt down, and grabbed the scruff of Jason's neck, pulling him up slightly.

"The final section punishes those who have committed the worst sin ever: treachery against their benefactors. They lie there encased in ice for an eternity."

Jason somehow managed to keep a straight face.

"Had it not been for me, Jason, and my superior control over the power that was bestowed upon your pitiful body, you would be dead by now," whispered Quinn.

He motioned to the blood trickling down his chin from Jason's earlier blow.

"And _this_ is how you thank me?"

Jason somehow mustered up the energy to spit in his tormentor's face.

Quinn's eyes flashed. "Say hello to the Devil for me. One day, maybe I'll pop by to say hello."

That next punch was the strongest that had been thrown that night. It was also the final punch thrown that night.

Jason Becker was gone.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rikuo looked disconcerted, a very rare thing for the five thousand year old demon general.

Quinn smirked.

"Now, now, doggie, take it easy. It's just little old Quinn who wants to play."

Rikuo cracked at that. The canine jokes never sat well with him, especially if it was a villain delivering them, and certainly, this guy had done enough to merit being called a villain.

He leapt forward and lashed out with one fist. Quinn had not expected such a sudden attack, and barely had time to block with his right arm.

Rikuo swung around, delivering a vicious roundhouse kick to Quinn's neck. He ducked just in time; had he not, it might have taken his head off.

Sarah let out a low moan of anguish, which went largely unheard.

Bakura and Deondre took a step forward, but Rikuo raised a hand.

"This guy…." He was unbelievably powerful. Rikuo had no idea how Jason Becker's alternate personality was capable of matching him punch for punch.

"Come now, Amero," chuckled Quinn, his green aura shimmering. "Don't tell me you're too worried about the safety of these fools to unleash your true power."

Rikuo gnashed his teeth.

"You scum… I don't know who you are, _what_ you are, but I do know that I want answers. And you are going to give them to me."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Quite a show," commented James.

Diablo ignored him, and focused instead on continuing to fill the dart with enough of the chemical.

James turned to face him. "I mean, seriously. Those two are on Sigma's level. I can't see a tranquilizer dart taking Becker out, or whoever he is right now."

"There's enough of the drug in here to put an elephant to sleep," growled Diablo, slotting it into the gun. "Just make sure you don't miss."

His associate scoffed. "I _never_ miss. _You_ better not screw this up similar to how you screwed up London."

Diablo bristled, but said nothing. The two had argued enough about how that particular course of events had proceeded.

"So, let's go over the plan one last time," he growled finally.

James groaned. "All right."

They turned to look over the desolate valley. Towards the center, in the midst of the rubble of the now dead Mandarin's palace, were a small collection of figures. Two were exchanging blows at an inhuman speed, kicking and upper cutting each other faster than the eye could see, while three were spectating. One of the two combatants was glowing with an emerald green aura.

"When this little fistfight reaches its peak, we cause a distraction," intoned James, examining the rifle.

Diablo nodded. "You take Becker out with the tranquilizer. Go for the neck, if the drug enters through the jugular then it'll spread throughout his blood pretty fas-…"

"I _know_," spat James, irritated by what he interpreted as Diablo patronizing him.

The demonic wrestler gave him a smoldering look. Just because they worked together didn't mean they liked each other.

"I snatch Becker, and we rendezvous at Moscow. The mole from Eagle will be there, apparently with a few words for him. After that, we take care of the mole."

"He never told us about our return plans to the States," pointed out James.

Diablo shrugged. "Actually, he said that if all goes as planned with Becker, our return plans will be sorted out simultaneously. Now stop asking questions and get to work."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rikuo and Quinn were both panting with exertion.

Neither had been in a fight like this before.

"You know," chuckled Quinn. "You are really wasting a lot of time right now. I have no quarrel with you, to be frank. This is just some exercise. I'm sure you have bigger things to worry about."

Rikuo narrowed his eyes. "Such as…?"

"I could give you a demonstration," replied his adversary.

His entire body began to glow with a green aura once again. This time, however, it was far brighter and more intense.

"Not again…!" snapped Rikuo, and took a step forward.

Then, three things happened in quick succession.

The first was a small cough-like sound in the far distance of the surrounding mountain ranges. It was unheard by any of those present in the valley, but the result of it was a dart loaded with a powerful tranquilizing drug which sailed through the air at over a hundred meters per second. It entered Quinn's body through his shoulder.

He didn't have time to react. Not when he was on the verge of letting out a huge of wave of energy.

The result of the excessively powerful drug, along with the amount of power which was on the verge of being released, was too much for his body.

This led to the second thing. It lost complete control.

Bakura just had enough time to erect a golden shield of energy with his Millennium Ring around himself, Deondre, and Sarah, before a wave of green energy which dwarfed the previous one exploded out of nowhere.

Rikuo was only able to survive it by countering with his own demonic energy. It was still powerful enough to throw him hundreds of feet across the valley. Whatever few walls of the palace remained standing were instantly vaporized, along with any stray pieces of rubble. Trees that stood on the edge, near the mountains, were reduced to ashes. Any unfortunate animal which had a cave nearby never saw the light of day again.

Rikuo's mind was spinning through a combination of pain and shock. The one thought floating through the back of his mind as he struggled against the wave of energy was _how_ this new individual _ever_ got a hold of this kind of power.

The backlash of energy lasted well over half a minute. Even when it stopped abruptly, the air was touching forty degrees Centigrade in temperature. Rikuo couldn't see a thing in the midst of the insane amounts of smoke. He coughed, waving his hand to get some of it out of his face. Slowly, he placed a hand on the hilt of the Howling Sword.

He hadn't seen the dart sticking out of Quinn's shoulder, and therefore did not realize that he was not directly responsible for the uncontrolled explosion.

Then, as the smoke started to clear slightly, he saw the third thing happen.

A giant form, standing perhaps seven feet in height, darted through the mess with surprising nimbleness, and slung Quinn's body over his shoulder. Then, just like that, he was gone.

Rikuo stared for a moment. All he had seen was a rough silhouette.

He didn't even know whether or not to pursue this new arrival. Hell, in all the smoke, he couldn't even be sure of what he had seen.

However, one question in particular was spinning through the heads of Rikuo, as well as Sarah, Deondre and Bakura.

_What the hell was going on_?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Blue Eyes White Dragon (3000/2500), direct attack!" ordered Kaiba.

The majestic dragon opened its maw and let out a wave of energy in the direction of the defenseless Shocktrooper. He was knocked off his feet, and the band wrapped around his wrist let out a string of shocks through his body, soon reducing it to ashes.

(Kaiba: 2300, Shocktrooper Five: 0)

That seemed to be the last of them, for now. Kaiba hoped that Tea, Daniel and Brian had made some headway.

"_Aliens dueling_…" he thought silently. And prior to this, he thought he had seen it all.

How in the hell had something like this happened?

It took him a good five minutes of weaving through empty corridors and narrow stairwells, but he soon caught up to the trifecta that he had dueled the Shocktroopers to allow a getaway. They were accompanied by a few members of the medical staff who were still pushing the stretchers which held the injured and unconscious.

Kaiba kept a blank face to the questioning look in Daniel's eyes.

"Don't ask me…. I'm just about coming to terms with the fact that I played a card game _five_ extraterrestrials, I'd rather not talk about it."

They moved quickly, until they found themselves on the top floor. It was seemingly empty. None of them said a word.

It seemed that no one had made it to the helicopters.

"What about Ryu, Yugi and CJ?" spoke up Daniel. "We can't just leave them."

Before Kaiba could reply, they heard a crack. Both the wolf demon and the CEO stopped then and there, listening intensely.

It was there again. The sound of a foot stepping on one of the wooden stairs outside the door they had just passed through. Very distinctive in the background echoes of roars, screams, and crashes.

Brian took a step forward, and silently motioned for the frightened medical staff to move into another room. They did so, along with Tea, leaving the three men to face whatever was to come.

Kaiba inhaled sharply as the door opened.

Daniel's reaction time was next to zero. He used his enhanced demonic speed to charge forward and tackle the new entrant.

"Goddamnit why do you have to be so paranoid?" grumbled CJ from the ground. Zerato and Ryu were standing on either side of him, expressionless looks on their faces.

Daniel didn't reply, and helped his friend up.

The group stood in silence momentarily.

"We have to leave, now," said Zerato finally.

Kaiba snorted. "So much for this being the most secure base in the world. How many have we lost already?"

The Archangel sighed. "Ms. Avalon is gone, I think. We didn't have the time to find her. Zeruge is handling the Ishtars; they, at least, are not much of a worry, as he is more than powerful enough to hold his own against these creatures."

Tea interrupted in a quivering voice. "We can't leave yet. Yugi still hasn't arrived."

This was met with quiet.

Zerato spoke gently, carefully choosing each word as he answered her.

"Ms. Gardner… The Pharaoh spoke with me prior to his going down into the bunker. He has reasons for choosing to do what he has done , reasons which will only make sense in some time-…"

"I DON'T CARE ABOUT THE PHARAOH WANTS!" screamed Tea. "YUGI IS IN DANGER!"

The Archangel really didn't have an answer for this.

Luck, however, somehow saved him.

One of the doctors had made his way up to the helipad, and came down, looking a bit dazed.

"You guys might want to take a look at what is going on up there…."

The group shuffled cautiously up to the helipad, followed by the even more frightened medical staff.

Kaiba was the first to voice his opinion. "What the hell…"

New York, as a city, was very famous for having screens built into the sides of buildings which depicted advertisements and such. The biggest and most noticeable of these was located in Times Square, which throughout history had advertised all sorts of brands at extremely exorbitant fees.

Today, however, they all showed one thing.

"Humans are selfish, corrupt, and need to be shown the error of their ways," echoed the cold voice of Belial, the Dark Marquis, his demonic visage staring out at the whole of New York from the various screens that had been taken control of.

Ryu, CJ, Brian, Daniel and Tea, all of whom had been to Necropolis, stared at each other in shock. They had no idea what to make of this latest development.

"The Legion intends to do exactly that. We shall begin by making an example of two of prisoners before the entire world, thus exposing the frailties of the human mind, and the mistakes that it tends to comit."

He drew back, revealing Yugi and Pegasus standing across from each other on what seemed to be the highest platform of the battle station which was currently floating above the city, Duel Disks at the ready.

"This…." mumbled Ryu.

He didn't really know what to say. Neither did any of the others.

Tea broke the silence. "There is no way we are leaving without rescuing Yugi."

This time, even Kaiba didn't argue.

Zerato nodded weakly. "Whatever the Pharaoh had in mind, I'm sure it didn't go this far. He is essential to our hopes, and we will need to infiltrate the battle station to rescue him."

He looked over to his companions, before addressing the head doctor.

"You, sir, will need to take all the injured to another, safe location. Zeruge and I had decided on a rendezvous point in Florida in case this base was compromised, he shall meet you there. Yes, the one with cat-like ears," said the Archangel at the doctor's questioning look.

He then turned to the duelists.

"Kaiba, you, me, Mr. Pilkington, Mr. Zaytel, Mr. Andersen, and Mr. Palmer shall use another helicopter to make it up to the battle station. From there-…"

"I'm coming!" spat Tea furiously.

Before Zerato could respond, she continued in a similar vein. Her frustration and sorrow at the recent events seemed to have boiled over into a fit of rage. Or perhaps, Kaiba thought, it was to do with the fact that she could not bear the thought of losing Yugi, the last person she had left after all the others she had cared about had been taken from her.

"Is it just because I'm a _woman_?" she snarled. "I participated in the Tournament of Shadows and came _this_ close to beating Anubis, the Egyptian demon god in a duel! Don't tell me I'm not qualified to participate in this mission!"

Zerato sighed. This was not the time to argue. "Very well, Ms. Gardner. You shall join us."

She didn't say anything, but merely scowled at him.

Meanwhile, the medical staff had been busy getting into one of the two remaining helicopters, along with their patients.

One of the doctors spoke weakly.

"Mr. Kaiba…."

The ill-tempered CEO turned to face him.

"There's too many people," he stated helplessly. "The chopper won't lift off."

They knew what it meant. The medical man was just putting it in kinder words.

One of them would have to remain behind.

"I suppose one of us could come with you," struggled the doctor.

Zerato shook his head. "It is far, far too dangerous."

It was an absolutely horrible conundrum…. No solution seemed to be available.

Suddenly, Kaiba spoke up, addressing the doctor.

"Do you have adrenaline?"

The man seemed startled. "Well, yes, medical staff are always required to carry some in case of emergencies-…"

"Good," Kaiba cut him off. "Inject as much as is safe into your patient Joey Wheeler."

"WHAT?" cried out the doctor in reply

The CEO nodded. "It's our only option. His body has had some rest since its ordeal a few days ago. If we can kick start his heart through external means, he should be able to come with us in the attack on the battle station."

"Mr. Kaiba that is all very well but you cannot expect a man who has been through an ordeal such as this to aid you in battle at the risk of his own health."

"So would you like to come with us?" snapped Kaiba, his patience wearing thin. "This is war, risks are taken and sacrifices are made. Zerato here," he jerked a thumb backward at the Archangel, "told us that he had cleared the poison out of his blood, and it was a matter of sheer will. If we get him awake through adrenaline, it would be the same as if he was able to regain consciousness by himself."

The doctor looked helplessly at Zerato, almost as if asking the angel for some kind of divine guidance. One could hardly blame him, he was faced with quite the ethical conundrum.

The Archangel himself looked rather nervous.

"Under these circumstances, the next of kin would be required to take a decision…"

He then looked at Tea. "However, with no person here qualifying for that title, you, Ms. Gardner, might need to do so. I'm sorry to put this on you: were Mr. Moto here with us right now, perhaps the onus could have fallen on him."

All eyes were on Tea. She stood silent for a moment.

"We don't have time!" exploded Kaiba. "You were the one who wanted to rescue Yugi!"

She closed her eyes.

Was it worth the risk? Even if Joey was free of the venom, there was still a chance that his body could give out under the strain of the events to come. At least that was what the doctor had said…

She had lost _so much_. Her brother, the person she loved the most in the entire world… One of her oldest friends, Tristan, had been taken and twisted into some kind of sadist. Serenity was gone as well… Yugi was stuck in the death trap of a psychopath. Worse than anything was her own ordeal in which she had her mind manipulated by Apocalypse.

When was the last time she had smiled?

"It's not really fair to have her take that call," suggested Daniel.

She ignored him.

To hear Joey's voice again… That would be a dream. She had _no one_ right now, absolutely no one…

Would it be selfish to have Joey brought back at a risk to his own life just to have his presence comfort her a bit, she asked herself.

It was an ethical point that would need a lot of time to be debated. Time they did not have.

She remained silent for a further moment, and then whispered, "Do it."

Kaiba nodded at the doctor, who nervously went back into the chopper and conversed briefly with his colleagues.

Tea closed her eyes again.

"_We're coming for you, Yugi… Just hang in there, please_."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**We're nearing an exciting time in the fic. I'm glad to be at this point. Stay tuned.**


	39. A Forgotten Legend

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN: A Forgotten Legend

**I'm back. BIG surprise coming up, folks.**

**Atemu's Sis: I'm sorry, I wanted to just ignore this…. But cmon, that was a bit ridiculous. It was one line, in no way has Tea behaved in a manner that merited that kind of abuse at any point in this story. In a review I'd rather not listen to character bashing. This is fiction, not real life. No offense, I was just a bit annoyed by that.**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: Quinn is by far one of my favorite OCs. I tried to design him after the Joker, but after all, who needs a substitute when you already have the real thing ;) :P**

**Dark Oynx: I really appreciate your praise, as always. Yup, Kevin is a bit of a jerk, but he's a fun character to write. Not everyone can be a nice guy, after all. Belial has some very good reasons for what he's doing (at least in his mind), and it's all gonna come together very soon, don't you worry :D. Actually Sigma was not shown at this point, I assume you meant Paradias as a whole.**

"I shall begin this duel," said Yugi in a hard voice. Pegasus kept a straight face, opting merely to watch his opponent silently.

"I summon Twilight Shadow – Bombardier (1700/1400) in attack mode."

There was a weird shout distantly behind them; something like a cowboy shouting 'yee-haw'. Looking over Yugi's shoulder, Pegasus saw a sleek, silver jet racing towards them at supersonic speeds, piercing the otherwise silent void of the night sky. Visible within the cockpit was a pilot, dressed in old-fashioned flying gear with goggles on his head.

Normally the pilot was a bit over-enthusiastic. However, he remained silent and serious at this moment.

"Ah yes…" murmured Pegasus. "The Twilight Shadows."

"I then add two cards facedown, and end my turn," finished Yugi, eying his opponent warily.

The creator of Duel Monsters looked slightly awkward wielding a Duel Disk, as he had always preferred Duel Platforms. Nonetheless, he proceeded with his move while retaining an air of confidence.

"I set a monster in defense mode, and add one card facedown. Go, Yugi-boy."

"Stop calling me that," growled Yugi, even as the pair of brown-backed cards materialized in front of Pegasus, one vertical and the other horizontal.

He snapped the top card off his deck impatiently.

"I summon Twilight Shadow – Foot Soldier (1400/1600) in attack mode."

Appearing next to the man in the plane was another one, dressed in rough mail. His face was covered by a helmet, therefore ensuring that his features remained mostly hidden. However, from the design of his armor, as well as the make of the blade and scabbard on his waist, one could tell that he seemed to be of Japanese origin: a samurai, of sorts.

"When Twilight Shadow – Foot Soldier is normal or special summoned, I can return one spell or trap card on your field back to your hand," stated Yugi, pointing at the one Pegasus had just set.

"But of course, I knew that, Yugi-boy," chuckled the President of Industrial Illusions. "After all, was it not I who created these cards?"

Seemingly amused, he slid the card out of his Duel Disk and back into his hand, setting its size and five.

"Now, Bombardier will attack your facedown monster!" declared Yugi, his eyes glinting.

At his command, the plane took off faster than the eye could see. As it sped over the lone monster on Pegasus' field, an explosive fell out of its belly. Just before it could hit, the card was flipped over to reveal a small, almost angelic creature. Its body was shaped like a butterfly, with two extravagantly colored wings flitting out on either side of a thin body. Its head was that of a beautiful woman. Those were all the details that could be made out before the bomb exploded, reducing it to ashes.

"That was Foolish Dreamer (300/500)," informed Pegasus. "When destroyed in battle, it deals you five hundred points of damage. I may also special summon another one in face-up defense mode from my deck."

As he spoke, a ray of blue light shot out of his graveyard and struck Yugi in the chest. He let out a small gasp of pain, but somehow retained his footing. Meanwhile, another creature had replaced its fallen brethren on Pegasus' field.

(Yugi: 7500, Pegasus: 8000)

"Very well. Twilight Shadow – Foot Soldier will now destroy your next Dreamer!"

The samurai drew his sword and charged across the field with a loud battle cry. Within seconds, it had sliced Pegasus' monster cleanly in half. Almost instantly, another beam of energy hit Yugi in the chest, and the final Foolish Dreamer appeared on Pegasus' field.

(Yugi: 7000, Pegasus: 8000)

Yugi looked over his hand. "_I think I have enough protection with those two facedowns_…."

"I end my turn at that," he breathed.

Pegasus drew. As stressful as the situation was, he seemed in complete control of the duel, at least.

"I sacrifice my final Foolish Dreamer to call upon a monster that I'm sure you are familiar with: Illusionist Faceless Mage (1200/2200)."

Yugi raised his eyebrows, his mind flashing back to the duel across the VCR the two had contested over seven years ago that had started it all.

The butterfly like creature vanished, only to be replaced by a puppet like monster. It seemed to be made of wood, and was dressed in a crimson, robe-like outfit. In the middle of its chest was a bulbous purple sphere, and from the two sides extended a pair of knobbly wooden hands. Strangely enough, it had not one, not two, but _three_ heads, each one attached to its body by slim wooden stumps which were supposed to represent necks. The face on the left was female, the one on the right was male, while the largest one in the middle had no features at all, thus justifying the creature's name.

"Then I equip it with yet another blast from the past."

Pegasus' dark smile broadened.

"The Eye of Illusion."

Yugi mentally groaned. He remembered this card very well all right. It had been a heck of a nuisance back then, and despite the drastic changes his dueling style and deck had undergone since then, its effects probably weren't any less deadly.

The silhouette of a floating, golden eye shrouded in darkness appeared above the Faceless Mage's body. It let out a small hiss.

"Now, his own abilities enhanced by the power of the Eye of Illusion, my Illusionist Faceless Mage will attack your Twilight Shadow – Bombardier."

The wooden puppeteer raised its hands and began to wave them around, its entire body writhing with a similar motion. Sonic waves of energy issued forth, slamming into the fighter jet. However, it seemed as though Yugi's monster was not as completely invulnerable as its attack points should have made it. The energy began to twist around the plane, drawing it over to Pegasus' field. The pilot stared out at Yugi from his window, a glazed look coming over his eyes.

Yugi swore.

"What's this?"

"When a monster equipped with the Eye of Illusion does battle, neither monster is destroyed and battle damage to all players is reduced to zero. However, I am then given control of the monster that I chose to attack, and retain that as long as Eye of Illusion remains in play. However, my battle phase ends immediately."

Yugi frowned. This was not helping matters… Still, as long as he got rid of the Illusionist Faceless Mage, and the Eye of Illusion by extension, getting his Bombardier back wouldn't be all that hard.

"I then set one card facedown and end my turn."

"_Hardly the dramatic start I would have hoped for_," mused Belial. "_The two of them do seem to be holding back…. Ah well, when the reality of the Legion's might hits them, both Moto and Pegasus will realize they have to start dueling for their _lives."

Yugi drew.

"All right, Pegasus! You seem to be unable to rely on your own strength, choosing instead to steal the monsters of others. Let's see how well you fair when I take that option away from you. Twilight Shadow – Foot Soldier, attack his Illusionist Faceless Mage! Frontline Blade!"

The samurai drew his sword and charged across the field, a determined look in his eyes. Just as he seemed about to bring his sword down onto the mysterious puppet, there was an explosive bang. Horrified, the warrior looked down to see that a shell had entered his body and exited the other end, leaving a gaping hole in its place. It had been fired from the plane

"What's this?" snapped Yugi in shock.

"The ace in the hole of my Eye of Illusion," replied Pegasus triumphantly. "If you choose to attack the monster equipped with the Eye of Illusion after it has already done battle once, the monster that it has taken control of is designated as your new attack target. Since Bombardier is three hundred points stronger then Foot Soldier, I am afraid your field is cleared."

"Not quite," growled Yugi, tapping a button on his Duel Disk. "I activate my facedown spell card, Curse of the Grim. One Twilight Shadow monster on my side gains five hundred attack points until the turn ends, and for every Twilight Shadow monster that is destroyed in battle during this turn, I draw one card."

The Foot Soldier (1900/1600) suddenly looked up with new resolve as he began to glow. With a grunt he stepped forward and swung his sword downward onto the plane. The blade looked ready to slice through the metal like a hot knife through butter, but at the last second, the plane fired out another round. This time it hit the samurai directly in the chest, blowing him apart.

(Yugi: 7250, Pegasus: 8000)

"What just happened?" spluttered Yugi.

"That would be my facedown Swamp of the Fallen card," replied Pegasus languidly. "Unlike Shrink, it halves not the original but the _current_ attack points of any monster of my choice, meaning your Foot Soldier was far too weak to stand up to the Bombardier. I can't believe you fell for such a simple trick, Yugi-boy."

Yugi ignored the taunts.

"I can still draw a card thanks to Curse of the Grim since a Twilight Shadow was destroyed in battle. While doing so, I chain my facedown trap, World War Four. When a Twilight Shadow is destroyed in battle during my turn, I may special summon another one from my deck of the same level and equal or less attack points. Since my level three Foot Soldier was sent to the graveyard, I call upon Twilight Shadow – Shield Guardian (200/2200) in defense mode."

A spectral form appeared on Yugi's field. It was kneeling, and about five feet tall. It wore blue armor, and a dome-like helmet. A futuristic shield was attached to one arm. It was pitch black in color, but in the center was a single, shining blue jewel, with cracks extending all around it. The cracks glowed in a similar manner.

"So you have called out a monster too strong for either my Faceless Mage or Bombardier to attack…" mused Pegasus.

Yugi nodded. "With that, I set this one card that I just drew facedown, and end my turn."

Pegasus drew calmly.

"Ah… How quaint. I summon forth Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands (1400/1000) in attack mode."

A stone statue with numerous arms appeared through a summon portal. The grey, cracked structure of the statue shifted uneasily as its hands curled.

"When he's normal summoned to the field, I am allowed to add one ritual monster or ritual spell card from my deck to my hand."

Yugi paused with trepidation. _This_ he remembered all too well…

"I choose Black Illusionist Ritual," stated Pegasus coldly.

Then, he tapped a button on his Duel Disk. "I follow that with my facedown trap card, Return to the Second Square."

The shape of the statue began to warp until cracks started to appear. Within seconds, it had crumbled away into nothing.

"Return to the Second Square allows me to return one monster on my field to the second from top card of my deck. In return, I draw one card."

"_So his aim is to resummon Manju on his next turn, thus allowing him to add the appropriate ritual monster card as well_," thought Yugi silently.

"Then I will merely add one final facedown card and end my turn," mused Pegasus.

Yugi drew.

"_There's one card that can really turn this around for me_…"

He looked at it and smiled slightly.

"I activate my facedown Polymerization."

He plucked the Twilight Shadow – Shield Guardian card off his Duel Disk, and slid it into his graveyard, along with another one from his hand.

"Twilight Shadow – Soldier (1600/1200) fuses with Shield Guardian. Come forth, Twilight Shadow – Swordmaster (2500/2000)!"

Materializing next to the defender was the spectral form of a soldier dressed in European style armor, and clutching a broadsword in his right hand. The two began to swirl together into a vortex, before a new form soon emerged from within it.

It looked like something out of a science-fiction/fantasy movie. The new monster wore futuristic silver armor that looked like something from Star Wars. The armor looked rock solid, and fitted tightly over the monster's body. On either side of his back, energy wings cracked open. One of his arms was mechanical, and he held a glowing sword in the other hand. Floating into the air, he glared down at the monsters on Pegasus' field.

The creator of Duel Monsters sighed. "_Yes_, Yugi-boy, I know. Twilight Shadow – Swordmaster allows you to destroy a card on the field when he's summoned, and deals me two hundred damage per level star if the destroyed card was a monster, or a thousand points flat if it was a spell or trap card."

Yugi stared at him with piercing eyes. "I target your Faceless Mage."

The fusion slammed his sword down into the ground, resulting in an eruption of energy which continued on a path towards Pegasus' monster. It slammed into the puppet, which was immediately reduced to ashes. However, it did not stop there, continuing on until it hit Pegasus himself, knocking him down to one knee and drawing a gasp.

(Yugi: 7000, Pegasus: 7000)

"Now, Twilight Shadow – Swordmaster shall free his comrade from your insidious control!" cried out Yugi, pointing at the stolen monster. "Attack!"

The Swordmaster's mechanical wings began to flutter, and it charged across the field, raising its blade as it went. It brought the weapon down on the airplane with lightning speed, cleaving the machine in half. The pair of pieces of the plane floated around momentarily before exploding into nothingness, almost instantaneously.

(Yugi: 7000, Pegasus: 6200)

"Very impressive, Yugi-boy," muttered Pegasus, slightly amused.

Yugi gave him a piercing look. "I end my turn." He still retained a facedown card from a prior turn.

Pegasus drew, and a languid grin spread across his face.

"I summon Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands (1400/1000) once again."

The stone stature reappeared on his field.

"Now, I add a certain ritual monster card to my hand. You'll have no trouble identifying it, as I immediately play Black Illusion Ritual, sacrificing my Manju in order to summon one of the most devastating monsters ever created: _Relinquished_ (0/0)."

Two golden pans, each carrying a black flame, materialized at Pegasus' feet; they soon engulfed Manju; between them emerged the eerie structure of a thick, muscular creature with a single, golden Millennium Eye on its circular head. The rest of its body was only black arms with white-patterned designs, green jewels embedded in its forearms. Sharp claws emerged from its human-like hands, clashing between the pointed, striped tail dangling below a circular opening in its abdomen.

"This monster…." hissed Yugi.

"Yes, it does bring back some rather unusual memories, wouldn't you say, Yugi-boy?" mused Pegasus.

The young King of Games merely glared at him, and spat, "Just go."

Pegasus shrugged. "If you insist."

Relinquished's single eye glittered briefly as the circular opening in its abdomen expanded, drawing in the Swordmaster with a windstorm. Yugi gulped as his fusion disappeared into the monster, soon emerging from one of its arms and serving as part of its muscle. The hold in Relinquished closed, a red aura temporarily overtaking the monster (2500/2000).

"Once per turn, Relinquished can equip one monster on your field, and gain its attack and defense points. Don't forget: if you try to destroy Relinquished, the equipped monster is destroyed instead, and if you happen to attempt to do so in battle, you will lose life-points equal to the difference between the attack points of your monster and the current ones of Relinquished."

He chuckled again. "But enough talk. Relinquished, attack his life-points directly! Pilfered Power!"

The floating entity's bulbous eye began to glow with golden energy. It let out a strange groan, before the eye exploded with energy which slammed into Yugi. He groaned in pain and fell down onto one knee. The stream of energy continued on, until Pegasus commanded his monster to stop.

(Yugi: 4500, Pegasus: 6200)

"_Let me take over,_" urged Yami.

"_No_," replied Yugi firmly, staggering upward. "_This is my fight_."

How Yami wished that Yugi had not taken the Reality Warp card out of his deck. If Yami had the opportunity to duel himself, he could use one of the Egyptian Gods: who would be immune to the abilities of Relinquished.

"I'll set one card facedown and end my turn," finished Pegasus softly. "Believe me, Yugi-boy, if there was any other way-…."

"Save it," snapped Yugi, snapping the top card off his deck.

Belial watched on in amusement. "_It seems that they have decided to conduct a duel while holding nothing back. I'm sure that after losing to Moto and the Pharaoh once before in the past, Pegasus has added more features to his deck to combat the power of the Twilight Shadows. Truly, the world shall witness a battle of epic proportions_."

Yugi breathed in. "I activate Fusion Recovery. I may add one Polymerization and a fusion material monster from my graveyard to my hand."

He slipped to cards out of his discard pile and added them to his hand.

"Then comes Fusion Completion. First, I must reveal one fusion monster in my Extra Deck to you."

He located a card and held it up to Pegasus. It was Twilight Shadow – Steel General (2800/2000).

"If I have one of the fusion material monsters for the revealed monster in my hand, I may add the other from my deck to my hand."

Pegasus' brow creased, but he said nothing.

"Then I play Polymerization once again, fusing Twilight Shadow – Bombardier (1700/1400) and Twilight Shadow – Avenger (1900/1200) to call upon my mighty Twilight Shadow – Steel General (2800/2000)!"

The silhouettes of two monsters appeared on Yugi's field. The first was a man dressed in a black bodysuit. He had a flowing cape as well, with a color that matched his attire. In one hand he held a long, dangerous looking dagger. He looked up, to reveal a terrible scar which had blinded him in one eye. His face was marred by a snarl of hatred.

The second was the rather enthusiastic pilot, dressed in old-fashioned flying gear with goggles on his head, visible within the cockpit sleek, silver jet racing towards them at supersonic speeds, piercing the otherwise silent void of the night sky.

One silent, the other shouting jovially, they began to meld together in a large portal. It spun around momentarily, before a new monster emerged from within it. It was a large, bipedal, robot, dressed quite impressively. It wore a black cape that fluttered out behind him, with a pair of rocket launchers on its shoulders. It had a heavy helmet to complement similarly strong, black armor.

"Interesting," mused Pegasus. "But you do realize that if you attempt to destroy Relinquished, your Swordmaster will fall victim instead, thus allowing me the opportunity to take the even greater power of your Steel General."

Yugi didn't say a word in response.

"That will do it for this turn."

Pegasus drew lazily. "Ah… The fun begins now. Relinquished, attack his Steel General!"

His intentions were plain to see: if he did indeed attack Steel General, who possessed twenty-eight hundred attack points, with Relinquished, who was exactly three hundred short of that, the card equipped to Relinquished, which was Swordmaster, would be destroyed, and Yugi would lose that number of life-points. Then, during his second Main Phase, Pegasus would easily be able to equip Relinquished with Steel General, making it a formidable match to any monster.

The floating entity let lose another burst of golden energy, which seemed just ready to slam into the robot on Yugi's field and be deflected back, when Yugi himself reacted.

"I activate Command Silencer, negating your attacking and allowing me to draw one card!"

A totem pole materialized between the two monsters, letting out a loud sound wave which stopped Relinquished's attack in its tracks.

"Not bad, Yugi-boy," commented Pegasus. "You will not, however, escape Relinquished forever. I set one card facedown and end my turn."

Yugi drew tentatively. His plan had to be clockwork for this to be executed correctly.

"Now, once per turn, Steel General lets me add one Twilight Shadow from my deck to my hand. I choose Twilight Shadow – Striker (1300/1500), who is immediately special summoned to my field when I happen to add him to my hand outside of drawing."

A man dressed in a flowing, white and purple robe appeared on Yugi's field, down on one knee with his arms crossed defensively. Clutched in between his fingers on both hands were multiple, razor sharp throw-knives.

"Single tribute: come forth, Twilight Shadow – Blade Sentinel (1900/1300)."

The ninja was replaced by a knight dressed in a futuristic suit of armor. The suit of armor was metallic-toned, with dark-red metallic shoulder pads and designs all about it, down the arms and down the legs. The gloves were red and dark, silver metallic-colored, with extendible, pink beam swords on the tops of them. It had shining boots as well, and a helmet covered its head with a grille that extended down its face.

"This is where it ends," growled Yugi. "Steel General, attack Relinquished!"

The rocket launchers on the robotic man's shoulders began to glow, unleashing a pair of devastating missiles in the direction of the grotesque creature that Pegasus currently possessed. They impacted, but no visible damage seemed to be done: instead, the face of the Swordmaster materialized within its wings, letting out a cry of pain before he dissolved into nothingness.

Yugi cried out in pain, but managed to retain his footing as his life-points further fell.

(Yugi: 4200, Pegasus: 6200)

Meanwhile, even as Yugi merely gestured, the knight charged forward, its pink energy blades flashing.

"So now you plan to attack Relinquished with your Blade Sentinel?" stated Pegasus smoothly. "I'm afraid not, Yugi-boy. I activate my facedown Trap Reflector, which will mimic the effect of one trap card in your graveyard. I have no choice better then the Command Silencer you used earlier, stopping your Blade Sentinel and giving me an extra draw."

The familiar totem pole rematerialized, its sonic waves preventing the Blade Sentinel from continuing forth.

Yugi smiled thinly. "Very well. I set one card facedown and end my turn."

Pegasus snapped the top card off his deck, not even interested in looking at it.

"Now, Yugi-boy, you see the fatal flaw of not having a plan B. Relinquished, absorb his Steel General."

The robot began to glow with a strange golden aura, but for some reason did not seem to move toward the ritual monster on Pegasus' field.

Meanwhile, a strange morph was taking place with the Blade Sentinel.

"What is going on here?" spluttered Pegasus.

Yugi smiled faintly. "It's my facedown card, Calculus Ritual. If, during the previous turn, a Twilight Shadow was sent from the field to the graveyard, I can use Calculus Ritual to tribute another Twilight Shadow that I have in play of the same level as the destroyed monster, and special summon the latter. Since Swordmaster and Blade Sentinel are both level six, it fits perfectly."

Replacing the knight was the robotic winged creature once again, glaring at Pegasus and Relinquished with righteous anger (2500/2000).

"But your Swordmaster can only destroy a card when its _fusion_ summoned," snarled Pegasus.

"Whoever said that was what stopped Relinquished," replied Yugi coolly. He motioned to the Steel General, in who's arms had materialized a long, bone-like staff which glowed with purple energy.

"When a Twilight Shadow is special summoned, Steel General gains a counter. Once per turn, if there happen to be two or more Twilight Shadows in play, I can remove the counter from Steel General in order to negate the effect of one of your monsters. Obviously, I choose Relinquished. That makes it almost worthless, having zero attack and defense points along with no effect."

Pegasus growled in anger.

"Your previous speeches do elude me, Yugi-boy, about the value of every card, and how each and every one must be respected-…"

"Save it," stated Yugi curtly. "If you think there is any way that your Relinquished is capable of helping you topple Steel General and Swordmaster, go ahead and prove it."

"If you insist," drawled Pegasus. He tapped a button on his Duel Disk.

"My facedown magic card: One for One. By discarding one monster, I may special summon one level one monster from my deck. I choose one that I'm sure you're quite familiar with: Thousand Eyes Idol (0/0)."

Joining Relinquished was a giant, bulbous creature which was basically a large oval shaped head covered with green skin, and, literally, thousands of eyes. It was impossible to count all of them to see if it did indeed fit its own name, but they were certainly the creature's defining feature. It did have a pair of spindly arms and legs on the top and bottom of its body respectively. By face value, however, it seemed just as weak as Relinquished.

Yugi, however, knew what was coming.

"The time is now, Yugi-boy," declared Pegasus. "I play Double Spell, discarding Repayment of Losses to activate one spell card from your graveyard: I choose none other than Polymerization, the one that has been the backbone of your Twilight Shadow deck."

His dark grin broadened as Yugi watched on in dread.

"Now, I combine Relinquished with Thousand-Eyes Idol to call upon the beast that haunts the nightmares of fools! I unleash you now: _Thousand Eyes Restrict_ (0/0)!"

The two monsters vanished into identical spheres of vapor, which slammed into each other, forming a larger sphere in the process. This one began to grow, and continue to grow until it was about as large as both Relinquished and the Thousand Eyes Idol combined. The light began to flicker, and soon vanished, and a truly ominous air seemed to have taken root within the dueling field.

Pegasus' newest monster was truly grotesque. It seemed somewhat similar to Relinquished in terms of the shape of its body, with a relatively thick torso which tapered downward towards its tail. It had two absolutely enormous wings that spread out behind it, with a thin neck topped with the Millennium Eye, similar to Relinquished. However, its skin was a light shade of purplish crimson instead of black, and was peppered with all hundreds of eyes, justifying its namesake. All it did was float there, eerily.

Yugi looked on stonily at the new monster. They had met before.

Belial watched on in mild interest. He paused momentarily, before speaking into a device he held in his right hand.

"Release the Bouncer."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"What are you waiting for?" snapped Kaiba angrily.

The doctor winced and chose not to look at the CEO as he replied, instead keeping a careful eye on Joey's vitals.

"Just making sure we don't inject the adrenaline at the peak of his ventricular cycle. Doing so might result in an excessive peak in blood pressure and by extension, myocardial infarction-…"

"Just get on with it," interrupted Kaiba curtly.

The doctor nodded nervously. He glanced over at a nurse.

"Two CCs should do it."

She produced a packed syringe, and stripped it before sucking up some of the liquid in a sterile bottle. She flicked the needle with her finger, before handing it to the doctor.

The medical man closed his eyes momentarily, keeping a pair of fingers on Joey's pulse all the while.

He opened them slowly, and raised the syringe. He paused briefly, and then his trembling hand dropped to his side.

He exhaled. "I'm sorry, Mr. Kaiba. I cannot do it. Not in good conscience, with the knowledge that there's a chance he could be killed."

A furious Kaiba walked up to him and grasped the doctor by his collar, shrugging off a tentative hand on his shoulder by Daniel.

"Listen to me: it is absolutely _vital_ that we have a competent team going in to carry out this rescue mission. If we don't, and happen to fail in the process, it will result in several million more lives being lost. As a doctor, in _good conscience_, can you allow that to happen?"

The doctor shrugged off the champion duelist's grasp. "I'm sorry, sir. I can't do it."

Kaiba glared at him furiously, and glanced around at the other medical staff. "I suppose none of you would be up for it, either, would you?" he said sourly.

One of the nurses shook her head. "It was a unanimous decision. Some risks should not be taken."

"But you have him prepped?" pried Kaiba. "Just the final prick necessary?"

"Yes," replied the doctor. Suddenly, his eyes shot open as Kaiba snatched the syringe from his hand.

Before anyone could say, "don't", Kaiba had pressed his left hand onto Joey's forearm and jammed the needle into the bulging blood vessel in his wrist.

"Are you insane?" shrieked the doctor.

Even Ryu, the stoic Demon Lord, looked shocked.

Kaiba ignored their reactions and pressed down on the syringe, ensuring every last drop of epinephrine was flushed into Joey's body.

He took a step back, his face unreadable, a piercing gaze watching the prone body of Joey Wheeler. The reactions of the others had settled down though, everyone was merely watching, their faces absolute pictures of tension.

They waited two minutes.

Tea's voice broke.

"Kaiba, you _bastard_."

Before anyone could react, she took a step forward and delivered a resounding slap to the side of his face.

He stood there, stunned. He hadn't expected that. Then again, few could say that he didn't deserve it….

"I HATE YOU!" she shrieked, and slapped him again. "YOU'VE TAKEN EVERYTHING FROM ME!"

She was about to slap him a third time before Daniel grabbed her from behind, pinning her arms to her side, trying to sooth her with his words.

Kaiba continued to stare on, a glazed look coming over his face.

"_What have I done_?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"This way, Ms. Ishtar," intoned Zeruge's deep voice.

A stunned Ishizu followed him, accompanied by an equally shocked Marik and Odion.

Zeruge had just killed nineteen of these creatures in the space of one and a half minutes, through a combination of his magical abilities with fire, his blade, and sheer brute force. Seeing him take apart a bunch of hired guns in a desolate warehouse was one thing: almost a score of freakish extraterrestrials in a cramped office environment multiple floors up was something else altogether.

Zeruge grimaced. Yes, as it had turned out, giving the Ishtars quarters in the upper floors had been a wise decision. Even with Odion's help, he shuddered to think of the prospect of fighting his way through an avalanche of these creatures when they had the high ground.

He raised a hand, gesturing for them to pause. They were currently on the second floor. The building had twenty-one, therefore making a run for the helicopters was not an option, as the elevators were obviously compromised. Currently, his plan was to make it down to ground level and find a suitable armored vehicle.

How he wished Odion hadn't been here. If it were just Marik and Ishizu, it would have been manageable for him to lift them while flying himself. He doubted that either of them was heavier then Drake Manning, the last individual he had given a 'ride'. That particular instance he had managed with apparent ease. However, leaving one behind was not an option. It went against all ethical codes, and the Ishtars would never agree anyway.

He pressed his ear to the door leading to the north stairwell. It seemed empty enough, except for a faint rattling sound. He assumed that was the clatter of spent ammunition shells rolling down the staircase.

"Come."

He opened the door, leading into the darkened flight of stairs. Evidently their 'visitors' had seen it fit to cut the power source.

How in the hell had they known where it was located? This was a thought Zeruge couldn't shake off.

Ishizu cursed softly as she stumbled across a stair in the darkness. Zeruge reached back and gently grasped her arm, ensuring she didn't take a nasty stumble.

"It's too dark," she mumbled.

He nodded, allowing her to steady herself, before holding up his right hand. A small sliver of fire appeared, floating above his palm. It provided enough illumination for them all to see what was ahead of them, at least.

Silently, they proceeded down to the first landing, when Zeruge paused.

It was that faint rattling noise again. He motioned for them to stop, and shifted his right hand upward, providing some degree of vision into the darkness above them. Nothing was visible except the staircases above them.

"What _is_ that?" murmured Marik.

Zeruge frowned. "Wait here."

Odion took a protective step forward to cover Ishizu and Marik, clutching a knife in one hand.

Zeruge cautiously proceeded down to the first floor landing, and doing a quick reconnaissance.

"It's nothing," he assured, his deep voice echoing across the atrium. "Come on-…"

His voice was cut off by a harsh, animal-like screech. The demon swept around, only to see a flash of green going past his left flank.

"We need to get out of here, now," he deemed, a touch of worry entering his voice.

Ishizu was beginning to panic. "There's something here…"

"I will deal with it," called back Zeruge, his eyes flitting around the stairwell to try and find the mysterious guest.

Cautiously, the trio began to make their way down the stairs. By the time they were halfway down, Odion suddenly let out an animal shriek of agony and was knocked off his feet into the wall next to him. Ishizu screamed in shock and took a step back, while Marik simply stood there, paralyzed with fear.

"Ms. Ishtar-…"

Zeruge wasn't able to complete his sentence, for a millisecond later, a green blur slammed into his side with another shriek, knocking him down onto one knee.

He kneeled their momentarily, gasping in shock.

"GET OUT OF HERE!" he roared. He saw the green form flit somewhere near the gasping Odion and his adoptive siblings, and instantaneously let out a sphere of flames. His aim was true, as in that he had nailed the region where the attacker _had_ been.

It was just too fast.

Before he knew it, he suddenly felt an indescribable pain in his back.

Ishizu watched in shock as what was revealed as a truly horrible little creature came into view on Zeruge's back, completely lit up by the flames which had originally targeted the creature itself. It was small, perhaps only four feet in height; the size of a kindergarten student. Its skin was a reptilian green, just like the other members of the Legion. However, its arms were spindly and topped with razor-like claws. It had a head shaped like a bowl, completely round and hairless. Two slit-like crimson eyes framed its face as it cackled out at them.

Zeruge reached an arm back and tried to smash the Bouncer away. In response, the creature gripped the base of its wings, and attempted to rip them straight out of his back. The scream of pain that exited Zeruge's mouth was unlike anything Ishizu had ever heard.

He collapsed onto one knee, the demented monster on his back raining down blows on him. Attempting to crush its skull, he delivered a wild backhand which the Bouncer avoided, instead springing up and practically disappearing in mid-air, such was the speed at which it was capable of moving.

"I SAID **GO**!" he bellowed Completely out of their wits, the Tombkeepers gathered themselves up and made a dash for the landing.

Zeruge focused his vision on the green blur, repeatedly throwing sphere after sphere of flames in its direction.

Another, despairing thought occurred to him: with the Bouncer occupying him currently, it was very likely that reinforcements were on the way.

He didn't have time to brood over this. Within seconds, his tormentor had ricocheted off a wall and was heading straight for him. This time, however, Zeruge was ready: he launched himself off the ground. His dodge was barely successful enough to avoid the brunt of the ridiculously speedy creature; he almost felt it brushing by him before it crashed into the opposite wall, pausing.

Zeruge got a good look at his attacker for the first time, as it cackled sadistically at him. As it were, the rattling sound he had heard earlier was actually the uncontrollable fit of laughter that the Bouncer seemed to be in perpetually. He also seemed to notice that it had on a pair of metallic, cylinder like gauntlets which were glowing a bright green.

"_Could it be_…" he wondered momentarily. However, he was unable to even continue that train of thought before the Bouncer shot towards him again. He was not as lucky this time: taking the impact full in the abdomen, it was only his chest guard which prevented his ribs from cracking. He fell to one knee, gasping as the Bouncer ricocheted off another wall, continuing to cackle.

Zeruge narrowed his eyes. "_Every impact seems to have gotten stronger_…."

Meanwhile, Ishizu, Marik and Odion had made it to the base of the staircase.

"Head to a vehicle!" bellowed Zeruge, keeping his eyes on the Bouncer, which was moving at absolutely ridiculous speeds now, taunting him, sneering at him with its very movements.

"We must leave, sister," hissed Marik.

Ishizu glanced helplessly from their demon benefactor, and the ajar door which was barely five feet from her.

"I will follow!" hollered Zeruge, roaring in pain as the Bouncer slammed into him once again, this time with a particularly painful blow to his neck. "YOU MUST LEAVE!"

"We cannot do anything for him," stated Odion urgently. "Believe me, he has saved our lives. I would die for this man if it meant it would help him. However, this current enemy is beyond our abilities. Please, Ishizu, _we must leave_."

The delicate Egyptian woman wiped a tear that trickled down her right cheek as she watched Zeruge grappling with the bouncer.

Without further ado, Marik grasped her shoulder and pulled her through the door, Odion leading with his knife raised.

Zeruge was left at the mercy of the Bouncer: alone.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"No goddamnit, NO!" roared Rikuo, slamming a hand down on the armrest of the seat. It was shattered under the impact of his enhanced demonic strength.

Eizan winced. At this rate their wouldn't be much of the plane left to land when he finally took it off autopilot.

"You _conveniently_ forgot to reveal to us that your primary agent was also a friggin' SOCIOPATH!" he continued in a similar tone.

Bakura and Deondre stood flanking him, all three glaring at Eizan with unbelievable anger. Sarah was sitting mutely next to her boss.

Lying on a napkin on the table in the center of the room was the Seal of Immortality.

It was quite funny, they had almost forgotten about it in the chaos following Quinn's emergence and his kidnap by the two shadowy figures. Right before Eizan had signaled for the Skyhook maneuver to be executed, Sarah had nervously approached Mandarin's body, rather, what was left of it, and picked out the Seal.

It was unmistakable. A sphere perhaps the size of a tennis ball, a translucent black in color with flickering flames within it.

It had felt oddly…. _cold_, to her touch. Normally, this would have been a landmark event which would have been the prime topic of discussion. However, considering the _other_ event that had taken place not too long ago, it was almost as if the capture of their first Seal of Immortality meant nothing to the alliance between Eagle, the Chosen Duelists, and the Demon Lords.

An alliance which was teetering right now.

"Mr. Amero," breathed Eizan. "Believe me, the history behind this occurrence stretches back decades. Right now I have neither the time nor the discretion to share this extended story with you-…"

"DON'T GIVE ME THIS CRAP!" screamed Rikuo. He lost his breath momentarily, pausing for a second to regain it and continuing.

"From DAY ONE you fools at Eagle have screwed up countless time. This is the FINAL STRAW. You know what this means? We've been working with a _freak_ from day one!" he spat.

"It's one thing for the Thief here to share a body with his hikari, or my having shared a body with Daniel: we're external entities. As it seems, this Quinn idiot was actually a result of a real psychological disorder. And what in the hell makes you think we deserve to work with such an individual without even _knowing_ about the circumstances?"

Eizan merely stood silently, matching Rikuo's stare.

"If you're finished, Mr. Amero, I will commence a brief explanation. However, there is much work to be done, and therefore, it _will_ be brief out of all things."

"What makes you think we're willing to work with you after such a fiasco?" snarled Bakura, joining the conversation.

"If you do not, it is extremely likely that over three billion people will be dead by the end of this week."

This caused his detractors to pause, if only to the degree where they were willing to allow him the time to offer a suitable explanation.

"Jason Becker has suffered more due to these circumstances then anyone I know," began Eizan. "Consider: he is twenty-one years of age. You, Mr. Amero, and you, Mr. Bakura, are both over five millennia old. I would definitely agree that even in the current stages of your lives, during which you'll have been reborn into the twenty-first century, you'll have undergone tremendous hardship and both mental and physical pain."

"We're not looking for your pity, old man," growled Rikuo impatiently.

Eizan continued as if he had not spoken. "When you were twelve years old, Mr. Amero, what were the circumstances of your life?"

The Wolf Demon General's eyes darkened. "You tread on dangerous ground, old man. When I was twelve, that bastard Sestros had already murdered both my father and mother, and turned me into his own personal killing machine."

Eizan nodded. "I do not mean to belittle your suffering, Mr. Amero. You had a truly malicious and Satanic tormentor to cope with. Now, turn the clock back a further ten years."

Rikuo stared at him incredulously. "Two? In Fenrir's name, I can't recall much. My father was the Wolf Demon King, and I probably spent most of my days playing in the palace grounds with my mother."

"How would you have been able to cope, Mr. Amero, with having to deal with a sadist like Sestros at the age of two?"

"You're doing nothing but asking foolish and dangerous questions!" spat Rikuo. A rage so great had built up within him that he had taken an involuntary step toward Eizan, raising his claws, before Deondre placed a hand on his shoulder to snap him back to his senses.

Eizan sighed.

"Mr. Amero, when Jason was two, he began dealing with a tormentor who was as bad as Kilomet Sestros in every way: except, however, the tormentor was _inside _him."

Rikuo paused, and grunted, "Keh, is this a time when you want me to sympathize with him?"

"Not sympathy, merely understanding," responded Eizan evenly. "His parents both lost their lives under rather disastrous circumstances. The resultant grief caused the birth of a second personality within his body, one which was full of malice and sadism. Can _you_ imagine living with such an entity inside your own mind, twenty four hours a day, seven days a week?"

Before Rikuo could even attempt to answer what was obviously a rhetorical question, Eizan continued.

"He spent most of the early years of his life _isolated_. The kind of therapy he underwent, the drugs he was forced to use-…"

"I don't want to hear this again," uttered Sarah in a trembling voice, staring numbly into the ground.

"My apologies," sighed Eizan. "I will skip these details. He was more or less cured by the time he hit his teen years. Jason has been an absolutely incredible field operative for Eagle from day one, having single-handedly averted multiple catastrophes. In fact, at one point, he actually helped prevent a disaster which involved a separate universe."

Rikuo raised his eyebrows, and Bakura was about to butt in with a question, but Eizan held up a hand.

"Jason has always been one of Eagle's greatest assets. It would have been unethical on my part not to allow him to join the team which had taken the task of attempting to deal with Apocalypse, as only the very best should be given such an opportunity, and indeed, he did number among them. Tell me, Mr. Amero, if you ever caught an infectious disease or suffered a battle wound, would you stop fighting?"

"Of course not," scoffed Rikuo.

"Jason's dissociative personality disorder is merely that, a disease. It in no way hampered his abilities as an agent."

"Then what on Earth do you call what happened down there?" butted in Deondre, still peeved.

Eizan sighed. "Believe me, gentlemen, this comes as much a surprise to me as it did to any of you. His disorder has been gone for years, he has been through successful mission after successful mission, I could never have known-…"

"Bloody incompetence!" snapped Rikuo.

Eizan hung his head. "I cannot do anything but agree. This is a complete shock, and corrective measures need to be taken as soon as possible."

"And what kind of explanation can you think up for the powers he exhibited?" growled Bakura. "From the original briefing, we were never told anything to suggest that any member of Eagle was a meta-human."

"I cannot be sure about that," murmured Eizan in reply. "It will require a detailed medical examination once we capture him and reintroduce him into the necessary therapy-…"

"You've gotten senile, old man," spat the Thief King. "Do you think we'd actually come all the way to wherever the hell this freak is, and take the time and energy to overpower him and somehow get him back to your base? In any case, how do you plan to restrain him? He went toe to toe with Amero here."

"Unfortunately you're not going to have much of an option," sighed Eizan. "There have been certain events that have occurred in the world in the last few hours that have made it impossible for you to return to New York by yourself."

Rikuo raised an eyebrow.

"The skies are extremely dangerous right now," mumbled Eizan, turning to the window and staring out in the inky black night.

"Stop talking in riddles, old man," snarked Rikuo. "Just what the hell is going on?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Joey Wheeler's head hurt.

Frankly, it wouldn't really be the first time. It was said that after undergoing a painful experience time after time, one got used to it.

Somewhat.

At this point, Joey begged to differ.

The sour taste in your mouth, the ringing in your ears, the dull throb in the back of your head: _that_, you never really got used to.

Still, he forced himself to open his eyes. Within seconds, he shut them again, blinded by a flash of bright, multicolored light

He groaned, fumbling blindly until he was able to drag his hand up to his face and block the oncoming illumination, thus temporarily relieving himself of the discomfort. This, however, was still only momentary.

After a while, he realized he was in a horizontal position, his back pressed against what felt like a soft, carpeted floor, with the source of light coming from above him.

Slowly, Joey used both his hands to drag himself into a sitting position. While still holding his right hand up against the light, he was able to get a halfway decent view of his surroundings. Needless to say, it was probably the biggest shock he had received in his life. Possibly ever.

He was in a casino.

_What _a casino.

It probably put even the flagships of Las Vegas to shame in both its expanse as well as the variety of the games of chance that were available.

Slot machines, by the thousand, were lined up to his right, stretching on as far as the eye could see and then some. They were of all kinds: some of them with only two wheels and others with as many as seven. Surrounding him in a giant circle were a selection of blackjack tables, with the fifty-two card decks already kept out and ready for the as of now absent gamblers to take a chance on.

To the north were a gathering of roulette tables, which all seemed to be being turned by an invisible force of some sort.

Joey looked around in wonderment. This was a gambler's heaven.

Except, there _were_ really no gamblers present. That struck quite a chord.

"Last thing I remember was getting enough venom pumped into me to kill an elephant while Serenity dueled Tristan… Now I'm in what seems to be the ultimate casino," mumbled Joey aloud.

He paused momentarily before he realized the gravity of the situation.

"JESUS CHRIST!" he shrieked to no one in particular. "Goddamn I need to get back to Yugi and the others and tell them what kind of firepower Tristan has got now, they have no _idea_-…"

"Relax, Joseph."

He whirled around to face the source of the words. He had a look on his face which bordered between shock, anger and dread, and if he had a chance to examine that exact instant at some point in the future, even Joey himself would admit that he looked rather stupid.

The bearer of the voice was female. An extremely beautiful female who was smiling oddly at him.

She was dressed in a black dress, and seemed to be in her mid-thirties, with blonde hair, blue eyes, and a stunning smile.

Most intriguingly, she had a coin in her right hand. Every two or three seconds, she was almost absently flipping it into the air, and catching it in the same hand, before pausing to examine the face that it had landed on before repeating the process.

"Who exactly are you?" ventured Joey cautiously.

He really hadn't much of an idea what to make of any situation after what he had experienced back at the Kaiba Corp. base.

"I go by many names," she muttered in an oddly flippant tone of voice, before proceeding over to a slot machine. She gently slid her coin into the machine before sliding the lever down, all the while being watched by a wide-eyed and bewildered Joey. Seconds later, a buzz was heard through the empty casino as the three wheels rolled to a stop.

All of them showed the same symbol: a strawberry.

A selection of shiny new coins escaped out into the metallic tray waiting below, clattering against each other.

"Not bad…" she murmured. "This'll be enough for a while."

She picked up one coin and flipped it up into the air.

"Heads," she announced.

For some reason, Joey couldn't resist but look over her shoulder at the coin as it landed.

The side that was upward, facing them, showed a bust of George Washington.

Indeed, a heads.

"Excuse my eccentricities," she giggled, before turning to face him.

"To answer your question in a less enigmatic way, the formal title that I go by is Dame Fortune. I am one of the emissaries of Chaos, who I am sure you have heard about as a member of the Infinity Council."

Joey paused. "Dame…. Fortune?" he mumbled.

The lady sighed. "Come now, Joseph, I've been watching you for quite a few years. You are hardly as slow as this.'

The Duelist Kingdom runner-up looked at her suspiciously. "You've been…. watching me?"

The lady nodded with a slight degree of annoyance. "Yes, indeed, Joseph, I have. You've even spoken to me once or twice."

"I've spoken to you?" spluttered Joey, now even more confused then before. "Look, lady-…."

"There you go," chortled the woman apparently named Dame Fortune. "You have the first piece of the puzzle."

Her words were met by a withering look.

"You won't bite, will you?"

Once again, Joey deemed it beneath his dignity to respond to the woman's words. "Very well. Dame Fortune is the name I choose to adopt when speaking about myself in the third person as I find it slightly more professional. The title that you, and the world at large know me as, is Lady Luck."

Joey stared stupidly at her momentarily.

"You're….. You're kidding, right?" he mumbled.

She shook her head. "Indeed, I am the patron of all risk-takers and those who partake in games of chance, thereby proving the fact that Lord Chaos is my parent in a manner of speaking. I am not a member of the Infinity Council, thereby making this meeting legal by its laws."

Joey stared at her, his right eye twitching. "So whaddya want?" he managed.

Fortune sighed. "Well, Joey, since your unfortunate clash with your former friend, the events on Earth have taken an even worse turn."

"Worse then what I've been through?" snorted Joey.

She didn't reply.

"Try me," he deadpanned.

Fortune shrugged, and raised her right hand. A glowing sphere materialized, floating above it, depicting rather astonishing scenes within it.

Joey's jaw almost fit the floor as he witnessed wave upon wave of reptilian creatures flooding the streets of New York, capturing any who lay before them and destroying any resistance. Shocking him even further was the fact that some of the creatures he was witnessing had _Duel Disks_ clipped onto their arms.

His eye began to twitch again. "Dueling…. alien…. lizardmen?"

With a sigh, he collapsed into a sitting position.

"That's it, I'm done, I'm packing it in, this has officially gotten WAY too weird for me to deal with."

"The Legion are more then just aliens Joseph, they are a force as old as the universe itself, a civilization that has long since surpassed the evolutionary peak most races are given to ensure they never become powerful enough to threaten the balance enforced by the Council. Two factors tipped the balance in their favor, one of which they have wielded since their kind first emerged from their primordial roots, and the other….."

Fortune trailed off, while looking to the side for a moment before she shook her head.

"Well, it will become clear soon enough, but the point is, between them and Apocalypse, your friends back on Earth are fighting for their lives, they need your help if they are to prevail."

"What do you want me to do?" sighed Joey. "I'm hardly qualified to deal with the current situation."

Fortune raised her eyebrows. "In what way, Joseph? You are one of Yugi Moto's oldest friends, and have proved instrumental in the defeats of the Great Leviathan, Zork Necrophades, and that foul heathen Yami Marik. You have always been a steadfast ally to the Pharaoh, surely you will play a vital role in-…."

"Look, Fortune, I get what your saying, and believe me, it's not that I don't want to be there to help the people I care for. But it's just..." A conflicted look came over his face as he mumbled something under his breath.

"Beg your pardon?" Fortune asked tilting her head.

"I said..." Once again, Joey mumbled his next few words so softly that she was unable to hear them.

"Joseph, I'm a goddess, not a mind-reader," she sighed. "Just spit it out."

The blonde duelist stared into the ground for a minute, a conflicted look coming over his eyes, before he sighed and nodded.

"All right, fine. I'll come out with it."

He looked up into her eyes. "I'm not strong enough"

Fortune looked startled. Yet, she could not have imagined a more painful sentence that could have emerged from the young man's mouth.

"I don't have a Millennium Item, I don't have demon blood, and I haven't received any kind of special operative training. I'm just a random guy who trailed behind Yugi in a card game tournament or two and couldn't even protect my own sister when the guy who's been my friend since I was a kid suddenly came back from the dead and turned on us."

"Joseph," muttered Fortune cautiously. "Don't you think that you're selling your skills too short?"

Giving her a somewhat annoyed look, Joey held up a hand and started listing names.

"Seto Kaiba, Yugi, Duke Devlin, that creepy Rare Hunter, Yami Marik, Zigfried Von Schroder, and those are just the people I lost to before the whole mess with the Tournament of Shadows started up. Rikuo, Ryu and Daniel are all far superior, they just don't duel in any of the major tournaments. Those Eagle agents are so efficient it just makes me feel small. People keep saying I'm number three in the dueling world after Yugi and rich-boy, but frankly it's been feeling more like thirty-three lately…. I'm sorry, I really am. But if I go back I'm probably just going to slow everybody down…."

He hung his head.

Suddenly, he felt a hand clap on his shoulder.

Fortune had pulled him closer to her, staring into his eyes. She chose her words carefully.

"Joseph Wheeler, no ordinary man could have earned my favor time and again as you have. On innumerable occasions, you left your fate in my hands, ready to risk even your life at the slightest chance of victory. The time has arrived that I repay you for your courage by empowering you with my personal blessing."

"What… What are you talking about?" spluttered Joey.

The lady held up a card.

On the face of the card, was a circle-shaped magician whose face and abdomen seemed to be one. Its body was actually a clock, with its eyes, nose and other facial features inscribed into the face of the timepiece. It had a pair of skinny limbs extending out from both its higher and lower body sections, with a glowing wand clutched in its right palm.

"Time Wizard (500/400)," murmured Joey.

Fortune nodded. "This card is the truest representation of what I stand for. It contains great power, which can only be accessed at a great risk by those whom it deems worthy. You are the Time Wizard's chosen one, and have been for the last seven years, since the beginning of the Duelist Kingdom tournament when it was gifted to you by Yugi."

Joey stared into the smiling spellcaster's face, and absently took the card from Fortune.

"If you really weren't that worthy, Joseph, the Time Wizard would not have chosen you."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Flashback_

"_You don't have it to compete with the big dogs, kid," scoffed Mai._

_Joey closed his eyes, the background encouragement of his friends almost nonexistent to him._

"_There's only one card that can help me now…."_

_Trying to ignore Mai's taunts, he placed his hand on his deck. "C'mon, Heart of the Cards… You've helped Yugi so many times. Gimme a break now."_

_He slid the top card of his deck and snapped his eyes open before looking at it._

_A grin spread across his face. "TIME WIZARD (500/400)! YEAH!"_

_End Flashback_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Ok, you've made your point," sighed Joey. "I suppose I can't exactly leave my friends behind in such a mess…."

Fortune smiled. "You are truly a man of great courage, Joey. Use it well, along with the new power I will have granted you, to protect your friends and fight for the Council's cause."

He didn't even realize that she hadn't used his full name this time.

"But…. What power are you talking about? How do I get out of here? Damn it all, how did I _get_ here in the first place?" he rambled.

She smiled again. "You'll see."

With that, the emissary of Chaos raised a hand, and instantly, Joey began to feel a little sleepy. Before he nodded off completely, he managed, "Ok… Just tell me this. Is this real, or is it just happening in my head?"

Fortune's smile now broke into a broad grin, and she answered just before he was gone. "Well of course this is happening in your head, Joseph, but whoever is to say that means that this is not real?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Daniel made the mistake of stopping restraining Tea, which resulted in her darting forward in tears and slapping Kaiba once again.

Once again he didn't react, which was rather unusual for him. All the CEO could do was stop and stare ahead into the dim sky, oblivious to the goings on around him.

A doctor stepped wearily toward them. "I'm sorry…." he sighed, gesturing toward Joey's body.

"There's nothing we can do…"

"_God_, no…." trailed off Tea, breaking down completely.

The only sounds that could be heard momentarily were Tea's sobs, and the background roars of battle.

Zerato spoke helplessly. "We…. We must go, if we are to attempt this rescue mission now."

Kaiba nodded, the Archangel's words barely registering in his mind.

No one else spoke as well.

Suddenly, the ensuing silence and nasty trains of thought that were going through everybody's minds was broken by two sounds.

The first was a sharp cough. Everybody whirled around in shock, not knowing what to expect next.

It was followed by a bit of a dry chuckle, and then a short anecdote, from the mouth of none other then Joey Wheeler himself.

"Nice shot, Tea."

Everyone merely stood in shock to witness the erstwhile Phoenix Demon Lord slowly drag himself into a sitting position. There were dark circles under his eyes and his skin was pale, but somehow, he had _never _looked more alive.

Tea paused momentarily, somewhat unsure of what to do.

Daniel chuckled nervously. "So…. man. How you been?"

The stupid question sort of broke the tension. Tea lunged forward and wrapped her arms around Joey's neck in a bare hug, one that was so tight that it seemed unlikely that she would ever let go.

"Tea… Going dark….. Need air…" he breathed. Yet, there was a massive grin visible on his face.

Kaiba, still extremely tense, finally relaxed a little bit. "Good to have you back, mutt."

When Tea finally let go, Joey flashed Kaiba a thumbs up, something he would have rather eat worms then do not a month ago.

"I owe you, rich boy."

Kaiba returned the appreciation with his traditional smirk. "Not a problem, mutt."

Suddenly, the door behind them burst open with green energy. The explosion was strong enough to throw all of them off their feet except for the demons and Zerato. The doctors and other civilians screamed in shock as the splinters came close to injuring most of them.

The light, meanwhile, blinded most of those present to the extent that they were unable to make out the features of a tall, slim figure that had walked through the opening.

"An extremely touching reunion…. However, I am afraid the Legion does not have time for reunions at this stage."

Kaiba's eyes went wide as he recognized the voice.

"Ro-…. Roland?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Ha! Weren't expecting that, were you guys?**

**In any case, credit goes to Metal Overlord 2.0 for the scenes involving the Bouncer as well as Lady Luck.**

**Review, guys, and I'm gonna try and update as soon as possible ^^**


	40. Retribution of a Madman

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT: Retribution of a Madman

**Yes, my sincerest apologies for the long delay. I was out of town for a couple of weeks and even though I took my laptop with me, I only had time to update the previous chapter and was too busy with an uncle's wedding to pound this one out. My sincerest apologies again.**

**Dinomus: Heh, thanks. It was good to write everyone's favorite Brooklyn born duelist once again. Never thought about Mai, she's probably never going to appear in my fics as I can't stand her generally and hate Harpies. Hey, Dumbledore is my favorite character from the Harry Potter series :P Regardless, yeah, Eizan has been a bit of a walking disaster until this point. There's a lot of depth to his character which will explain a lot in the future. Thanks. Btw, does it matter about Kaiba? Screw the rules, he has money! :P**

**Candyman123: Well you're gonna have to read on to find out about that. Thanks for the review.**

**Atemu's Sis: Ok, I can tell by now you're an Atem fangirl, no offense. Something you should no about me: he's one of my most hated characters in YuGiOh. He talks too much and isn't really much of a duelist: proven by the fact that he lost to Raphael and Yugi and only beat Marik because of Kaiba's help. I won't let my distaste towards the character affect by writing of him though, as he is a central character, possibly THE central character of this fic. I chose not to mention him because there was no point. Yugi was dueling Pegasus and was in an Eff You mode when he wouldn't listen to Yami. Honestly, Yugi beat Yami, and the Twilight Shadows far outstrip Atem's mish mash deck even though I've made some positive changes to it. Who would you want dueling for the fate of a city? And dear Lord, I don't even have a reply to your comment about Tea hugging Joey. Good day to you, ma'am.**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: Pegasus' other cards pwn! Toons are kinda lame in my opinion :P There's a lot left that I plan to explore, and yes, we have come a long way with this, haven't we? From "Screw the rules, I have money!" moments like the Castle of Dark Illusions/Catapult Turtle moment in Duelist Kingdom, to wars for the Universe involving deities of various kinds and madmen galore on a fanfiction site :P Couldn't have done it without you though, dear friend…. Tty soon, hopefully.**

Rikuo's eye twitched.

"So basically, what you are telling us, old man, is that in the last few hours while we were down there dealing with that pitiful Gatekeeper, his hopeless master, and that freak who emerged within Becker's body, an extraterrestrial race bent on the destruction of human civilization has descended upon this planet and declared war on us all?"

"I would appreciate it if you dropped the sarcastic tone, Mr. Amero, but yes, that describes the current predicament in as few words as possible," breathed Eizan, still looking on ahead into the night sky.

"As of now, they are targeting the major cities. With regards to our current position, Beijing and Shangai are the two most dangerous locations. Therefore, in order to commence our search for Jason, we will need to stay away from most major cities, as I am sure that the Paradias agents whom were responsible for taking him will be intelligent enough to do the same."

"How do you know that the blokes who took him were Paradias agents to begin with?" demanded Bakura.

"If we had the time, I would go into greater detail, Mr. Bakura," replied Eizan stiffly.

"We have all the time in the world!" snapped Rikuo, joining back in the torrent of criticism. "How in the hell do you even plan to begin searching for Becker? Whoever took him could be anywhere in central Asia now: that's over five million square miles to cover."

"Not quite," put in Sarah in a small voice.

All eyes turned to her in surprise. She had been completely silent from the time that Quinn had emerged aside from the occasional helpless outburst in his direction, and hadn't said a word during the heated exchange between Eizan and the others.

Eizan allowed himself a very faint smile.

"What're you talking about?" questioned Deondre.

"All Eagle agents-…" she began, before closing her eyes and pressing a pair of fingers to her temples, before managing to struggle on.

"All Eagle agents are required to wear a transponder before field missions so that in case of a kidnap or murder, they, or their corpse, whatever the case, could be returned. The transponder also carries a suicide capsule, but that's not the point right now: all we need to do is check the location of the transponder on the Chairman's computer."

"So then do it!" snapped Rikuo. "It's simple enough. We'll track these fools down, grab Quinn or Jason or whatever the hell he calls himself, take the interlopers out, and then decide whatever the hell our next move is going to be with regards to these reptilian abominations that have joined the party."

"I wish it were that easy," sighed Eizan, rubbing his temples. "When _Quinn_," once again, he struggled to vocalize that final syllable, "when Quinn released that final wave of energy, there is an extremely good chance the transponder was damaged either partially or completely. At best, we many only be able to track him to a non-specific, spread-out area and not a specific location."

"Well, you'd better get started at least on that if you want any chance at all," growled Bakura.

Eizan nodded, and turned to a laptop which was lying on the tabletop next to him. He punched a few of the keys in. Evidently, it had been at work for a while, and the results were only just coming up. Eizan zoomed in, before switching on a projector next to him.

A map was now visible on the opposite wall, and the quarter of duelists turned to face it.

Russia. Specifically, northeast Russia, centered on a certain capital city.

"Moscow?" swore Rikuo.

Eizan nodded. "It seems the transponder was damaged, but only to a certain extent. Instead of having the whole of China, Russia and the Middle East to search, we now have just one city."

"One city with over eleven million inhabitants and an area of over a thousand square kilometers," retorted Deondre. "Within this time frame, it's a needle in a haystack."

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it," sighed Eizan. "I do have certain contacts in that city. Thankfully it seems that the extraterrestrials have decided to begin with St. Petersburg instead, as the Russian president has been spending time there recently. Based on current trends that I have observed in the news, we should have about eighteen hours maximum to find Jason in Moscow before this swarm of creatures makes its way across from the European continent over the Ural mountains, or St. Petersburg itself."

"Eighteen hours to find one man among eleven million?" echoed Deondre, looking at Eizan incredulously.

"Fine," snapped Rikuo, intervening. "This is the last time I help you though, old man, and that too only because I want answers."

Eizan barely acknowledged the Wolf Demon General's words with a slight nod, still seemingly lost in his own thoughts as he wordlessly returned to the cockpit, leaving a fuming Rikuo, Bakura and Deondre with a still silent Sarah.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Roland?" choked Kaiba again in utter shock, as his primary and most loyal employee came into view.

He was unmistakable. Standing five foot ten and weighing in at probably a hundred and sixty odd pounds, dressed in an immaculate suit with thin whiskers and a pair of shades framing his thin-lipped mouth, Kaiba Corp.'s primary employee could have been recognized anywhere.

Before the CEO could react, the smaller man leapt into the air, whirling around to deliver a decisive roundhouse kick which was aimed at the base of his target's spine. The aim had been to shatter it and thereby immobilize Kaiba completely.

The billionaire was just about able to react in time, however. He slid down on one knee, raising his forearm to take the brunt of the blow instead.

It was unbelievably stunning. Pain shot out through his body, and instantly he realized that if the blow had struck its intended target, he probably would never have walked again.

"_How the hell did he get so strong_?" screamed Kaiba within his own mind, but instead decided such questions were best answered at a time when he wasn't fighting for his life.

Roland fell onto one foot, regaining his balance with a click of his expensive shoes against the tarmac of the terrace.

"Don't get the wrong idea, Mr. Kaiba," intoned his attacker coolly, adjusting his glasses.

The CEO stood up heavily, glaring at his employee.

"You seem to be a member of these freaks who've descended from outer space, you nearly paralyze me for life, and throw away ten years of loyal service, and you want me not to get the _wrong_ _idea_?" he spat sarcastically.

Meanwhile, Daniel, Zerato, CJ, Ryu, and Brian had all switched into their battle mentalities, keeping a wary eye on the new arrival while tightening their fists. They deemed it acceptable that Kaiba do the talking for now, however. Tea and the newly awake Joey stood silently behind them.

"This isn't a betrayal by _any means_," emphasized Roland.

"You will soon realize that the situation is far worse then you could ever have imagined, worse for humanity, that is, and before our invasion begins in earnest we want to ensure that the one man who made all of this possible is able to witness it from a safe place and be able to accept our gratitude. After all, the Legion would not have been able to gain this incredible power without you, Mr. Kaiba," he continued with a chuckle.

"What…. What are you talking about, Roland?" wheezed the billionaire duelist. "You were my most loyal employee during Duelist Kingdom when half of my company turned on me, you helped me put together Battle City, and all along you've been in league with these abominations from another planet? After everything I've done for you, how _dare_ you have the audacity to stab me in the back like this-…"

"I must repeat myself, Mr. Kaiba," retorted Roland smoothly. "By _no _means is this a betrayal. If it was, don't you think I would have attacked you a little more…. _conclusively_? My orders were to study you, aid you in anyway possible, and retrieve you prior to the final invasion begins so that you will be in a position to bear witness to the greatest victory we have had in millennia. Once again, it is all thanks to _you_, Mr. Kaiba."

"How in the hell has Kaiba helped these freaks?" growled Ryu harshly.

Roland turned a cool eye to him. "Ah, the dragon demon lord. Don't worry yourself about that. My advice is for you rabble to make yourselves scarce, as the Legion is not concerned with any single person individually other then Mr. Kaiba here. You needn't involve yourself in this, my business is with him and him alone."

Kaiba glared back at him, and was about to say something in a hoarse tone before a new voice spoke up.

"Ya disgusting son of a bitch…."

All eyes turned to the source of it.

Joey Wheeler. A Joey Wheeler who was fully on his feet, and a hard, furious look in his eyes.

"You're worse then scum," he spat. "You've just betrayed your _race_."

"Mr. Wheeler," replied Roland coolly. "I suppose you resort to profanity in order to re-establish your primal sense of authority. Come now, you've only just returned from the brink of death, are you indeed that desperate for me to send you back?"

Joey only gave him a glowering look.

"Well, I suppose if you _do_ want an explanation…."

He raised a hand and slowly slid off his shades.

Everyone's jaw dropped.

The eyes of Roland Isona, or whoever the hell it was that had taken on that name, were glowing a bright, emerald green.

None of the duelists present, not even Kaiba, could hold back gasps of revulsion.

"What in Bahamut's name…." swore Ryu silently.

_He's not human_.

A creepy smile spread across Roland's face. He didn't even bother to put his shades back on.

"Truth be told, I am probably older than any of those of you present here barring the Archangel and the dragon demon lord. The power I have at my disposal as a part of the Legion is something you would do well not to trifle with. Now, stand aside and allow me to conclude my business with Mr. Kaiba," he drawled.

From within his jacket, the man produced a Duel Disk. It looked a bit like the Paradias' operatives' Chaos Duel Disks, except that it was a more yellowish shade of green with the flaps designated for cards to be played resembling the fins of a fish. More then anything it looked _alive_.

"It would seem you are not ready to come without a fight," he mused to the CEO, who still eyed him with a combination of wariness and hatred.

"_We don't have time for this_," thought Kaiba silently. "_Every minute we spend dawdling here while this traitor screws around is a minute Yugi doesn't have left up there. One of us is going to have to wait behind and occupy him: we can't wait_."

With a grunt, he slid on his own Duel Disk.

"Fine. If it's a duel you want, it's a duel you're going to get. But be warned, at the end of it I'm going to want answers about your race of freaks, and if you're not willing to give them I will beat them out of you to the point where you can't stand."

"Words that I've heard from that mouth over and over again through the years, Mr. Kaiba," replied Roland smoothly. "The question is: are you capable of backing them up for one last time?"

Daniel, Ryu, CJ, Brian, Tea and Zerato were watching tentatively, unsure of what to do. Could they leave the billionaire duelist to fend for himself and trust that he'd make it out of this mess all right, or wait for the situation to defuse itself, but at the same time, risk Yugi's chances up on the battle station?

"Rich-boy," called a hoarse voice from behind him.

Everyone turned around, but at the same time knew that the colloquialism could come from only one source.

Joey was on his feet, casually rubbing his wrists.

"You're going to be needed up there."

Tea started. "Joey you can't be serious-…."

"What in the hell did you stick that needle in me for then?" snapped the gamble duelist. "I didn't just come back to tag along and sit in the backseat while you demons and spies battle the freaks that threaten our world. As much as I think he's an arrogant prick of a guy, Kaiba is still one heck of a duelist and you guys could definitely use his help up there as compared to scrapping with this fool here. I'm staying; I'm gonna give our former friend the duel he wants. If we delay any longer, more of those lizardmen will make it here."

"You've been out all this time," put in Brian incredulously. "How do you know about the Legion?"

Joey stared ahead, locking eyes with Roland.

"Let's just say….. I've been _lucky_."

Tea was about to speak up again, but Ryu stopped her.

This was war. Risks had to be taken.

Win at all costs.

"Don't you dare die on us again," said Tea in a trembling voice.

Joey replied confidently. "I don't plan to. Right now I have a laundry list of guys who's behinds I want to kick, and some half-wit tournament referee or a bunch of giant creepy-crawlies are not about to stop me."

His Duel Disk had been lying next to him. Slowly, he picked it up and slid a deck into it.

"I will only duel with Mr. Kaiba," droned Roland, taking a step forward.

Joey raised his eyebrows.

"You ain't in a position to be making demands," he retorted. "There's one of you and eight of us, and I don't care what kind of creature you are, Zerato and Ryu will both have you outclassed. I need a good punching bag, so shut up and duel and let the rest of these guys do what needs to be done."

Roland shrugged after a few seconds, and slotted a deck into his Legion Duel Disk before firing off the holo projectors.

"Very well then. Mr. Kaiba is going to learn the truth soon enough anyway; I suppose if he does so under my guard or up near the face of it all matters not. It will be intriguing to make an example of you."

The tension in the air was impalpable as the remaining duelists simply stood and stared at the two tentatively.

"GO!" roared Joey, not taking his eyes off Roland.

Brian slowly made his way to one of the helicopters, starting it up.

One by one, the remaining duelists entered, keeping their eyes on Roland and Joey momentarily before getting in. Tea was the second last to leave, clasping Joey's shoulder momentarily before climbing into the chopper.

The last was Kaiba, who spoke in a low voice.

"You've earned my respect, Wheeler. Almost."

Even in the tense situation, this almost drew a faint smile from Joey as he fired off his holo projectors.

The _whup-whup-whup _sound of the helicopters lifting off eclipsed the cries of battle and death to the ears of the two duelists. They were, however, oblivious to this, as their minds were focused on one single-minded principle.

Play to win, or die.

(Roland: 8000, Joey: 8000)

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I'm quite sure you remember this fun individual," echoed Pegasus' irritatingly musical voice within Yugi's ears.

The King of Games screwed up his eyes, trying to glare at his opponent while not having to look at the horrific creature on his field.

"Just go, Pegasus," he snapped.

"If you insist," replied Pegasus evenly, as the hovering monster began to glow.

"As I'm sure you remember, as long as Thousand Eyes Restrict is in play, no other monsters may attack nor change their battle positions, effectively consigning the entire field to a statis of sorts. To make things even more fun, he retains the effect of Relinquished, allowing me to equip him with one of my opponent's monsters at a time and granting him a boost equal to the attack and defense scores of the equipped monster. I think your Steel General would be a good choice: since you've already removed the counter on him which allows for his ability to negate monster effects."

The hovering monstrosity began to glow with dark energy, tendrils of which began to slither out toward the robotic soldier on Yugi's field. The fusion Twilight Shadow attempted to resist, but his efforts were futile. Soon, he was dragged over to the field of his opponent. When he raised his head to look at his former master and comrade, there was a vacant look within his eyes under the grille of his helmet. The tendrils of darkness more or less bounded him to the Thousand Eyes Restrict (2800/2000).

"Now, Thousand Eyes Restrict, attack Twilight Shadow Swordmaster: Absorption Force!"

The floating entity began to glow once again, with a sphere of purple energy materializing on the largest eye which stuck out of its body like an extra grotesque limb. The sphere expanded into a wave of energy which proceeded forth to wash over Yugi's field, seemingly consuming the unfortunate, futuristic soldier on his field.

However, when the smoke cleared, Yugi was standing there with a determined look on his face, behind a still standing and unscarred Twilight Shadow – Swordmaster.

(Yugi: 4200, Pegasus: 5900)

"What tricks have you been up to, Yugi-boy?" enquired Pegasus in a dangerous tone.

"Rather simple," snapped back Yugi. "I activated my Shadow Barrier trap. When a Twilight Shadow fusion-type monster is targeted with an attack, I can negate the attack, and the battle damage that would have been dealt to me is dealt to you instead. In addition, I can special summon a Twilight Shadow from my deck who's attack points are equal to or less then that amount of damage."

Pegasus coughed and gripped his flank in pain as his life-points dropped, before managing, "And which pathetic monster will you get out with three hundred or less attack points that has any sort of hope in defeating me?"

"You of all people should know that attack points aren't everything," warned Yugi, finding the appropriate monster from his deck and placing it horizontally on his Duel Disk.

"I call forth Twilight Shadow – Retriever (300/300)."

A man dressed in a mining outfit appeared next to the Swordmaster. He had a helmet with a flashlight built into it on his head and carried a wrench in each hand. The moment he saw the menacing visage of Pegasus' fusion, he yelped in shock and comically hid behind the Swordmaster, who didn't pay any attention.

Cautiously stepping out a moment later, the Retriever gave out a loud wail.

"What's he doing?" questioned Pegasus suspiciously.

"When he's special summoned to the field, I can add one level four or lower Twilight Shadow monster from my graveyard back to my hand," explained Yugi coldly. "Are you done?"

"Fine," grunted Pegasus. "I set one card facedown and end my turn."

Yugi drew confidently. "I discard the Twilight Shadow – Shield Guardian I just added to my hand with Retriever in order to special summon one level four or lower Twilight Shadow from my graveyard. I choose Twilight Shadow – Bombardier (1700/1400)."

The futuristic fighter jet with its enthusiastic pilot appeared, flanking the Swordmaster's other side.

"What do you plan to do now?" grunted Pegasus.

"This," replied Yugi icily, as the pilot began pressing random buttons inside the cockpit of his jet. A pair of cannons appeared from within the back of the jet, letting lose a volley of bullets in the direction of the Thousand Eyes Restrict and the Steel General which was trapped within it (0/2000).

"What just happened?"

"All I had to do was sacrifice my Twilight Shadow – Bombardier's attack for the turn in order to reduce the attack or defense points of one of your monsters all the way down to zero until the end of the turn," chuckled Yugi.

"It's still useless," snapped Pegasus. "You can't attack due to the effect of my Thousand Eyes Restrict anyway, and when its attack points return to twenty-eight hundred next turn, I'll finally be able to do some damage."

"Not quite," responded Yugi, his eyes gleaming. "Here comes De-Fusion, which will split Swordmaster back into his component parts: Twilight Shadows Shield Guardian (200/2200) and Soldier (1600/1200)!"

Two spectral forms appeared on Yugi's field. The first was kneeling, and about five feet tall. It wore blue armor, and a dome-like helmet. A futuristic shield was attached to one arm. It was pitch black in color, but in the center was a single, shining blue jewel, with cracks extending all around it. The cracks glowed in a similar manner.

The other was dressed in platinum armor. He was about the size and build of a normal man, but the sword in his hand made him seem more intimidating. He had a simple helmet, and he raised his head to reveal a determined and calm face.

"When Twilight Shadow - Soldier is normal summoned, it reduces the attack points of one monster on your field by its level multiplied by one hundred."

Pegasus scoffed as the darkness surrounding his Thousand Eyes Restrict twitched slightly. With zero attack points anyway, it didn't matter.

"Now I normal summon The Dark-Hex Sealed Fusion (1000/1600)."

Appearing next to the quartet of Twilight Shadows on Yugi's field was a strange looking creature which seemed to be a floating, black sphere. It had a variety of symbols inscribed all over it, and a bunch of purple tentacles slithering out of various points of its body. Funnily enough, it resembled the Thousand Eyes Restrict most out of any of the monsters present on the field.

Pegasus grunted, realization dawning on him with regards to Yugi's plan.

"Now, I activate The Dark-Hex Sealed Fusion's effect: by sacrificing him as a fusion substitute, along with the other necessary fusion materials, I can fusion summon any dark attribute fusion from my Extra Deck. So I'll send him and my Shield Guardian to the graveyard in order to call upon my Twilight Shadow – Swordmaster (2500/2000) once again!"

The rock-like creature and the kneeling warrior slammed into each other, and from a flash of blinding light emerged the towering, robotic knight dressed in futuristic armor. His wings spread out behind him, and within seconds of materializing he slammed his blade into the ground, creating shockwaves of energy which slammed into the Thousand Eyes Restrict and resulted in a colossal explosion.

"As I'm sure you know by now, when Twilight Shadow – Swordmaster is fusion summoned, one monster on your field is destroyed and you lose life-points equal to its level multiplied by two hundred."

As the smoke began to clear, it became evident that Yugi's attempt had not succeeded: the Thousand Eyes Restrict had remained in its place on Pegasus' field, seemingly untouched except for the fact that the Steel General was now gone as well.

"What have you done Pegasus?" growled Yugi.

"Rather simple, Yugi-boy," replied the president of Industrial Illusions. "My facedown continuous trap, Endless Sacrifice, becomes an equip card to either Relinquished or Thousand Eyes Restrict at the cost of sacrificing one monster equipped to it. When activated, it gains counters equal to the number of monsters my opponent has in play: in this case, four, including Retriever, Swordmaster, Soldier and Bombardier. I may remove one counter to prevent the destruction of the equipped by a card effect. Also, as long as Endless Sacrifice remains in play, the number of monsters that my Thousand Eyes Restrict can be equipped with is raised to the number of counters present."

Yugi's eyes widened. "_Even if he can only equip one monster per turn, he'll get rid of my entire field in a hurry at this rate! Not to mention Thousand Eyes Restrict will have even more attack points, and I need to destroy it four times thanks to all the counters he has_. _I may have to dig deeper…_"

Thankfully, all the monsters he had special summoned throughout the turn had been in defense mode.

"I end my turn," he growled, a hint of frustration entering his voice.

Pegasus drew. "Let the fun commence. I equip Thousand Eyes Restrict with your pitiful Twilight Shadow Swordmaster."

Yugi looked on in disgust as the tendrils of dark energy snaked their way around his prized fusion, drawing it towards that of Pegasus, which encapsulated it within its floating body parts (2500/2000).

"Now, it's time to destroy your Twilight Shadow Bombardier before he can do more damage: Absorption Force!"

The horrific fiend let out another burst of black power directed at the fighter jet. The pilot within it let out a squeal of horror before him and his crew were completely consumed by the inferno.

Yugi clenched his fist. "_I won't let you go unavenged, Bombardier…_"

"That will do it for me, Yugi-boy. Put up as many defenses as you wish, as long as my Thousand Eyes Restrict remains in play I will keep tearing them right back down."

Yugi exhaled as he drew.

He glanced at his newest card. Risky as hell, admittedly, but he didn't have much of a choice.

"I play Common Greed. This allows both of us to draw two cards."

Pegasus raised his eyebrows, thinking back to the day one of his card designers was complaining about the fact that the Card of Sanctity was overpowered and presenting him with card designs for a more balanced version of the card that greatly benefitted both players. He smiled ruefully at the perks of having inside out knowledge of every card ever printed as he drew the top two cards on his deck.

The perks of being the creator of the game.

Yugi glanced over at the three cards in his hand.

He knew their effects by heart, as well as the various combinations they could spawn.

"_Dig deeper…_"

He bit his lip and sighed. "I pass."

"You're playing a dangerous game here, Yugi-boy," taunted Pegasus. "Allowing me two extra draws without making any moves yourself. Surely you're capable of more…"

Yugi did not respond to the criticism.

"Very well Yugi-boy…. It's your funeral. I now equip your Twilight Shadow – Soldier to Thousand Eyes Restrict."

The tendrils of darkness shot out once again, snaking their way around the armored man and dragged him into the embrace of oblivion (4100/3200).

"Absorption Force."

The fused monstrosity let out another wave of black flames which slammed into the lone Twilight Shadow Retriever on Yugi's field. The miner let out a wail of shock before the flames washed over him completely. Soon, he was almost beyond pain, leaving him merely standing there in the darkness, stripped to the bone, before he vanished completely.

Yugi closed his eyes as Pegasus spoke.

"Tread cautiously now, Yugi-boy. I take no pleasure in the fact that you will be losing your home, but if the alternative is that I would lose mine, then so be it."

The King of Games snapped his head back down and glared at his opponent.

"If you truly cared about both of our homes you would've found a way to save them both."

Pegasus shrugged. "Yugi-boy, I unfortunately know the full extent of the Legion's power. There is no way anyone can stop it from achieving what it desires. If we didn't duel, then our host here would've destroyed both Domino as well as my island. Why needlessly allow both to be destroyed when one could possibly be saved?"

Yugi narrowed his eyes.

"You know the full extent of the Legion's power? They're an alien race that revealed themselves to mankind only today. What aren't you telling me, Pegasus?"

The white-haired man didn't reply.

"TALK!" bellowed Yugi.

A dry chuckle was heard from the sidelines. Yugi turned to see Belial with a bemused, rather smug look on his face.

"What are you laughing at?" growled the King of Games.

"Merely at the shame this old man here is trying to hide," replied Belial wryly.

"Shame?" muttered Yugi, confused.

"This senile old fool _knew _what was coming. He could have at least ensured your planet could have put up a _fight_. Instead, he chose his own personal success ahead of the well-being of most of the scum that call themselves the human race. Along with Seto Kaiba, this world can hold your opponent personally responsible for their utter destruction at the hands of the Legion."

"What does Kaiba have to do with this now?"

"Patience, Yugi Moto, patience," taunted Belial. "The human race shall know the deeds of their own which led to their utter annihilation in time. I think it would be rather fitting that Pegasus here told you the story himself."

The one-eyed man rubbed his temple with his fingers. He seemed to be holding back tears.

It took him a full minute to compose himself before he could speak in a choked voice.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Flashback_

_Maximillion Pegasus was barely thirty years of age and in terrific shape. _

_Barring, of course, two things: he was missing an eye, and his beloved fiancé Cecilia had passed away due to a terrible disease a few months ago._

_The only thing on the man's mind was a means to be reunited with the woman he loved. He obsessed with it, his mind fought with the possibilities all day and all night long until he reached the point where he was even considering suicide._

_Pegasus knew deep down that he could not be allowed to have himself consumed by grief, or he would lose his sanity quite soon._

_In what started out as a feeble attempt to distract himself and gain stature in the world, he became an amateur archaeologist. He had neither the focus nor the inclination to obtain a degree through a rigorous academic course, instead he offered his help as a volunteer to the archaeological team of an acquaintance which was spending months in Egypt. He didn't need money of course, his father had left him plenty of that._

_The mother of all cruelties, he mused as he used a combination of his spade and body weight to lever away a particularly stubborn rock, was that a man could possess any material object he desired and still live a life of sorrow. Pegasus himself was living proof._

_He was distracted from his dark thoughts by a shout from the team leader._

"_All right, boys and girls, that's a wrap for the day," echoed the individual's weary voice._

_Pegasus glanced back at the small hole he had dug and sighed. The group had discovered nothing of great significance for the eleventh straight day since the expedition had begun. Was everything in his life doomed to failure?_

_Lost in his despairing thoughts, Pegasus was the final individual to leave the site. He moved slowly, dragging his spade behind him in his slender fingers which seemed more suited to be those of a painter as compared to a man who dug holes in the hot Egyptian desert._

_In the corner of his eye, he noticed a white-robed figure almost gliding over the sand._

_He blinked in disbelief, and the figure was gone._

_He dismissed it as being merely a mirage brought on by the extreme heat he had been working under._

_As he took another few steps forward, he could have sworn that he saw the figure once again. This time it didn't disappear when he blinked, further cementing his belief that what he had seen had indeed transpired in reality._

_He took a cautious step in the direction of the robed man, and stopped short when the object of his attentions turned to fix him with a piercing stare._

_He gulped visibly as the man spoke in a soft yet cold voice._

"_If you proceed further you may indeed achieve what you truly desire. However, there will be no going back._"

_With that, he bent down and touched the sand near his feet. It seemed to drop into a growing hole in the searing desert floor. With a serene stare, the dark skinned man fell into it, literally vanishing from Pegasus' sight in front of his own eyes._

"_Dear lord…" he mumbled. For a second, he _really_ thought he needed to get back to the camp and take an aspirin. But as he stepped forward, he was dumbfounded to see that _yes_, a hole had _actually_ appeared in the sand._

_He peered down into it, and it seemed to him that visible down there was a sort of room. The drop was barely ten feet. _

_Pegasus took a breath._

"I must be insane."

_With that, he sat down on the edge of the hole so that his legs were dangling off it, and pushed off the ledge._

_Evidently he had overestimated the height of the drop, for he landed rather comfortably in a crouch, head bowed down between his knees. _

_Slowly staggering upward, he looked around the room warily._

_It was a kind of temple. The walls were constructed of aged sandstone and marble, with torches being held in place along their length by the means of wooden brackets, each one separated from the previous one by a few feet._

_The room Pegasus himself now found himself in was circular in shape, with a single narrow corridor leading to another room towards the north. Once again, Pegasus thought that his eyes were deceiving him but he thought that he saw the white robed figure trailing into the corridor just as he looked up._

"_If you continue further, nothing will ever be the same."_

_And nothing ever was._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I'm not interested in hearing about these past antics of yours which we already know about," snapped Yugi.

Pegasus glared at him. "You asked for an explanation, ignorant child, and I am giving you one."

Yugi merely gave him a withering look.

Belial smiled thinly. Pegasus was in the process of openly confessing that his _own_ ignorance had led to the destruction of the human race in front of every person who possessed a television set which was currently switched on. In doing so, he was literally placing a target on his own back.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Pegasus remained on one knee, placing one hand on his left cheek, down which small beads of blood trickled underneath the Millennium Eye which was now embedded in his left eye socket._

_The pain was indescribable. He had read about men who had lost an eye in war, and how it had changed them for the rest of their life: for the worse._

_But somehow, _somehow, _he felt incredible. The sense of power that pervaded his body was even more otherworldly then the unbearable agony. He felt his entire body burning with raw, magical energy. Indeed, the mysterious man had been right._

_After experiencing something like this, just _how_ could his life ever be the same again?_

_He didn't care that his colleagues were probably searching frantically for him at this point. He didn't care about how he was going to explain the presence of a glowing golden orb in the place of his left eye socket to anyone who noticed it, and there would certainly be lots of them. Nothing mattered: nothing except the fact that he now possessed a power that transcended the limits of life and death._

_He walked aimlessly through the corridors of the majestic cavern, basking in the glow of his newly acquired power._

_In one gigantic room, he found an endless row of huge stone tablets. Each tablet was inscribed with ancient Egyptian characters as well as images of various kinds of creatures: creatures which would become very popular across the world in time to come._

_Pegasus gazed from one tablet to another, some of which were images of robed men performing rituals of various kinds._

_His mind began to spin with ideas, dark thoughts that had remained hidden deep within his mind since the moment Cecilia had lost her battle with cancer._

_A frightening smile spread across his face._

_The world was his oyster. _

_As he found his way to a hidden staircase which led back up to the surface, he passed a certain room which held his attention to an exceptional degree._

_It was one similar to the previous rooms, with sandstone walls and lit up by torches, which eerily enough, never seemed to go out._

_The main attraction in this room, however, was not sandstone tablets with inscriptions of various kinds marking their surface._

_Instead, it was something far more futuristic._

_Pegasus was sure he was looking at the ruins of a _spacecraft _of some kind_.

_It could not be doubted. The body of the intergalactic vehicle seemed to be made of a shimmering silver metal and was nearly destroyed by what seemed to be a crash. The remains had come to be eroded by the elements after what seemed like hundreds of years. However, present on certain spots of the craft were glowing green stones which seemed to have been completely unharmed._

_Pegasus also noticed rotting, horrifically mutilated corpses of what seemed to be _aliens_. They seemed to have been killed in the same crash which had more or less destroyed the spacecraft and the corpses had been ruined to the degree that very few features could be discerned other than they had once possessed a light green tone to their skin._

_Their armor was in a similar state to the ship: the skeleton in ruins, but glowing green stones remaining untouched on the shoulders and in the center of the chest._

_Pegasus would normally have been shocked. Under current circumstances, his mind drunk with power, he didn't give it a second thought._

_Specifically he didn't give it another thought until he decided to design two particular sets of card five years later for his magnum opus, Duel Monsters. _

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Yugi clenched his fist and spoke through gritted teeth.

"The Legion had made a previous excursion to Earth and you discovered proof of this, yet you chose not to tell a single person."

Pegasus bowed his head, long gray strands obscuring his face.

"You scum…"

A dark smile crossed the face of the Marquis.

Now _this_, this was perfect retribution. Not that he had anything personally against Moto or Pegasus: their sole crime was being Earthlings.

Which was enough for Belial to determine that both deserved punishment. They were all the same: power hungry, greedy, and blind to the greater good.

Pegasus raised his head and glared at the younger man.

"Don't you dare judge me for the error I committed. Not when you, in your devastating foolishness were responsible for a far greater threat: Apocalypse!"

Yugi stopped short.

It was all Belial could do to literally stop himself from bursting out into laughter. _Perfect_, this was absolutely _perfect_. The two were now literally at the point where they wanted to kill each other even as the entire world watched on in horror.

"You are going to regret that," whispered the King of Games coldly.

"Do your worst," replied Pegasus in a similar tone. "I set one card facedown and end my turn."

Yugi drew and spoke harshly.

"I think it's time you experienced the full power of the Twilight Shadows."

Pegasus didn't reply, continuing to eye him with a hard look.

"I play the Warrior Returning Alive, which lets me add one warrior type monster from my graveyard to my hand. I choose Twilight Shadow – Bombardier."

He picked the card out of his graveyard and spoke again.

"Next I play this very powerful continuous magic card: Twilight Rising!"

Pegasus looked slightly alarmed. Now, the effect of this card he could not recall….

"Then comes Shadow Scrap! By discarding one Twilight Shadow monster from my hand, I can special summon another from my graveyard with a level that is not greater than the discarded one by more than one. Since Bombardier is a level four, I can special summon Blade Sentinel (1900/1300) from my graveyard!"

Materializing onto Yugi's field was a knight dressed in a futuristic suit of armor. The suit of armor war metallic-toned, with dark-red metallic shoulder pads and designs all about it, down the arms and down the legs. The gloves were red and dark, silver metallic-colored, with extendible, pink beam swords on the tops of them. It had shining boots as well, and a helmet covered its head with a grille that extended down its face.

"Now, the effect of Twilight Rising comes into play: once per turn, when a Twilight Shadow is summoned, I can take one Twilight Shadow of an equal or lower level from my deck and add it to my hand. Since Blade Sentinel is a level five, I choose Twilight Shadow – Mercenary (2200/1500)."

Yugi barely missed a beat as he found the card in his deck and added it to his hand.

"Then I play Dark Dusk Justice! For every Twilight Shadow in play, I can add either add a spell or trap card from my or destroy one on the field. Since I have two, I can first destroy the Twilight Shadow – Soldier equipped to your Thousand Eyes Restrict, thereby decreasing its attack points by sixteen hundred!"

Pegasus grunted in irritation as his fusion's stats were lowered slightly (2500/2000). Meanwhile, the spirit of Yugi's monster gladly escaped the fetters of darkness it had been subjected to and entered its master's graveyard.

"With the other effect, I choose to add Fusion Recovery to my hand, and I'll immediately play it to get back Soldier and Polymerization."

Yugi's plan began to dawn on Pegasus.

"Then I play the latter, fusing together the Blade Sentinel on my field with the Soldier and Mercenary in my hand to call upon one of my greatest monsters: arise, Twilight Shadow – Special Operative Solid Snake (2400/2400)!"

Joining the night was the simple armored man and another wearing dark armor and carrying a futuristic blaster. The three men each erupted into spheres of light and slammed into each other at the same time. This caused a wave of blinding energy to rise over Yugi's field. After about thirty seconds, it faded, to leave a single man on Yugi's field to face the Thousand Eyes Restrict.

He stood about six and a half feet tall, and was dressed in aging silver armor. It was torn in a few places. A similar, scratched helmet covered his head, with the visor shut. He wore black gloves on both hands, which had the ends of each finger cut off, exposing his nails. A heavy utility belt was clipped to its waste. On either side of the belt was a futuristic blaster. Slowly, the man lifted his visor to reveal a rugged, scarred face. His eyes were a hard-gray, and he had a little brownish-gray stubble on his cheeks.

"Now this I remember…" mumbled Pegasus.

Yugi nodded confidently. "In that case, you should recall that when Solid Snake is special summoned, I can select one monster on your field and effectively immobilize it; said monster cannot attack nor change its battle position as long as Snake remains in play."

Pegasus shook his head vigorously, even as the spy looped a metallic chain around the hovering terror, locking it in place.

"I can still activate its effect next turn, Yugi-boy, taking Snake off your field and granting my Thousand Eyes Restrict enough attack points to reduce your life-points to zero in one resounding strike."

"You probably hope that you were so lucky," growled Yugi. "When Snake is summoned, I can also add a specific equip magic card from my deck to my hand. Namely, a very powerful one called Phantom Blaster!"

Vanishing from Snake's hands was one of the blasters. Appearing in its place was another, completely different one. It was a shining black in color, and had a long which was thicker than the rest of the gun. The barrel itself was attached to a secondary barrel with a small strip of metal. He clasped it around the handle with easy confidence, a smirk spreading across his face.

"Now, I can choose to activate one of three effects each turn: for now, I merely choose to grant Snake immunity to any of your card effects until my next standby phase!"

Pegasus gasped and growled in irritation. Thousand Eyes Restrict was still stronger, but this was a de facto stalemate.

"Since I lack cards in my hand right now, I end my turn."

Pegasus snapped the top card off his deck and kept a straight face.

"I pass, there's nothing I can do."

Yugi spoke.

"The turn after Twilight Shadow Mercenary or a fusion monster which lists him as a fusion material is summoned, I gain one extra draw during my draw phase."

As he said this, he snapped the top two cards off his deck and looked at them.

"Next comes Pot of Greed, to draw two further cards."

"Get on with it!" snapped Pegasus.

Yugi looked at him with glimmering eyes. "Oh, I intend to."

There was something about his tone which made the President of Industrial Illusions feel rather nervous, despite the plan he had set up.

"Very well, Pegasus. The time has come for Thousand Eyes Restrict to fall! I choose to trigger the same effect of Phantom Blaster that I did last turn: the one that prevents him from being affected by any card effects until my next standby phase."

"Go ahead and attack my Thousand Eyes Restrict like a suicidal fool!" spat Pegasus. "Snake is still a hundred attack points weaker than it!"

"I don't intend to do that just yet," replied Yugi calmly. "I play Equal Exchange, which forces the both of us to return one magic or trap card on our field back to our hands. I target the Twilight Shadow – Swordmaster which you stole from me earlier and has been wasting away in your spell and trap zone ever since!"

The futuristic blaster vanished from Snake's hands, and Pegasus gasped as the armored knight gladly ripped his way out of the darkness of the Restrict's body (0/0). Yugi smirked and slipped the card back into his Extra Deck.

"Even better, I can play Phantom Blaster again, this time choosing the effect of transferring all of Snake's defense points to his attack points, meaning that I will be in a position to knock your life-points down to a little over a thousand!"

Snake (4800/0), began charging up his blaster and pointed it at Pegasus' fusion, a look of utter hatred on his features.

"Snake, attack!"

The operative unleashed a wave of sky blue energy in the direction of the Thousand Eyes Restrict which merely stared blankly into the oncoming oblivion.

"It is your time to fall!" roared Pegasus. "I activate the final effect of Endless Sacrifice, which lets me send it to the graveyard in return for equipping to my Thousand Eyes Restrict as many monsters from your _graveyard_ as there were counters on it!"

The dark aura suddenly exploded around the demon as the astral spirits of Yugi's fallen monsters began to drift toward it in horror.

"Steel General!" bellowed the one eyed man as his monster's attack points began to rise (2800/2000).

"Mercenary! Blade Sentinel!" The darkness now encompassed almost the whole field, and was pressing back against the blue energy wave (6900/4800).

"END THIS! ABSORPTION FORCE!"

Yugi had lowered his head, but now raised it again, that characteristic sparkle back in his eye.

"No dice, Pegasus. I won't let you harm my Twilight Shadows. I activate Snake's final effect and my ultimate trump card: by paying a thousand life-points I can send him to the graveyard and special summon as many fusion materials of it as possible from my graveyard."

The blue energy faded as the veteran military man nodded briskly at Yugi and vanished in a flash. Reappearing in his place was the lone Twilight Shadow Soldier (1600/1200), lifting his sword up and glaring determinedly at the hugely powerful Thousand Eyes Restrict.

(Yugi: 3200, Pegasus: 5900)

"Since Soldier was summoned, I can activate Twilight Rising, which lets me, once per duel, instead take a Twilight Shadow from my _graveyard_ instead of my deck and add it to my hand when another one is summoned to the field. I choose Shield Guardian."

"What is this going to achieve?" croaked Pegasus.

Yugi smiled. "I always have a plan B, Pegasus. Here comes Twilight Fusion! This is a quick-play spell card that allows me to fuse monsters in my hand and field to special summon a Twilight Shadow fusion!"

The horror of it dawned on Pegasus as Yugi held up Soldier and Shield Guardian.

"Your reliance on one monster has done you in, Pegasus! Arise, Twilight Shadow - Swordmaster (2500/2000)!"

The glowing silhouette of the shield bearing Twilight Shadow slammed into its armored comrade and from within the swirling vortex emerged the towering, almost robotic fusion, complete with its translucent purple wings keeping it a few feet off the floor and its six foot broadsword looking as menacing as ever.

"And as you know, when he's summoned, I can destroy your Thousand Eyes Restrict and deal you two hundred damage for each of its level stars!"

Pegasus gulped as the majestic fusion slammed its sword into the ground, causing an eruption of energy which ripped the dark creature on Pegasus' field to shreds.

(Yugi: 3200, Pegasus: 5700)

"Since it _is_ still my battle phase, Swordmaster will continue and attack you directly!" bellowed Yugi.

Pegasus only had time to let out a yelp of shock before the blade descended, knocking him off his feet and almost to the edge of the floating platform.

(Yugi: 3200, Pegasus: 3200)

"That ends my turn," finished Yugi smoothly.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Zeruge could barely feel his body anymore. In the last three minutes he had sustained perhaps eleven collisions with the maniacal Bouncer, bringing him to the point where most of the nerve endings in his body had gone numb.

The last one had felt like he had been standing in the path of a freight train.

His vision was rather bleary as he stared into the semi-darkness of the stairwell, unable to get more than a flitting glance of the demented little creature as it richotted off walls every odd second. He had to rely more on his keen sense of hearing, which he used to track the harsh screeches of the Bouncer in order to pinpoint its location.

"Goddamnit," he groaned as the flitting hurricane smashed off the north wall of the stairwell and rocketed into his direction.

Even if he was fine, dodging an attack like that fast would almost certainly have been beyond him. In his wounded state, it was downright impossible.

The mighty demon decided to take another hit in order to test out an idea.

Just as the Bouncer slammed into him, he leapt forward. This was unconventional for two reasons: the first being that when having to sustain an impact of any kind, one would normally tend to back away from it to lower the net force of against them, instead of increasing it by initiating their own momentum in a direction _opposite_ to the exterior force.

The second was rather more simple. In the process of jumping forward, he had leapt off the edge of the staircase, and consigned both himself and the Bouncer to a two storey drop.

The impact jarred his teeth and felt like a sizzling brand on his muscles. He knew that worse was to come, however, and he was right as the crash in mid-air knocked both himself and the Bouncer to the ground. Zeruge landed in an awkward crouch, only his reinforced demon body preventing multiple bones in his body from breaking.

However, this had a hidden benefit. As the combatants thrashed in a scrambled mess on the ground, Zeruge was able to latch onto one of the Bouncer's arms with an iron grip, preventing it from literally taking off again.

The horrific little creature let out another insane shriek as it thrashed and wriggled in an attempt to get lose from the grip.

This was, however, to no avail. Even as he held on with all his strength, Zeruge could feel the trashing of the extraterrestrial creature become for feeble by the minute.

He barely had the time to think, "_That's it-.._" before he felt another stinging pain in his gut. He had been hit by a blow of roughly the same magnitude as the first impact caused by the Bouncer he was currently grappling with. Involuntarily, he let go of it and cursed as it shot off into the darkness with a shriek.

But now he knew.

He staggered upward, and focused his vision in the darkness onto what were now _two_ flitting green shapes in the darkness.

"_The more they move, the stronger they get. Those belts they're wearing convert kinetic energy to power their bodies. Cut off their movement, cut off their threat_."

A pained smile crossed his face as he flexed his claws.

Showtime.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"We're here," announced Eizan slowly from the cockpit.

Rikuo registered the man's words with a grunt. None of them had said a word to either Eizan or Sarah from the end of their heated argument to the smooth landing in a dark airfield Eizan had identified over the aircraft's computer network.

The wolf demon moodily stood up and made his way to the door which had just clicked open, followed by Deondre and Bakura.

The last one shivered involuntarily as his feet hit the soft gravel, at the biting night air.

"Couldn't have picked a colder place, could you?" he snapped sarcastically.

Eizan did not reply as he disembarked with an expressionless look on his face.

"And where in the nine hells are we really?" put in Rikuo.

"Moscow," came the quivering reply from the chairman of Eagle's board of directors. "Specifically, Eppley Airfield, which is a privately owned one maybe eighty miles from the edge of Moscow."

"So basically we're in the middle of nowhere," grunted Deondre. "Care to tell what exactly we're doing here?"

It really was very cold. As demons, Rikuo and Deondre were more or less unaffected, but Sarah was forced to wrap her arms around herself, and even Bakura couldn't stop an involuntary shiver every once in a while. Eizan, strangely enough, simply stared on ahead as he spoke in reply to the dog demon's question.

"I have a contact here who would be a great help to us in locating…." He didn't feel like naming their target, and was thankfully able to get away with that as all of them obviously knew whom he was referring to.

"Can you trust him?" replied Rikuo brusquely.

"He's a former Eagle agent who spent many years deep in undercover," responded Eizan, as he took a pair of night vision binoculars from his coat pocket and scanned the horizon with them.

"He should be here any second now…"

"Former?" inquired Bakura.

"Yes, things didn't go quite as planned in his final mission…" breathed Eizan. "You'll see what I mean."

They heard the sound of tires against the rough road in the distance. A large SUV approached them. From the distance, they could tell that both the front seats were occupied and the car was lit up. It grinded to a halt by the side of them in about fifteen seconds.

The doors clicked open and both the driver and his companion stepped out.

The former was tall, well-built, and had a blank face. He was dressed in a dark bodysuit, and a bulge on the side of his waist told them he was armed.

The one in the passenger seat looked a lot more interesting though. He looked old, not as aged as Eizan though, perhaps about fifty years of age.

He was roughly five foot eleven and built in a wiry fashion, wearing a flamboyant, white colored Italian suit. His face was craggy and lined, with his eyes hidden by dark glasses. In his right hand he carried a long wooden cane with the top carved into a horse's head, which he gripped tightly.

He spoke in a smooth, musical voice.

"Evening, gents."

"Patrick… I can't tell you what a relief this is," sighed Eizan, stepping forward and shaking his hand.

The man nodded, before turning his face to the rest of the assembled duelists. "I can tell that the lot of you blokes aren't having the best of days."

Bakura, Rikuo, Deondre and Sarah looked at each other curiously at his use of the word "blokes".

Nonetheless, the man who was evidently called Patrick, continued. "I'm sure each of you is a man who's proved himself in battle a hundred times over and it is an honor to make your acquaintance. I wish this meeting could have been under other circumstances, but unfortunately Eizan had briefed me about the situation and we will certainly work on a solution when we reach my home."

Sarah coughed lightly.

Patrick turned to glance at her. "Oh…. I'm so sorry, ma'am. It's rather unfortunate that my _shingan _has not been developed to the point where I can differentiate between the two sexes without prior information."

"I have three questions," butted in Rikuo. "Who are you, what the hell are you doing here, and what the hell are you talking about?"

"I'm sorry," purred Patrick. "Perhaps I should have made things clearer a bit earlier."

He lifted his shades, and it was all that Sarah could do not to gasp with revulsion at the sight of twin scars over what would have been his eyes.

The man was blind.

He dropped his shades as if nothing had happened. "As for your first two questions, I am Patrick Avalon, a former Eagle agent who happens to owe this old blighter here a favor or two, which I am going to pay up now."

"Avalon?" Sarah was unable to contain herself.

Patrick nodded. "Yes, I am Serena's father. I can tell by your voice you are Sarah Taylor, someone who Serena has spoken a great deal about to me. As for the second question, I believe Eizan is supposed to fill me in on that: all I got was an SOS telling me to pick him and a bunch of agents up from Effley airfield. I assume there's plenty going on, these things are better discussed over a cup of coffee and in front of a roaring hearth then in a freezing, deserted airfield. Why don't you lot join me in my car?"

Eizan nodded barely perceptibly in the direction of the assembled duelists.

Rikuo did not hide a frustrated grunt, but nonetheless got into the jeep, followed by Bakura, Deondre, Sarah, Eizan, and Patrick last.

When they had gotten in, Patrick spoke again. "On second thoughts, Eizan old chap, it's quite a ride back to the manor. Mind telling me what the hell is going on here?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**At last. Btw, the story has crossed 800 pages and this is the three year anniversary chapter ^^ Thanks to all the loyal readers and reviewers who helped me get to this point. My five year anniversary for writing on is coming up soon, and I promise you all an explosive celebratory chapter for that one. Have a great summer folks!**


	41. Through the Looking Glass

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE: Through the Looking Glass

**Sorry. I have no idea why this thing took me so long **

**THIS STORY IS OFFICIALLY 500,000 words long! W000000000t :D**

**I dedicate this chapter to Metal Overlord 2.0, Master of the Library, and my friend ShadowBlade from the Pojo forums.**

**Without these guys, the fic wouldn't have reached this point.**

**Aelstha-Mental: You know my writing well enough by now to understand that anything is possible when it comes to dueling, don't you :P?**

**Dinomus: That you will find out soon! Yes, that was part of the point of it. The main characters are not going to be hero worshipped by everyone all the time. Those central to an event are always controversial and different people hold different views about them. The aim is to be realistic about everything.**

**Candyman123: Here it is! Enjoy!**

**Starlight AT: That's why I'm still unsure of T is the correct rating… I honestly didn't realize it as the fic went in the 'angsty' direction but it's reached the point of no return and I can't quite change the mood to be very light-hearted at this point. There will be moments, though, as you will see from this chapter onward.**

**Atemu's Sis: Metal Overlord 2.0 covered the response to this ridiculous thing you've called a review rather well. I topped it off in my reply to you. However, for the benefit of anyone else who has considered this individual to become rather annoying, I will be brief here:**

**Just because Atem is your favorite character doesn't mean he's going to get screen time in this fic, or ANY fic for that matter. Understand that, process it, and then come back. Like I said, I don't like Atem at all, he's almost Gary Stuish, but for the sake of the quality of the story I don't let that get in the way.**

**The Sylar plot twist is something called creative license. I can do what I want with the characters and the story. It's received very positive feedback from everyone until now, and honestly, if you had a problem with the plot thread why raise it TWENTY CHAPTERS after the relevation?**

"**Why aliens? Why them" Possibly the least insightful and most annoying piece of feedback EVER. Try writing a fic yourself. I saw your only attempt at a story is 300 words and abandoned after the first chapter 4 years ago. My first story was 47 chapters long and 340,000 words over two years. This is 41 chapters long over 3 years and over 500,000 words. Constructive criticism is one thing, I don't even know WHAT to call your rants over the last few weeks.**

**Phew, that was meant to be brief **

**Metal Overlord 2.0: There's a reason Thousand Eyes Restrict is banned. And there's a reason you're such an awesome friend and co-writer :D**

An eerie silence seemed to have descended upon the dueling field as the Yugi and Pegasus stared at each other. Belial watched from the sidelines, thinking to himself.

"_So this is the true disease of the human race_. _Yugi Moto and Maximillion Pegasus may have had past differences, but the recorded history of the previous threats to this pitiful planet within the databases of the Legion has shown that they have worked together to bring down prior foes multiple times in the past, including that fool Dartz as well as the God of Death, Anubis. However, when adversity is turned on them, they are unable to face the heat and their former comradeship breaks down into nothingness, causing them to turn on each other like rabid dogs to preserve their own selfish needs._"

His hand curled into a fist.

"_A race such as this cannot be allowed to possess and continue to destroy the resources of a planet as well suited for life as Earth. The Legion shall ensure the race is cleansed_."

Meanwhile, Pegasus spoke for the first time since his Thousand Eyes Restrict had been destroyed.

"You will regret that, Yugi-boy."

His tone, however, was rather unexpected. He had reverted from his fury and coldness to his usual, strangely melodious voice.

"It seems you have decided to cut loose from all limitations and bring the bear the full, explosive power of your Twilight Shadows. If that is the case, it would be unfair for me to stand by, and by contrast, restrict myself, wouldn't you say?"

Yugi didn't reply, and merely looked calmly from his Twilight Shadow – Swordmaster, and the one card in his hand, to Pegasus' empty field and the four cards he now held in his hand. It was indeed a contrasting situation. Their life-points were exactly even, and while Yugi had a large field advantage, Pegasus' greater hand size afforded him more options. This was truly a game of tactical minds, two chess grandmasters setting up pieces, taking however long was necessary, before going in for the kill.

"I normal summon Tweedledee (200/300)."

Yugi's eyes bulged as a very familiar creature appeared on Pegasus' field, facing his Twilight Shadow – Swordmaster. It was barely three feet in height, but probably double that in width. It looked exactly like an awkward young boy, except with a very, very large stomach. It was dressed in a shirt too small to cover its belly, and dungarees that were stretched to breaking point at its shoulders. Its skin was rather pale.

"Now, Tweedledee has a variety of rather special abilities. However, these cannot be executed without the power of his twin brother and soul partner in all walks of life. I activate the magic card, Call to Soul. When Tweedledee is in play, I may special summon from my deck a monster called Tweedledum (300/200)."

Appearing next to the portly young boy was another one who could have been his identical twin.

"What on Earth?" hissed Yugi. "How dare you corrupt childhood stories of innocence like this, Pegasus!" he spat.

"I will do whatever I need to reach the point of victory," retorted the eccentric billionaire calmly. "I now set one card facedown and end my turn."

Yugi drew, increasing his hand size to two.

"_Still no other monster_…" he cursed silently. Swordmaster would have to do for now.

"Very well, Pegasus. Twilight Shadow – Swordmaster, destroy Tweedledee with Blindstrike Wave!"

The hovering behemoth slammed its sword into the ground, generating an eruption of energy in the direction of the portly dwarf. Somehow, however, his brother waddled into the way awkwardly, almost unknowingly of the incredible attack, knocking away the original target. Tweedledum was eclipsed by the attack momentarily, but when it disappeared, he seemed unharmed, if a little confused.

"What just-…" he began.

"Happened?" finished Tweedledee awkwardly.

Yugi echoed their sentiments exactly.

"It's rather simple, Yugi-boy. When Tweedledum is face up on the field, all attacks that are supposed to target Tweedledee are changed to him. And while Tweedledee is face up, Tweedledum cannot be destroyed in battle. Since I special summoned Tweedledum in defense mode, I took no battle damage."

The King of Games groaned inwardly. Just what he needed. Another lock which gave Pegasus time to stall and rebuild his forces.

"Fine. I set one card facedown and end my turn."

Pegasus snapped the top card off his deck. "Ah… This is perfect. I activate my facedown Hidden Armory, which lets me add one equip spell card from my deck to my hand. I choose one I'm sure you're familiar with: it's called Opti-Camouflage Armor, which I immediately equip to Tweedledee."

The plump dwarves "oohed" and "ahhed" as a suit of glowing silver armor appeared in the air above them, floating just above their reach. The pair slammed into each other, knocking one another off balance and trying to snatch at the new treasure. Finally, one of them (Yugi couldn't tell the difference) was able to succeed, and pull it down, strapping it awkwardly onto himself.

"As I'm sure you know, any level one monster equipped with Opti-Camouflage Armor is able to attack your life-points directly," stated Pegasus.

Yugi braced himself as the newly outfitted creature let out a whoop of joy.

"Attack."

Even with his new armor, Tweedledee was not very sophisticated in his attack approach. He merely barreled his way across the field, somehow avoiding the looming Swordmaster, and rammed straight into Yugi, knocking him down to one knee.

"Damn it…" he swore, struggling upward.

(Yugi: 3000, Pegasus: 3200)

"That will end my turn," replied Pegasus primly, a maniacal glint entering his eyes.

Yugi drew. A useless card, for the situation.

"I pass," he growled.

"Tweedledee appreciates your generosity," replied Pegasus in a languid tone, as he pulled another card off his deck and added it to his hand.

"Attack."

Once again, the armored dwarf body-slammed Yugi, knocking the wind out of his lungs and forcing him to gasp in pain.

(Yugi: 2800, Pegasus: 3200)

"I set one card facedown and end my turn."

Yugi drew, and a slow plan began to form in his mind.

"I activate Fusion Breakdown, which essentially acts as a De-Fusion, but for every fusion monster I have in play. Therefore I will return Twilight Shadow – Swordmaster back to my Extra Deck and special summon Soldier and Shield Guardian to the field once more. However, I get to draw one card for every fusion monster returned."

The white armored, sword-bearing soldier (1600/1200), appeared on the field alongside the shining guardian who had a shield attached to his right arm (200/2200).

"And since Soldier was special summoned, I can reduce the attack points of Tweedledee by one hundred times multiplied by its level."

Even as Tweedledee (100/300) yelped in pain, Yugi knew it wasn't much of an achievement. Even with its attack points at its full two hundred, it would take Pegasus fifteen direct attacks to reduce Yugi's life-points to zero, and he was sure that was in no way his strategy.

"Then comes my facedown Call of the Haunted: I can now special summon The Dark-Hex Sealed Fusion (1000/1600) in attack mode."

Appearing next to the duo of Twilight Shadows on Yugi's field was a strange looking creature which seemed to be a floating, black sphere. It had a variety of symbols inscribed all over it, and a bunch of purple tentacles slithering out of various points of its body.

"This is getting rather repetitive, Yugi-boy," sighed Pegasus.

Yugi ignored him. "Now I tribute The Dark-Hex Sealed Fusion, and Twilight Shadow – Shield Guardian, to once again special summon Twilight Shadow – Swordmaster (2500/2000)."

Almost as quickly as it had disappeared, the mechanical behemoth rematerialized from within a swirling vortex which consisted of the rock-like creature as well as the dark knight, its giant wings opening out behind it as it slammed its shining blade into the ground once again.

"Since it was fusion summoned, I can now target your Tweedledee and destroy it, dealing you two hundred points of damage."

"You _are_ getting a bit too predictable, Yugi-boy," commented Pegasus. "I chain Divine Wrath, discarding a card in order to negate the effect of your Twilight Shadow – Swordmaster and send it to the graveyard."

Yugi watched in alarm as a gigantic lightning bolt descended from the skies, frying his prized fusion monster to ashes before it could complete the decisive attack.

"Shoddily done, I must say. You've already called upon that Swordmaster four times, using its destruction effect to wreak havoc with my plans. You don't think I'd get wise to your preferences and disrupt them, pulling you out of the little niche you've inhabited so comfortably?"

Yugi snarled in reply, looking helplessly at the lone Twilight Shadow – Soldier on his field. Alone, it could do very little.

"I end my turn," he mumbled finally.

Pegasus drew.

"The time has arrived for me to show you the true power of this unique set of cards. I activate the truly powerful field spell, Mirror of Underland!"

Yugi gasped as the atmosphere around them began to twist and warp. The ground began to shake underneath his legs, and change from the pale metallic green that it had originally to that of a rocky gray wasteland. Giant, bizarrely multicolored plants began to sprout out around them, with bright green stalks and leaves of nearly all primary colors. Tiny creatures seemed to flit in and around the shrubbery, and a towering, crimson palace was visible in the distance. The sky was the most unusual sight of all. It was a darkish blue, but every time Yugi turned his head the dark mist seemed to refract light in every direction, temporarily blinding him.

"This is only the beginning, Yugi-boy," murmured his opponent. "I tribute Tweedledee and Tweedledum to call upon her royal highness: the Red Queen (1400/800)."

The two bumbling boys vanished, and were replaced by a short, prim-looking woman in a red gown. Her skin was a very pale white, with a brush of black lipstick proving the only color on it. Her body looked normal enough until one caught a sight of her huge and disproportional head. It was nearly half as big as her body by itself, and a small crown stood perched in the middle of it, looking oddly funny. In her right hand the queen clutched a long scepter, and looked back and forth across the field with a withering glance.

"A two tribute monster with _fourteen hundred_ attack points?" muttered Yugi, slightly bewildered. But he didn't go further: after his experiences with Relinquished and Thousand Eyes Restrict, he was well aware of the power of the monsters that Pegasus used which had low attack points.

"Red Queen, attack Twilight Shadow – Soldier."

The woman glared at the armored man and shrieked, "Off with his head!"

With that, she awkwardly made her way across the field and dealt him a glancing blow with her scepter. He snapped his head around in anger, bringing his blade down on her. Pegasus' face showed only an easy smile at the gruesome death he had just witnessed.

At that instant, twin lightning bolts struck both Yugi and Pegasus from the dark, reflective sky. Pegasus merely tightened his lips and showed no sign of pain, while Yugi, who had not been expecting it, was brought down to one knee, and a grunt of shock and pain escaped his throat.

(Yugi: 2700, Pegasus: 3000)

"Whenever either of us is dealt battle damage, the effect of Mirror of Underland deals half that amount to the other."

Yugi staggered upward, his head spinning.

"_What kind of insane, suicidal strategy is he running right now? This card is even more bizarre than Toon World. Is he pushing the duel for a tie? That might be the most sensible thing to achieve at this point, considering we're looking at total oblivion for thousands of people if there is any other result._"

He stared into the face of his eccentric opponent, and those same, dark haunted eyes stared back.

"_No… I know that look. That is the same look he had when he kidnapped my grandfather and hosted Duelist Kingdom. Crazed with power, and willing to stop at nothing to achieve what he desires. Besides, Belial would probably destroy both Domino and his island if we tied the duel_."

He shook his head, trying to stay free of whatever mind games were being played. This card truly changed the flow of the game for the worse, and every tactical decision would need to be analyzed, and those made my opponents effectively predicted if either duelist was to come out on top by even the barest of margins. To do so, he needed to remain focused on the tactical aspect of the duel rather than the psychological subplot.

"I then play a continuous magic card I'm sure you will have no trouble in identifying from a certain duel during Battle City: Card of Safe Return."

Yugi said nothing but merely tightened his lips. It was a very coveted and highly powerful card which allowed its owner to draw one card every time a monster was special summoned from his or her graveyard. Strings, the mind slave of Marik in Battle City, had used the combination of Card of Safe Return with Revival Jam to great effect to fuel the attack points of Slifer the Sky Dragon. Pegasus, obviously, had purposes just as devious as that…

"Now I enter my end phase," finished Pegasus coolly.

As he spoke, emerging from the strange looking skies was the crimson robed female monarch once again (1600/800).

Yugi started, fumbling for an explanation.

"It's rather simple, Yugi-boy. If Mirror of Underland is in play, I can special summon the Red Queen to my field during the end phase of the turn during which she was destroyed in battle. Her attack points now become equal to that of the monster who's hands she met her end at. To top if off, since a monster was special summoned from my graveyard, Card of Safe Return allows me to draw a card."

Yugi took a breath and drew.

"I normal summon Twilight Shadow – Avenger (1900/1200) in attack mode!"

Joining the simple armored warrior was a man dressed in a black bodysuit. He had a flowing cape as well, with a color that matched his attire. In one hand he held a long, dangerous looking dagger. He looked up, to reveal a terrible scar which had blinded him in one eye. His face was marred by a snarl of hatred.

"Avenger, as I'm sure you know, boosts the attack points of all Twilight Shadows in play by five hundred."

The two monsters on his field began to glow with black energy, all the while glaring at the prissy looking queen on Pegasus' field (2400/1200) (2100/2100).

Yugi ran a few quick calculations as he considered his options. If he attacked the Red Queen with Avenger, it would come back strong enough to take out his Soldier. He could however, follow it up with a direct attack by Soldier, leaving Pegasus with a bare minimum of one hundred life-points remaining. Even though Yugi himself would then take fourteen hundred fifty damage, Pegasus would have no way of harming Yugi's life-points without reducing his own to zero. It seemed almost too easy: Pegasus would be done in by his own bizarre field spell.

But surely, surely, the man had something planned. Would he leave himself _that_ open?

Yugi figured he didn't have a choice. Not now, not with the fate of his home, family and possibly his own life hanging in the balance.

"Twilight Shadow – Avenger! Attack his Red Queen now!"

The disfigured man nodded and stole across the field, teeth bared with feral tenacity. His knife rose, and Yugi barely winced as the corpse of the Red Queen faded away, falling dead to the ground with a fountain of blood in its wake.

Both duelists grunted as their life-points began to fall.

(Yugi: 2300, Pegasus: 2200)

"Now, Pegasus, prepare to have the duel effectively ended! Your own schemes have backfired on you, just like our previous duel when your precious Toon monsters were unable to survive when I destroyed Toon World. Twilight Shadow – Soldier, attack his life-points directly!"

The white armored warrior drew his blade and charged across the field, staring at the complacent, long-haired man with utter hatred. Just as he was about to bring his weapon down on Pegasus, a small purple form exploded out of nowhere, throwing him back across the field and onto one knee.

Yugi looked on in amazement. A new monster had appeared on Pegasus' field. It's body was basically a golden pole with two purple wings extending out on either side. It had no face; it had no features. It was one of the most bizarre monsters Yugi had ever seen: then again, when it came to Pegasus bizarre monsters had become quite the norm.

"I activated the effect of Battle Fader (0/0) from my hand," crooned Pegasus. "When you declare a direct attack against my life-points, I can special summon it to the field and automatically end my battle phase."

Yugi frowned, but said nothing. He hadn't heard of Battle Fader up until now, but then, when it came to Maximillion Pegasus, he was bound to have access to all kinds of cards which others did not.

"All right Pegasus. I set one card facedown and end my turn."

As he spoke, the Red Queen (2400/800) appeared once again next to the Battle Fader. However, she looked a little…. _wilder_. Her eyes were starting to get colored a deep red themselves, and there was a look of animalistic rage within them. She let out a piercing, banshee-like screech. Pegasus smiled thinly and drew two cards: one due to Card of Safe Return, and the other as a part of his next draw phase.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rikuo had seen some magnificent structures in his time. The phrase 'his time' meant before he was reincarnated in the twenty-first century, meaning the structures he deemed magnificent were all ancient Japanese temples and palaces built over five thousand years ago, and had probably been demolished by now. Modern buildings were like matchboxes: nothing in it for him to appreciate.

He had to admit though, the home of Patrick Avalon was rather incredible.

Rikuo really had no idea how a man who formerly worked for a non-government affiliated intelligence organization could afford a seventy thousand square foot mansion on the outskirts of Moscow: easily the world's most expensive city in terms of real estate prices. He didn't really care to ask, neither did the others.

It was almost a palace, towering two hundred feet into the sky with turrets on either side. The body of the structure seemed to be made of pure rock, painstakingly fitted and cemented together. A magnificent, four foot thick steel door was the main entrance. It seemed to be a mere showpiece, however, as Patrick gestured for them to follow him as they disembarked the vehicle.

Despite his lack of eyesight, the man seemed to know exactly where he was going.

"To answer your unsaid question, no, I haven't made a load of money on the side selling secrets or anything like that. This palace formerly belonged to the last Soviet czar, and he stayed here whenever he came to Moscow, with his primary place of residence being St. Petersburg, Leningrad, Stalingrad, whatever it was called at the time."

He made a face.

"Awfully full of themselves, those communists…. Anyway, the Bolsheviks took over most of the monarchy's property after murdering Nicholas in 1918. This particular palace was always a bit under the radar, if I can say that with a straight face. One of the previous czars had it built off the books, a kind of secret hideout if you will. It's quite in the middle of nowhere, and the newly installed Soviet government was too concerned with the aftermath of the Great War and later, the events leading up to the Second World War to explore their own country. Russia, is, after all, the world's largest country. It was only revealed to the public after Gorbachev took power, and since Russia had shifted to a democracy, the government couldn't simply nationalize it, of course. Let's just say I was in the right place, at the right time, with the right amount of money."

He let out a dark chuckle and stopped short at another steel door, this one much smaller and in the corner of another wall of the massive structure. He placed his hand against a flat scanner, which seemed to read the print.

He then spoke in a clear, flat voice. "Patrick Avalon."

The steel door responded with a whir and opened itself up. He took a step back and allowed his guests to pass through, before then following them. His driver came last, maintaining a surly and irritable look on his features.

The inside of the palace was nothing short of cavernous. Ceilings which seemed to stretch into infinity, winding staircases which were lined up against the wall, and exquisite carvings across the stone wall. Rikuo had to say, nothing he had seen even back in the day quite matched up to this…. And he was no architecture fetishist.

It was awfully dark, however, but that only seemed to even the playing field for Patrick and the rest of them. He bounded along almost jovially in the dark, in the direction of a winding staircase on the far wall. It was evident that despite his visual impairment he had probably grown well accustomed to the layout of the building in the last – when did Gorbachev come to power – yes, twenty some years that he had owned the palace, conjectured the Wolf Demon General. His own demonic enhanced vision gave him no problem as they trooped up floor after floor through the towering structure, in which every syllable uttered was magnified in volume by echoes.

They finally came to a stop on probably the eleventh turn of the circuitous vestibule. Patrick led them into another high-ceilinged room. This one, however, was lit up with modern lamps in all four corners. It had a pair of red couches, along with a chair and desk covered with computer equipment and telephones. On one side was a coffee machine.

"It's not much," sighed Patrick dryly. "Not many people wanted this place, considering it's been stained by the blood of the czars, and it took a great deal of pluck, know-how and most of all fortune to help me land it. I chose it merely for the isolation and the security it offers me in multiple ways, doing up the entire place would've cost more than I'd have made in my entire life. The living area is restricted to this wing which consists of the room we're in right now and a few others you lot can check out if you want through the corridor over there."

He gestured to said passageway on the right. "There's also a kitchen if any of you are hungry…."

With that, he collapsed onto a couch, and turned towards Eizan. It was uncanny: he knew exactly where his old friend had been standing even though he couldn't see him.

Nobody took him up on his offer. Sarah timidly perched on the coach opposite Patrick, along with Eizan. Rikuo, Deondre and Bakura decided to remain standing. The driver – who seemed to double up as a sort of assistant to Avalon – cracked his knuckles and got to work on something on one of the systems on the desk.

No sound could be heard except for the whirring of the processor in the CPU, for a few minutes.

Patrick decided to break it.

"I know the situation, in broad strokes. You have a missing agent, the details of which you'd rather not reveal. He was taken in China about five hours ago. You've been able to track him to roughly this area by means of a transponder in his body which was possibly damaged. Therefore you're looking for one man, three by extension, if you count those who took him, in a city of over eleven million, not counting the outskirts?"

He had a bit of a bemused smile on his face.

Rikuo snarled in frustration. "Listen up, old man, if you only wish to mock us and practice your sarcasm skills, we have no reservations whatsoever about-…"

"About what?" responded Patrick coolly.

His next words were directed towards Eizan.

"The instant you contacted me and informed me you'd be coming here with some, ahem, unusual allies, I had Chenko here fire up the recently updated Eagle database I retain access to. Two demons, one of incredible power, an Egyptian spirit, and one of the top analysts within Eagle as a whole. An impressive group, I must say. The thing is…."

He leaned forward. It almost seemed as if he _was_ able to look at them, even though he was blind. Everyone's attention was drawn toward him.

"The operatives you have assembled here, they can start a war against whoever has your friend currently. But to start a war against the perpetrators, you need to _find _them first. From the knowledge I gathered, all of you have experienced and _survived_ some very unusual situations. However commendable that may be, it is not going to help you in the fundamental process of what is going to be undertaken: working the clues, setting on a trail, getting to a destination the hard way."

He smiled thinly, and turned, before nodding to his assistant, whom they now knew as Chenko.

"I took the liberty of hiring a few individuals to help with that process."

Chenko stepped into one of the corridors and let out a harsh sound. "_Da_." Russian for 'yes'.

Rikuo, Sarah, Deondre and Bakura watched in amazement as three young men stepped into the room.

The first was probably the most enthusiastic of the lot. He was shorter then both, with spiked brown hair. He wore a brown trench coat over a dark suit, with a pair of eyeglasses nestled comfortably over his nose, falling lower and lower as he continued to peer more intensely at the selection of people in the room with a strange grin.

His first accomplice was a bit shorter, with dark brown hair and piercing green eyes. He wore a teal shirt and dark pants, and was busy on a phone.

The final one was about six foot and awfully lean, with a good tan. His hair was black and floppy, coming down almost to his shoulders. He was dressed in a Real Madrid T-shirt and blue jeans, with a bit of a goofy smile on his face.

Chenko spoke, for the first time, in a very thick Russian accent.

"Da… These are David, Aaron and Max. They like to call themselves MADness."

Two demons, the spirit of an ancient Egyptian thief, and a prominent member of an international intelligence agency all made one sound simultaneously.

"Huh?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The Bouncer squirmed and shrieked under Zeruge's iron grip, raining down painful blows all over his body. However, he did not submit, merely tightening his lips and holding on to the creature's neck, squeezing with all his might.

He had gotten lucky. _Real _lucky.

As fast and powerful as the Bouncers were, they were not very intelligent, for one. Two, the faster they got, the more difficult it was for them to control their movement. When there was just one of them, it ended up ricocheting off multiple walls and hitting him by the law of averages, at some point. Now, that same law had proved to be their undoing.

The two Bouncers had slammed into each other in mid-air, with simultaneous impacts the magnitude of which Zeruge was not even capable of producing at this point, in his weakened state. One of them had been thrown into a wall, while the other had fallen just three feet from where Zeruge had been kneeling.

The demon had learned one thing through his years of battle.

_The gentlemen get slaughtered. When your opponent is down, you _finish _him_.

Therefore, he had seized the opportunity be its neck, quite literally, and was strangling the life out of his opponent with gusto.

As the Bouncer weakened, due to its lack of movement barring its wild writhing, it continued to wail and screech in despair.

Zeruge was too busy keeping an eye on the wall where the other Bouncer had crashed to really care much about his current victim's whining. He could hear the faint sound of rubble shifting, and sparks of green light began to materialize in the darkness.

The demon frowned and doubled the pressure he was applying on the current Bouncer. The maniacal creature's head began to swell, and its screeches were reduced to pathetic little whimpers. After thirty more seconds of concerted pressure, to Zeruge's surprise, the Bouncer's head exploded.

He immediately took a step back from the now headless corpse, looking in disgust at the various bodily fluids that were spreading over the floor. Surprisingly, however, there was a small green stone that had slipped out of its armor, and lay glowing on the floor.

Zeruge bent down, all the while still keeping an eye on the growing sounds of growls and shifting of rubble from the wall, and curiously picked up the stone.

It was green, and seemed to be a living, breathing thing. The pulses of power that issued from within it felt like a heartbeat.

As Zeruge stared into the stone, he became less aware of the fact that he still had an adversary lurking in the vicinity.

A soft, yet deep voice echoed through his ears.

"_Zeruge Mitsunashi_…."

He blinked. The Bouncer certainly didn't speak. Who here knew his name?

The stone continued to pulse, and slivers of green energy began to escape from it. They melded together and began to take a sort of corporeal form. He stared up in shock as the green vapor morphed into a towering being. It had green, translucent wings which spread out in either direction, and a white robe which covered a skeletal looking body. Its skin was also a pale green, but the sheer majesty of the creature seemed to divert Zeruge's attention from its face. Its face was a grotesque mix of features that he didn't even want to look at.

"_What do you want_?"

"Who are you?" he replied in a voice not nearly as hard as he would've preferred.

"_I…_" the spiritual being began, and broke into a smile. Somehow, as it did, its horrifying face took on a more human nature.

"_I am God_."

Zeruge did not speak. He was almost transfixed, rooted to the spot.

"_What is it you want_?"

"I want-…" Zeruge couldn't bring himself to complete the sentence. The hand holding the stone began to shake.

The spirit then began to morph before his eyes once again. Everything about it changed. The wings disappeared, the skin changed color, the robe as well. Zeruge knew this face all too well. The piercing, sparkling blue eyes, the long curls of blonde hair, the smile that seemed to light up the whole world. Lady Life. Lila.

"_What do you _really _want_?"

Zeruge cocked his head upward, and noticed a symbol on his former lover's head. It was unmistakable. From his time as a servant of the Council, Zeruge knew that anyone who carried that symbol was evil, to be killed on sight. Which meant this – this whole charade – was a trick, an illusion.

He snarled in fury and raised a hand. A dark look crossed the spirit's face, but he didn't stop before unleashing a wave of fire in its direction. It took every ounce of energy he had left in his body, completely consuming the aberration and continuing on into the wall. There was a thump and a long, drawn out shriek of pain, yet Zeruge continued until he was spent.

The flames faded; the spirit was gone: the Bouncer probably charred to a crisp. He looked at the stone in his hand, and his face began to grow disfigured with fury. He began to channel what energy remained in his hand into more flames – he didn't know how he was doing it, he was running on fumes – until it began to crumble within the heat.

He waited, continued on until the final green particle had vanished.

Then he followed the route that Ishizu, Marik and Odion had taken, praying to all manner of Gods that they were okay.

Still, the thought that dominated his mind was that symbol on the spirit's head.

It was the symbol of the Seal of Orichalcos.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"So, Mr. Wheeler…." mused Roland. "I will begin this little duel."

Joey narrowed his eyes and said nothing, merely keeping an eye on his opponent's hand and Chaos Duel Disk.

"I set two cards facedown, and add one monster in defense mode. That will end my turn."

The former tournament official smiled thinly as two vertical and one horizontal card materialized in front of him.

"All right, you clown…" growled the Duelist Kingdom runner-up, drawing his sixth card. "Time for me to show you what Joey Wheeler dueling is all about. I activate Reinforcement of the Army, which allows me to add one level four or lower warrior-type monster from my deck to my hand."

He looked through his deck and quickly found what he was looking for.

"That's perfect: I chose Gilford the Swift (1400/1500), who, when he is added to my hand outside of my draw phase, can be special summoned to the field in defense mode immediately."

Appearing facing the trio of brown-backed cards was a man dressed in gray armor with long blonde hair. His skin was cragged and scarred, and half his face was covered by a black, cloth mask. In one hand he held a short, stubby-looking sword, and had a triangular shield fixed to the other. He looked up at Roland and bared his teeth.

"I ain't done: then comes Gift of Lightning! If I have a Gilford monster face up with no other cards in play, I can draw two cards."

Joey's smile widened as he drew two more cards. Just what he needed.

"Then, for my normal summon, I summon a guy you're pretty familiar with: considering it's one of your former boss' favorite cards: Kaiser Seahorse (1700/1650)!"

A humanoid monster appeared on the field, but it looked more amphibious. Its body was covered with blue and purple scales, which were especially heavy around its torso and shoulders. In one hand, it gripped a yellow staff.

Roland didn't say anything, but merely tightened his lips.

"To complete the combo, I play Quick Summon, granting me an extra normal summon for the turn. Therefore I sacrifice Gilford the Swift, and Kaiser Seahorse, who serves as a double tribute for a light attribute monster, for the man himself! Come on out, Gilford the Lightning (2800/1400)!"

As Joey gently placed the card on the Monster Zone, raging lightning blasts started flowing from the ground below, circling into the air and crashing down in front of him, shooting out a blinding ray in all directions. As the light died down, a tattered and red cape was whipped to the behind of a tall, tan, muscular warrior whose brown eyes were surrounded by a light-teal mask. He had heavy-metal shoulder pads, and wrist bands, and wore waving red cloth-like pants. He had a metallic vest covering all but his 'six-pack' abs. From a black sheath behind him, he pulled out a long, white sword that shrunk near the handle, then expanded near the top.

"Since I effectively sacrificed three monsters to summon this bad boy, your facedown guy is fried to a crisp! Raigeki Blade!"

The muscular warrior nodded and raised his blade triumphantly. A bolt of lightning struck it from the sky, before he then dropped his arm, resulting in the wave being channeled forward in the direction of Roland's facedown. It flipped up to reveal a giant black blob, covered in purple stains. Joey barely recognized it as a Giant Germ (1000/100) before it was vaporized almost instantly.

"Impressive opening move, Mr. Wheeler," mused Roland. "However, I have the appropriate counter: my first trap card, Soul Rope. When a monster on my field is destroyed, I can now special summon a level four or lower monster from my deck by paying one thousand life-points. I choose Obsidian Dragon (800/2100) in defense mode."

A small, reptilian, wingless dragon appeared facing the towering warrior. It looked like a Velociraptor: only it seemed to be made completely of the black volcanic glass that was a part of its namesake. Cruel crimson eyes stared out at Gilford and Joey.

"So you're going to hide behind another defense monster?" grunted Joey. "It don't matter, I-…"

He was cut off by Roland pressing another button on his Duel Disk, revealing his second trap.

Joey stopped short. It couldn't be, not _that_.

"I sacrifice Obsidian Dragon to activate my Crush Card Virus," intoned Roland.

The dragon dematerialized into nothingness, and an array of dull green spores appeared on his field. Each one had a Japanese symbol, or _kanji_, inscribed on them. All of them read 'shi', meaning 'death'. Joey watched on helplessly as the spheres raced forward, one of them plunging into Gilford and the others melting into the cards on his hand.

Joey had seen Kaiba use the card enough times to know its effect, but Roland decided to enlighten him nonetheless with a smug smile.

"By sacrificing a dark attribute monster with one thousand or less attack points, I can destroy all monsters with fifteen hundred or more attack points one your field and in your hand, as well as any that you draw for the next three turns. That also means you have to show me your hand and your draws."

Joey bit his lip and watched on in despair as Gilford fell to the ground, heaving and coughing blood. Within minutes, he was nothing but a living corpse, before he then vanished.

"I'm waiting, Mr. Wheeler."

Joey sighed and flipped his three card hand around. He held Gearfried the Iron Knight, Repayment of Losses, and Marauding Captain.

Without being needed to be told, Joey silently discarded Gearfried to the graveyard.

He considered. Would it be worth it to set Call of the Haunted when Roland _knew_ it would probably be a part of his plan?

No, he decided. He would deal with the consequences later.

"I end my turn," he said through gritted teeth.

Roland smiled his thin smile, and drew.

"Come, Hitotsu Me Legion Giant (1600/1600)."

Joey continued to watch on with incredulity as a towering Cyclops appeared on Roland's field. This was the very first monster he, or anyone for that matter, had seen in hologram form. Roland's version was a lot more bulky, with its skin color now a shade of pale lime instead of aqua blue. It wore a set of heavy metallic armor, and had a giant green stone embedded in its chest. The beast let out a crude roar in Joey's direction.

"Now, I activate its effect: by discarding one monster from my hand, I can choose one of two options. I pick the first: which allows me to increase my Hitotsu Me Legion Giant's attack points by half the attack points of the discarded monster, and give it the ability to deal trample damage, until the end phase. Now, you don't seem to have monsters available, so I don't care about the trample. I discard Diabolos, King of the Abyss (2800/1000), to grant my Giant an additional fourteen hundred attack points."

Joey grimaced as the Cyclops (3000/1600) screeched loudly. This was going to hurt….

"Attack."

The giant barreled forward, and lashed out with a foot which slammed into Joey's gut. He gasped and fell to one knee, as his life-points trickled away.

(Joey: 5000, Roland: 8000)

"My turn ends. Do you yet regret entering this duel, Mr. Wheeler?"

Joey drew through gritted teeth. "I've spent enough time around really old nutjobs to realize you _can_ get away with answering a question with a question. Have you yet regretted betraying your goddamn race?"

Roland sighed in reply. "I always took you for someone who was a bit slow on the uptake, Mr. Wheeler, but honestly, this is appalling. Haven't you yet grasped that I was _never_ human to begin with? This was not a question of betraying one race: more a question of empowering another."

Joey narrowed his eyes.

"What the hell are you talking about…."

Roland smiled thinly again. "Mr. Kaiba could provide a good explanation for that."

"Well rich-boy isn't here, so do enlighten me," spat the blonde duelist in reply.

"If you insist," chuckled Roland.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Flashback_

_Jaden Yuki, barely ten years old. He was ecstatic, and couldn't hide it at all as Seto Kaiba coldly shook hands with him for the crowd._

_Kaiba left immediately: he was not one for ceremonies and such. It was merely a means to an end: picking the creative minds of all fans of Duel Monsters across the world, and picking the best possible card designs. This child Yuki had won: his cards were an archetype called Neo-Spacians, and worked around a brand new game mechanic called Contact Fusion. If Kaiba had less of an ego he would've admitted the child had the makings of a genius when it came to Duel Monsters._

_The primary aim of this experiment, however, had not yet been achieved._

_He joined a group of technicians in a separate room, and looked ahead at the cards laid out in front of him._

_The Neo Spacians, of course, the designs of which had already been converted into one of a kind cards. Along with them were a variety of other cards which Kaiba himself had hand-picked for the upcoming experiment._

"_It's ready," he grunted to the lead technician, who nodded politely. The cards were already fitted into small, custom-made plastic sleeves, and were now being carefully loaded into a miniature space pod._

"_Sir? The other card?"_

_Kaiba grimaced. He supposed he didn't have much of a choice. It was a public request made by Yuki after winning the card designing competition, and refusing would be bad PR which he frankly did not need right now._

"_You do have a spare pod, don't you?" replied the CEO._

"_Yes, sir. It's the prototype of the original. We decided to keep it around for posterity's sake, never really thought we'd have a use for it."_

_Kaiba glanced at the single card lying in front of him, separate from all the others._

Yubel.

"_All right, throw it in the old pod and launch the two together."_

"_Yessir," replied the techie, gently picking up the card in front of Kaiba and carrying it away with him._

_Kaiba didn't give it another thought._

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

_The stealth craft was possibly one of the best designed ones in the Universe, ever. No radar could pick it up. It was all but invisible to the naked eye. Unless someone ended up bumping into it somehow, it was more or less undetectable._

_The Legion Warrior clicked on a breathing apparatus, and silently opened the airlock. His fellow crewmembers watched blankly from the other side as he clambered out onto the wall of the craft, his web-like hands and feet clinging to the side like suction cups. _

_Two pods floated in the dark reaches of space ahead of him._

_The Warrior reached out and clasped one with his left palm, slowly dragging it toward him. He then clambered back into the airlock, and sealed it again, before affixing the small pod to one of the brackets on the walls._

_He then opened the airlock again, but it seemed the other pod was floating beyond his reach._

Into an expanding spot of white light.

_The Warrior growled and crawled back in, immediately sealing the airlock._

"_Possible flight risk ahead," he growled into the comm..-link. "Activate main thrusters_."

_Things didn't go as planned. Had it been a mother ship, things might've been different. But a measly Legion stealth craft, was, unfortunately, no match for the full expanding force of the Light of Destruction. The same Lioght of Destruction which had caused countless wars and calamities on planet Earth._

_After thirty-six hours of one-sided communication from the Legion mother ship, it had been concluded that the flight crew of Stealth Unit-317 had been terminated. Another unit had been sent out for recon purposes. Their report had been confounding, to say the least._

_There was no trace of life on Stealth Unit-317. The ship itself was undamaged, but _somehow_, every crew-member had been atomized. All that was left was a small pod, which none of the members on the mother ship had received any intelligence about from the crew of Unit-317. _

_When it had been opened in safe conditions, pieces of hardened cellulose were found, inscribed with images and text._

_In other words, cards._

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

_Belial sat comfortably on his throne, looking over at the bowing Legion Psychic with a blank face._

"_Your orders are clear. Upon reaching planet Earth, locate the individual ejected these objects from the planet's atmosphere. Using an appropriate disguise, assist him in every way possible, maintaining a false semblance of absolute loyalty. Transmit every bit of useful intelligence that you gather, _especially _about this game which humans use as a means of combat: Duel Monsters_._"_

_The Psychic had already undergone the extensive procedures necessary to fit in. It looked up, brushing its black hair to the side. No one would ever guess it was not a human._

"_Instructions received and acknowledged," it droned._

"_That will be all."_

"_Roland" bowed once again and left the room._

_Belial looked at the card he had been holding in his hand all this time._

_Duel Monsters was such an intriguing game. It was an efficient way to end conflicts, and from the intelligence he had already gathered, it was also a means of channeling possibly the most powerful form of magic that was native to planet Earth._

A card, a card, my kingdom for a card.

_He looked at the card he was holding again, and smirked._

_It was Legion God – Behemoth._

_End Flashback_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Joey stood there, momentarily transfixed. Finally, he was able to choke out a few words.

"So, it was-…"

He left the sentence hanging, and got but an easy smile in return.

"Yes. Seto Kaiba tempted fate. The Light of Destruction is a supernatural phenomenon that he, as a foolish, ordinary human, should have not meddled with. While he perhaps did not cause the incident with the Light of Destruction a few years ago, he was directly responsible for the Legion learning about Duel Monsters. We understand the nuances of it; that it is not just a game, but rather a measuring stick for one's prowess. It is one of our most powerful weapons, and enabled us to learn more about your society then we would ever have managed to otherwise."

Joey clenched a fist. "So you were sent here… So many years ago, to prep this planet for an _invasion_?"

Roland nodded, starting to look disinterested.

Joey spat his contempt.

"You're dead freaking meat, you son of a bitch. _Dead_, you hear me?"

"I do wish you did not persist with empty threats, Mr. Wheeler, and finished your move so that I may crush you."

Joey growled and slid a card into his magic and trap card zone.

"I play Pot of Greed, which allows me two further draws."

He snapped the top two cards off his deck.

"You are required to show them to me, Mr. Wheeler," droned Roland.

The blonde duelist smiled slightly. "I don't need to: not since I'm using them both right away. First, I summon Marauding Captain (1200/1400) in attack mode!"

A blonde swordsman in green and teal armor appeared on the field, holding out a rather sharp sword.

"In case you didn't know, this bad boy has a nice effect to make up for his sub-par attack and defense points. When he's normal summoned or special summoned, I can special summon a level four or lower monster from my hand. I choose my Command Knight (1200/1900) in attack mode!"

A commander in red armor with some other orange patterns on it showed up on the field, tipping its red hat and drawing a sword while its blonde, long hair waved behind it. The commander prepared itself for battle, looking out at the Hitotsu Me Legion Giant with a face of disgust.

"Now, watch and learn what real strategy is all about! I chain Inferno Reckless Summon to Marauding Captain's effect. Whenever I've special summoned a monster with fifteen hundred or less attack points, I can automatically summon all other copies of that monster from my hand, deck or graveyard, to the field. The downside is you get to pick a monster you control and fill your field with other copies of him, but your ripoff of Hitotsu Me Giant isn't going to be much help against my army of warriors!"

Appearing next to the teal and red armored swordsmen were another pair of warriors, both identical to the second one.

Joey began to speak, but Roland cut him off.

"Yes, Mr. Wheeler. I know. Command Knight boosts the attack points of each warrior on your field by four hundred. Since you have three, each monster gains twelve hundred attack points."

He was correct. The four warriors on Joey's field began to glow with golden energy (2400/1400) (2400/1900) (x3).

Even by Seto Kaiba's standards, this was some power move.

"I'm guessing you don't run any more copies of Hitotsu Me Legion Giant, and that's just as well," snapped Joey. "I can end the duel right now!"

Roland looked from Joey's field to his. The elite duelist was correct: when sixteen hundred attack points was subtracted from a total of ninety-six hundred, it led to exactly eight thousand damage. One turn kill. Quite a comeback from taking three thousand damage and having his entire strategy exposed just one turn ago.

"Now, Marauding Captain, attack his Hitotsu Me Giant!" commanded Joey triumphantly.

The soldier charged forward, and leapt high into the air. With a cry, it brought its blade down on the armored Cyclops, which let out a roar of pain that was cut short by its head being sliced clean off its shoulders. The Marauding Captain landed cleanly behind it in a crouch, before standing up and glaring at Roland as the Hitotsu Me Legion Giant vanished.

(Joey: 5000, Roland: 7200)

"Now, the game ends here!" cried out Joey. "Command Knights, attack him directly!"

"You are extremely predictable," stated Roland smoothly. "Activate, quick-play spell: Mask of Impregnability. All battle damage from direct attacks during this turn is reduced to zero."

A metal mask appeared in front of him. The face of it was covered by two hands, with extremely long fingers. The charging Command Knight's sword slammed into the metal of the mask, letting out a long resounding screech.

Joey frowned. "Ok, that'll do it for the turn."

Roland snapped the top card off his deck.

"I set one monster in defense mode, and add one card facedown. I turn the board over to your, Mr. Wheeler."

Joey drew, and grudgingly revealed the card to Roland. The Warrior Returning Alive.

"All right, I'll move straight to my battle phase," he continued calmly. "Command Knight, attack his facedown monster."

The commander slammed his blade onto the back of the brown card, forcibly flipping it up to reveal a freakish mutation that made even Joey gulp.

It was a clown, of sorts. It was dressed in purple rags, with metallic armor looped around its body at odd intervals. Its skin was paler then the snow from the peak of the highest mountains in the world, but in a very unhealthy way. The creature had dark circles under its eyes, and its hands were hovering around a giant green stone embedded in its chest. With a shriek, the green stone flared and forced the Command Knight back.

"This is Saggi the Legion's Jester (900/1800)," said Roland wryly. "It cannot be destroyed in battle."

Joey gritted his teeth in frustration. "Main Phase 2: I'll play The Warrior Returning Alive to add Gilford the Lightning back to my hand. That'll do it."

Roland drew, and then tapped a button on his Duel Disk.

"I activate Magical Trick Mirror, which lets me copy one spell card in your graveyard. I choose Pot of Greed."

Joey said nothing as his opponent drew twice, increasing his total hand size to four.

"I switch Saggi to attack mode."

The mutated clown let out a chilling laugh and stood up, the green stone in its chest glowing more intensely.

"_What's he playing at…_" thought Joey. "_If he wanted to use his Crush Card again somehow, he'd leave Saggi in defense mode. Unless he has some way of freakishly increasing his monster's attack points, something doesn't add up_."

"Next comes another classic Seto Kaiba card: the very rare but very powerful Negative Energy Generator!"

"_Uh-oh_."

Joey gulped. His mind flashed back to the combination of Saggi and this particular magic card in Kaiba's very first duel with Yugi.

"This will triple the attack points of one dark attribute monster on my field which has one thousand or less original attack points until the end of the turn."

Saggi shrieked out again, and the stone in its chest began to grow (2700/1800).

"Battle Phase: Saggi, target Marauding Captain. Dark Light Attack."

The extraterrestrial comedian cupped its hands around the stone, and began to spread them. A hovering sphere of green and black energy appeared, flaring outward, before its controller hurled it outward with a screech. The blonde, teal armored warrior grimaced, giving his horrified comrades one last glance before he was struck by the attack, which incinerated him within seconds.

(Joey: 4700, Roland: 7200)

Joey attempted to act unphased.

"That's not gonna do you much good. None of my Command Knights can be attacked as long as there is another monster in play, and come my next turn your Negative Energy Generator will wear off, meaning I'll be able to wipe out most of your life-points anyway, and that's _assuming_ I don't draw a monster capable of finishing the job."

"All in good time, all in good time, Mr. Wheeler," replied Roland calmly. "I set two cards facedown and end my turn."

The two vertical brown-backed cards appeared just as Saggi's attack points (900/1800) returned to normal.

Joey drew tentatively, and before he even had the opportunity to show his card to Roland, the latter acted.

"I activate my two facedown cards: the first is Power Trip. Until the end of the turn, all attack point boosts that your monsters possess are reduced to zero. Then, one monster on my field has _its_ attack points increased by that combined amount."

As Roland spoke, the trio of Command Knights (1200/1900) (x3) gasped in pain as their attack points took a sharp drop down, while Saggi (4500/1800) let out a triumphant screech and glowed with green energy.

"Ok, fine, but wha-…"

Joey was cut off again as Roland activated his second card. Saggi's body began to warp and more green spores appeared on the field, these with the Japanese _kanji_ for 'demon'.

"By sacrificing a dark attribute monster with two thousand or more attack points, Deck Devastation Virus will destroy all monsters on your field and in your hand for three more turns with fifteen hundred attack points or less!" cried out Roland triumphantly.

"That's not happening!" snapped Joey, even as bits of Saggi began to disappear. "I chain another Quick Summon! By sacrificing my three Command Knights I can tribute summon Gilford the Lightning (2800/1400), destroying your alien circus freak so that you don't _have_ a monster to sacrifice to Deck Devastation Virus!"

The trio of red armored soldiers vanished, and once again a massive bolt of lightning descended from the sky, striking the ground with a flash that left the towering, muscular warrior in its wake. Gilford raised his sword, and again directed a bolt of lightning towards Roland's field, vaporizing Saggi as well as the multiple viral spores.

Roland seemed shocked, for the first time.

"You weren't expecting that, were you?" chuckled Joey. "You could have easily waited for me to reveal my card to you before activating that combo. Instead, you went ahead during my draw phase itself. Since I just drew a quick-play spell, I was able to activate it instantly as a part of a chain with Deck Devastation Virus as the first Link. Since the Chain resolves in reverse order, Gilford's effect went off first, meaning your Virus card was sent to the graveyard without generating any advantage!"

The former tournament official's look hardened as Joey went on.

"Now, time for you to get a taste of your own medicine! Gilford, attack directly! Thunderbolt Cut!"

The legendary warrior dematerialized so fast that Roland could barely see him. With a roar he slammed his crackling blade into the alien, bringing him down to one knee, gasping in pain.

(Joey: 4700, Roland: 4400)

"Your move," he grunted.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was Pegasus' move. He had his Red Queen (2400/800), Battle Fader (0/0) and the field spell Mirror of Underland in play, along with two cards in hand. Meanwhile, Yugi held the same number of cards in his hand, with Twilight Shadows Avenger (2400/1200) and Soldier (2100/1200) represented him on the field, along with one facedown card.

The President of Industrial Illusions fiddled a little with the two cards he held.

"All right, Yugi-boy. I set one facedown card. Now, my Red Queen will attack your Twilight Shadow – Avenger!"

Yugi grimaced as the witch-like monarch screeched out again, "_Off with his head_!"

With that, she charged across the field, brandishing her scepter again. The Avenger's face hardened, and just as she reached him he caught her by the shoulder and smoothly slid his knife between her ribs. She gasped and coughed up blood, but just before she disintegrated into pixels she slammed her scepter against his head, taking it off as well.

The Twilight Shadow Soldier (1600/1200) let out a growl of frustration as his attack points dropped.

"That will do it, Yugi-boy," Pegasus finished contentedly. As he spoke, the Red Queen (2400/800) reappeared, looking even more insane and frantic then before. Her dress was frayed, her hair was wilder, and her irises were now crimson.

Meanwhile, Pegasus drew a card due to the effect of Card of Safe Return.

Yugi silently began his turn, increasing his hand size to three and then surveying the field. There wasn't much he could do about the Red Queen right now, unfortunately. Still, he had the makings of a plan building up: the best he could do was build up defenses and hope he would be in a position to follow it when the time was right.

"I switch Twilight Shadow Soldier to defense mode, and add another monster facedown."

The white armored man dropped to one knee, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Your move."

Pegasus snapped the top card off his deck.

"This is when true power is achieved, Yugi-boy! I equip the Red Queen with Jabberwocky's Blessings. This can _only_ be equipped to the Red Queen. Its first effect is rather potent in and of itself: whenever the Red Queen destroys a monster in battle, its attack points are increased by the level of the monster multiplied by two hundred. Its _second_ effect is what makes it truly powerful: whenever the monster equipped to it is sent to the graveyard, it remains active on my field. The best part, though, is that every time the Red Queen destroys a monster in battle, you lose four hundred life-points!"

Yugi said nothing, but simply watched as the Red Queen began to glow with black energy.

"My next card is one I'm _sure_ you are quite familiar with: Diffusion Wave Motion. Since the Red Queen is a level eight spellcaster, she fits the bill rather well. At a cost of one thousand of my life-points, she can attack both your monsters."

(Yugi: 2300, Pegasus: 1200)

"Now, my Red Queen, show him your power! Attack both his monsters!"

Yugi closed his eyes, tiring off the increasingly louder catchphrase of the Red Queen, "_Off with their heads!_"

He didn't open his eyes until the massacre was finished, but needless to say, his field was empty, and the Red Queen (4000/800) was prancing up and down maniacally, considerably stronger already. Without warning, she slammed her scepter into the ground, and Yugi gasped in shock as skeletal hands reached out of the ground, scratching at his legs. He was able to avoid them, but not completely.

(Yugi: 1500, Pegasus: 1200)

"_So that's his plan… Mirror of Underland will not reflect _effect_ damage, so he'll continue to pound away at my monsters with his Red Queen, dealing me four hundred points every turn_."

"The facedown monster you destroyed was my Witch of Black Forest (1100/1200)," intoned Yugi. "When destroyed, I can add one monster with fifteen hundred or less attack points from my deck to my hand. I choose D.D. Crow (100/100)."

Pegasus quirked an eyebrow. "I see, Yugi-boy. You're hoping to somehow destroy my Red Queen and then remove it from play? I'm afraid that little stunt won't work."

Yugi said nothing, but continued to listen to the man as he went on.

"When my Red Queen has four thousand or more attack points, I can sacrifice five hundred of them to special summon one Red Knave Token (3000/0). Whenever these Tokens deal battle damage, that damage is reduced to five hundred. However, the important thing about them is that the Red Queen cannot be destroyed until all Red Knave Tokens are destroyed!"

He gave a grand flourish.

"Now, I will sacrifice one thousand of my Red Queen's attack points to special summon _two _Red Knave Tokens!"

The crimson clad woman's attack points dropped (3000/800), but materializing next to it were two men dressed in tight gray bodysuits. Their skin was bleached a pale white, and both had scraggly beards and cold, arrogant eyes. Long purple capes flowed out behind them, and each one clutched a long, thin sword in their right hand.

Yugi bit his lip. Three monsters with three thousand attack points each. And they would keep popping up while the source of the trouble, the Red Queen, remained… And _she_ would only be vulnerable to destruction when both Knave Tokens were gone. This complicated matters. A _lot_.

"I end my turn… That should be enough damage."

Pegasus gave a shady laugh as he spoke these words.

Yugi drew with a deep breath.

"_Please be a good card please be a good card please be a good card…._"

He snapped his eyes toward what he had just added to his hand, looked at the cards already there, and suddenly his face broke out into a broad grin.

"You want fun, Pegasus? Try and stop this. I activate my facedown Reinforcement of the Army, which allows me to add a level four or lower warrior-type monster from my deck to my hand. I choose Twilight Shadow – Assassin (1000/1200), whom I will summon immediately."

Appearing on Yugi's field, facing the trio of powerful monsters all alone was a man dressed in a black ninja outfit. His face was covered with a white mask that resembled a demon's face. The man hid his hands in the lose folds of his outfit, but ever so often he revealed them momentarily, allowing the stray beams of light to catch the throw-knives clutched between his fingers.

"Then I play Blaze of Glory! This will triple the attack points of one Twilight Shadow in play until the end of the turn. However, it cannot do battle damage."

As he spoke, the robed killer (3000/1200) began to glow. He flashed his knives again, which were shining even brighter.

"To complete my combo I activate Dusk Diamond Kingdom! You'd be familiar with this _type_ of effect: it's just like Diffusion Wave Motion, but instead of level seven spellcasters I need Twilight Shadows, and no cost need be paid," chuckled Yugi.

"It doesn't matter," panicked Pegasus. "You will still lose your Assassin when it attacks the first of my Tokens because their attack points are the same!"

It dawned on him, as he recalled a long gone detail from the extensive work he had put into designing the Twilight Shadows.

"Unless…"

Yugi nodded. "Note that all the parts of this combo are from other spell cards. No Twilight Shadow is a normal monster: therefore it would stand to reason that Assassin has an effect off his own. He cannot be destroyed in battle. That means my three thousand attack point Twilight Shadow Assassin can attack all three of your monsters and survive, while the others, which are more unfortunate, are consigned to the graveyard."

Yugi threw his hand out. "Twilight Shadow Assassin! Attack!"

Pegasus watched in shock as the robed man leapt out into the air, and unleashed his throw-knives all at once. The first pair slammed into one of the Knaves, coming out the other end and burying themselves in the ground. The warrior stood upright momentarily, before his pained expression gave way to his entire body crumbling into nothingness.

The same thing occurred with the second Knave. Meanwhile, the crimson queen had been deflecting the other throw-knives with her scepter all the while, snarling at the Assassin ferally. However, the death of her two most loyal servants proved to be the opportune distraction, as the final knife cut through her as she turned in shock to observe the vaporization of the second Knave's corpse.

She took a step back, glancing down at the growing red patch on her chest, before looking up at the Assassin and roaring with fury.

She was just about to scream, "Off with his head!" once again, before she vanished.

"Now, I discard D.D. Crow in order to remove your Red Queen from play," finished Yugi. "Good riddance."

Pegasus looked ahead stonily, unable to comment on the final destruction of his newest keynote monster.

The light reflected by the towering mirror over them shined extra brightly for a moment.

Belial watched the exchange with growing satisfaction.

"_This is perfect… The two humans will stop at nothing to finish each other off at this point. The old hatred has been recreated and cemented._"

He then diverted his attention from the duel momentarily, to another, pressing matter. He spoke into the communicating device.

"_It would seem we have guests_…"

The helicopter had nearly broken out of the cloud cover. It had not been challenged yet.

The Marquis gave a bare grin.

"_Make sure they are properly welcomed_."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Intense enough for ya'll? This is the 500,000 word celebration as I mentioned earlier! I wouldn't have reached this point unless it was for you guys, my reviewers. You mean the world to me, you guys are the best :D**

**Now I'm going to watch the lunar eclipse, hopefully I will update soon ^^**


	42. Shadow of Torment

CHAPTER FORTY: Shadow of Torment

**My dear readers. I don't know what to say.**

**There was a terrorist attack in my city some days ago. My best friend was in the vicinity. He got out, thank God, but I was a bit shaken up, and therefore unable to write. I apologize if this chapter is not up to the standard, I just really wanted to get it out.**

**Aelstha-Mental: Good to have you back :D Haha you'll have to wait to see about Roland's deck. Call of Soul was an on the spot card that I made up to fit Tweedledee and Tweedledum. **

**Btw just in case anyone else didn't get it: Pegasus' cards are based on creatures from the children's classic, Alice in Wonderland, and the Tim Burton adaptation from last year. If you haven't watched it I highly recommend you do.**

**Dinomus: Same here. GX was really pathetic, but 5D's was brilliant. Just never followed it too much, just stuck with the card game in that instance. Zexal is scaring me. Enjoy the chapter.**

**Rizengan 01 : What a nice review. If you're really kicked about the extraterrestrial aspect, thank Metal Overlord 2.0, not me. He's the one who created them ^^. Go for it in your fic if you want to tie aliens in, I'd be happy to help you with any sort of planning if you want. I lovee having high ATK monsters duking it out, but yeah, Yugi-Pegasus is more of an emotional battle, and you'll see that shown more later in this chapter. Thanks again.**

Seto Kaiba didn't say a word.

Truthfully, he could not be blamed.

What _could_ one say when one was basically on a suicide mission?

Nothing, _nothing_ compared to this. The Tournament of Shadows, though dangerous, had all manner of rules and loopholes which could be manipulated to work in the favor of all parties. _This_, however, was a vision from hell. The odds were stacked against those fighting for what was right like never before.

The quick journey up the cityscape had been enough time for Kaiba to digest properly what had happened.

_Aliens_.

This really couldn't be happening, could it?

He glanced over the rest of the helicopter.

Daniel Pilkington. Ryu Zaytel. Brian Palmer. Tea Gardner. CJ Andersen. The Archangel Zerato.

Hardened veterans in this war they fought, all of them. Still, Kaiba knew if things got really ugly, _who_ besides Zerato and Ryu would be able to keep up with the likes of the Legion, leave alone Apocalypse?

However, voicing misgivings such as these was hardly a wise move on the brink of a battle of such magnitude. Therefore the CEO opted to maintain his silence throughout the upward climb. Everyone did, besides Brian, who spoke an occasional word into the headphones he had donned since taking a position as the emergency pilot.

Twenty minutes in, the large man ripped his headphones off and pressed a few buttons to put the helicopter on temporary autopilot.

He turned around to face him with a grim expression.

"We've got company."

Just as he spoke these words, the chopper broke the cloud cover, emerging into the dark, chaotic night.

The duelists in the chopper stared at the scene around them in shock through the windows, unable to grasp that this was indeed what their home planet had been transformed into in but a few short hours.

It was like a scene right out of a video game. Towering up ahead was the massive Legion mother ship, its three sections each as big as a skyscraper. Buzzing around it like bees around a hive were innumerable smaller fighter jets, all designed with long hulls and large green stones set between their two shorter wings. Any hope that anyone on the helicopter had had of silently sneaking aboard the mother ship was instantly dissipated. Navigating this armada without _dying_ would be almost next to impossible, leave alone without being noticed.

Daniel spoke quietly.

"Gentlemen: whatever happens in the next few hours, it's been an honor."

CJ clapped a hand on his oldest friend's shoulder, and the two shared a very faint smile. The tension was impalpable.

It was only a matter of time. Even if the Legion pilots did not visually notice them, their chopper would show up on their radars with a different call sign, without a doubt.

It took all of five minutes. Part of the stream of jets that had been flying in a steady straight line towards the giant mother ship suddenly changed direction, like flies that had been feasting on a scrap of food which had suddenly noticed a bigger scrap lying nearby.

Kaiba exhaled.

"Let's roll."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Yugi had just one card left in his hand. Pegasus continued to watch him with a very stony look, which was in sharp contrast to the utter glee present on Belial's face.

"That will end my turn," said the young King of Games softly.

For the first time, a hint of desperation was creeping into Pegasus' features. Twelve hundred life-points remaining, and only two cards in hand. Time was certainly not on his side at the moment.

"I set one card facedown. That will end my turn," he choked.

Yugi drew confidently, hoping, praying that he would be able to draw a monster that would allow him to put an end to this duel.

Lucky was not on his side. With a growl of frustration, he set one card into his magic and trap card zone, before speaking.

"Twilight Shadow – Assassin, attack his life-points directly."

The robed man leapt into the air once again, and unleashed a hail of throw-knives in Pegasus' direction. Three of them hit him dead on, one in the shoulder and two in the gut. He fell to one knee, coughing up blood. Meanwhile, the towering mirror above them shifted a little, and Yugi felt a sharp pain in his gut as well. It was all he could do to keep himself upright.

(Yugi: 1000, Pegasus: 200)

"That… That ends my turn," he trailed off, staring ahead at his opponent.

Belial looked a bit put off. Was that _concern_ creeping into the face of Moto as he looked at the man who could be responsible for the possible destruction of his home?

Pegasus staggered upward, and drew with a gasp.

"Fine then, Yugi-boy," he spat, a tone of pure venom entering his voice. "We will stop playing games. If you think the Mirror of Underland was painful, just wait until you see what I have in store next. Continuous spell card, activate: Frabjous Day."

The scene around them began to shift and change. Gone was the colorless ground with towering, multicolored plants. Instead, they were now standing on a giant chessboard, which seemed to be located on a barren beach of sorts. In the corner, overlooking a very rough sea, was a rough cliff peppered with crags, mounted on which were the ruins of a castle-like structure.

"When the Frabjous Day is activated, I can automatically activate a specific field spell from my deck," growled Pegasus. "This one is called Pandora Hearts. It's effects alone are not as devastating as Mirror of Underland, but in combination with Frabjous Day, there is going to come a point very soon when you will wish that this duel had not commenced."

Yugi did not reply.

"For example," Pegasus continued. "A certain card from _my_ deck will now enter yours."

He slipped his deck out of his Duel Disk and located a certain card. He flipped it over.

It was an equip spell, called Vorpal Sword. Invisible hands floating around the chess-board plucked it from its owner's hands and carried it over to Yugi, who got a brief look at the effect before he was forced to shuffle it into his deck.

'The monster equipped with this card gains zero attack points.'

"What are you playing at, Pegasus?"

"You will see very soon," replied his opponent. "Right now, I will activate my facedown Magical Trick Mirror, which lets me copy the effect of one spell card that resides in your graveyard. I choose Pot of Greed."

Pegasus drew twice more, thus expanding his hand size to three.

"So, Yugi-boy, for my next move, I activate Advanced Ritual Art."

Yugi narrowed his eyes.

"By sending normal monsters from my deck to my graveyard, I can ritual summon a monster from my hand who's levels total the levels of the milled monsters. I send my level four Dark Rabbit (1100/1500) in order to call upon the destructive might of my Bandersnatch (1900/1500)!"

Appearing on his field was a large, tiger-like creature covered in white fur. It had black spots visible here and there on its large mane, while saliva dripped from its fang-like teeth which were bared in an ugly grimace as it leered over at the lone Twilight Shadow – Assassin on Yugi's field.

"The Bandersnatch has always been a faithful servant of the Red Queen. While she resides in my graveyard or removed from play pile, I can draw a card if the Bandersnatch destroys a monster in battle. So you inadvertently aided my cause by getting rid of the Red Queen, Yugi-boy," muttered Pegasus with a flourish.

"Bandersnatch, show his Twilight Shadow Assassin the meaning of pain!"

The savage, giant beast leapt forward and grabbed the smaller Assassin within its jaws. Pegasus was expecting to see the Assassin emerge unharmed from within its jaws, but Yugi's life-points be damaged. However, what he witnessed was the exact opposite: the Assassin vanished into a wisp of smoke, and Yugi's life-points had been untouched.

(Yugi: 1100, Pegasus: 200)

"By removing from play a Twilight Shadow in my graveyard, Assassin _can_ be destroyed by battle. Also, I take no battle damage," chuckled Yugi. "Since he was destroyed, I chain Soul Rope to your Bandersnatch's effect: since a monster on my field was destroyed, I can special summon a level four monster from my deck by paying a thousand life-points. Come forth, Silent Magician LV4 (1000/1000)."

(Yugi: 100, Pegasus: 200)

A white-haired female magician with blue eyes and boots appeared on the field. She held a thin, white staff, which arched up to a large top, which was a mixture of blue and white in color.. At the top-center was a dark-turquoise orb in-between the surface of the staff. The magician's white clothes had the symbol of an Egyptian cross worn around her neck, reaching down and starting a blue, circular-shaped pattern that went down to the bottom of the robe, which stopped at the magician's feet. A blue, jewel-like object was on the front of her white spellcaster's hat, which also contained a concave-up stripe of blue below the jewel-like object.

Pegasus inhaled sharply. "_So Yugi-boy's soul monster has emerged. We are truly approaching the end-game if his moves are any indication_."

"So go ahead, Pegasus, draw," said Yugi. "You know as well as I do, that when you draw a card, Silent Magician gains five hundred attack points. If I wait until your next draw phase, my Magician will have two thousand attack points, thus making it stronger than your Bandersnatch."

Pegasus grimaced. There was a reason Yugi was the King of Games after all. The moment he had heard that the Bandersnatch's effect allowed him an additional draw when it destroyed a monster in battle, he had connected it with the effect of his own Silent Magician, and decided to use his facedown Soul Rope right away. That plan had been concocted in a matter of seconds, and wouldn't have even come into motion if Pegasus hadn't opened his big mouth about the effect.

Nonetheless, he had to draw. As he did, the mage's attack points increased (1500/1000).

"Do you think I don't have any other aces left up my sleeve, and that your Silent Magician will be enough to finish me off?" growled Pegasus.

"You couldn't be more wrong, Yugi-boy. You see, the effect of my Frabjous Day will bring this duel to the end game on my second standby phase after its activation by bringing out the lord of nightmares, a beast so terrible even my Thousand Eyes Restrict is weak in comparison. You had better be ready, Yugi-boy."

"Just finish your move," replied his opponent irritably.

Pegasus' eyes flashed.

"Fine then. I turn the board over to you."

Yugi slid the top card off his deck.

"I set this one card facedown and end my turn."

Pegasus said nothing as a vertical brown-backed card materialized behind Yugi.

He bit his lip and drew, and as he did so, the attack points of the Silent Magician LV4 (2000/1000) rose once again.

"I switch my Bandersnatch to defense mode and end my turn."

Yugi drew.

"All right, it's time now. I play Mirror Spell, paying half my life-points to add one spell card from my graveyard to my hand. I choose Maximum Greed, which will allow us both to draw two cards from our decks. Your extra draws insure that Silent Magician gains five hundred more attack points."

(Yugi: 50, Pegasus: 200)

Pegasus pursed his lips and drew.

"_Yugi-boy is as astute as ever. He could've instead chosen Pot of Greed, but he's aware that next turn my ultimate creature will rise. Therefore he wants his Silent Magician LV4 (2500/1000) to be stronger in order to face it_."

Yugi held up another card. "Then I'll have my Silent Magician destroy your Bandersnatch! Silent Scepter Blast!"

The white robed mage raised its weapon, and a halcyon of blue energy appeared around it. Briskly, it pointed the staff in the direction of the towering white tiger, which in turn roared in pain as the blaze consumed it, leaving nothing in its path.

"When the Bandersnatch is destroyed, you are allowed one draw for every time I drew by its effect," muttered Pegasus through gritted teeth.

Yugi nodded with approval and added another card to his hand.

"Main Phase two: I'll set a card facedown and leave it to you."

Pegasus drew, and a shudder descended onto the field.

"It's time," he uttered.

Yugi started back in shock as the chessboard they stood on began to crack. A towering, horrific form emerged from underneath it. The Silent Magician literally seemed to quake in its boots as a shadow fell across the field, blotting out the sun. The monster appearing could be described as tremendous, terrible, unreal, and not to mention "brillig" as well as all the other words Lewis Carroll had invented.

If one was to speak lucidly about its description, the monster was a black-scaled behemoth of a dragon. It had two massive wings that flared out in either direction, and a rather human look to its face. Instead of a long snout which was common for most dragons, its face and nostrils were rather round, almost flat, with two long tendrils sliding out from either side of its nose in the form of a bizarre _moustache_.

"The Jabberwocky (3000/2600)," whispered Pegasus.

Punctuating his master's statement, the towering beast roared loudly.

Yugi stood there, transfixed.

"This is the end, Yugi-boy," murmured Pegasus. "The true power of my Frabjous Day continuous spell comes into play now."

Yugi felt his skin grow cold as both his Silent Magician and the Jabberwocky glowed.

"As long as the Jabberwocky remains in play, I cannot lose the duel."

Yugi gasped. What kind of effect was this?

"However, if indeed it is destroyed, I lose instantly. The interesting part is that the Jabberwocky cannot be destroyed by card effects as long as the Vorpal Sword isn't in play, _and_ it can only be destroyed in battle by a monster equipped with the Vorpal Sword."

Yugi clenched his fist.

So _that_ was why the card had been placed in his deck.

"Toon World is one thing but I wouldn't expect something so underhanded, even from you, Pegasus," growled Yugi. "This has got to be one of the most unfairly powerful cards ever created."

"Oh, no, Yugi-boy," replied the President of Industrial Illusions, eyes gleaming. "That's where you are very wrong. You see, by the effect of my Pandora Hearts field spell, the Jabberwocky cannot deal you any battle damage until you control one face-up Vorpal Sword equip spell on your side of the field. _If _the monster equipped with the Vorpal Sword is destroyed in battle, you lose the duel."

Yugi nodded slowly. He understood now… It was the aim of the Frabjous Day spell card to set up for a final showdown between the Jabberwocky, and the most powerful monster possible that Pegasus' opponent could create, in a winner-take-all scenario.

"Also, here's another fun fact: the Jabberwocky gains five hundred attack points during each of my end phases."

Yugi glanced down at his deck. So this was truly a race against time.

If he didn't draw the Vorpal Sword soon, the Jabberwocky would become almost impossible to defeat.

"I know what you're thinking Yugi-boy," sang Pegasus. "You just want to wait it out don't you until you have the resources to take down the Jabberwocky, aren't you?"

He smiled thinly. "That's not going to happen. The Frabjous Day, according to Lewis Carroll's old poem, was to be a war between the Red Queen and her hated sister, the White Queen. Instead of having their armies indulge in full scale slaughter, they would each nominate a champion who would come forth to represent them. The two champions would engage in battle. The White Queen was able to get Alice to wield the legendary Vorpal Sword and slay the Jabberwocky in time. _However_, imagine if Alice hadn't been brave enough to step forward? What if the Jabberwocky hadn't faced his old enemy, the Vorpal one as he called it, in battle one last time? What would have happened?"

He lowered his voice and spoke silkily.

"Slaughter."

Yugi could tell that an ominous note was entering the man's voice.

"If you don't draw the Vorpal Sword on your third standby phase after the Jabberwocky is summoned, all bets are off. In technical terms, my field spell, Pandora Hearts, is sent to the graveyard."

"So the Jabberwocky will be able to deal battle damage…" trailed off Yugi.

He clenched his fist. This was not good.

"Your Silent Magician LV4 may have been a worthy opponent under other circumstances, but I'm afraid that will not be the case today, Yugi-boy," decreed Pegasus. "I demand something… greater. Jabberwocky, OFF WITH ITS HEAD!"

The black dragon opened its maw and let out a very high screech. A blaze of silver flames issued forth, washing over the chessboard and making its way slowly to the female mage. Just as it seemed Yugi's favorite monster was due to fall, the King of Games tapped a button on his Duel Disk. A swirling vortex materialized, and sucked in the flames.

"Negate Attack," snarled Pegasus.

Yugi nodded, his eyes gleaming. "You'll get your showdown, Pegasus. It's just not going to be on your terms alone."

"Fine," sneered his opponent. "I set three of my remaining four cards facedown, and end my turn."

As the four brown backed cards appeared behind him, the Jabberwocky (3500/2600) let out a snarl.

Yugi drew, and frowned.

No Vorpal Sword yet.

"I switch Silent Magician LV4 to defense mode. That ends my turn."

Pegasus drew.

"Ah, this keeps getting better and better! I activate Evolution of God, which will permanently increase the attack points of one monster on my field by one thousand."

As he said this, the devilish wyvern (4500/2600) threw its head into the air and sprayed out a wave of noxious black fire through its nostrils.

"Now your Silent Magician _will_ fall," snapped Pegasus. "Jabberwocky, slay it!"

Yugi's soul monster smiled sadly at him as the monstrosity that opposed it began to charge up another sphere of flames. He didn't have a move to counter it, and he knew it. All he could do was tighten his fist and watch on in dismay as the noxious wave burst out across his field and sent the unfortunate magician into oblivion.

"You have two turns left, Yugi-boy. Make them count."

As he spoke, the Jabberwocky's attack points rose again (5000/2600).

Yugi took a deep breath.

"_Heart of the Cards… You've always somehow come through for Yami. Please, please… Just this once, give me an opportunity to prove myself_."

With that, he snapped the top card off his deck and glanced at it.

His eyes nearly popped out of his head. Would this actually work?

"I'll set this one card facedown and end my turn," he breathed.

Pegasus drew and didn't even look at the card.

"This is your final turn," he hissed. "I told you I wouldn't hold back, foolish child. If I intend to achieve something, I _will_ go through with it."

"Even if it means being a selfish bastard and sacrificing millions of lives in the process?" retorted Yugi.

Even as he spoke, Yugi regretted the words. What had it come to that he said things like that?

"_You_ are the one responsible for something even possibly worse in the first place," snapped Pegasus. "Don't you _dare_ judge me like some sort of common criminal!"

Yugi was about to respond, but then faltered.

Pegasus had strayed into forbidden ground once again.

Belial clenched his fist in anticipation on the sidelines. "_Yes, yes! This is just how it was supposed to happen. Their hatred toward each other precipitated by events past and present will come to head at the best possible moment. One of them is going to die very soon, at the hands of the other, and it shall be the beginnings of the first lesson that humanity shall be taught_."

But it seemed that one of the duo would be unable to go through with the battle he desired.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, Yami spoke urgently to his hikari through their mental link.

"_Yugi, are you all right_?"

He received no answer.

"_Yugi, talk to me. You need to finish this duel_."

He cursed silently. Was it possible the pressure was getting to the young man?

Yami was currently standing in his soul room, watching the duel through a rip in the air which depicted the events going on outside the Millennium Puzzle.

Normally they could hear each other's voices throughout the Puzzle if they so chose, but for some reason Yugi wasn't responding.

Yami had no choice: he had to see if Pegasus' taunting comments hadn't scarred Yugi to the point that he would be unable to duel.

That was a daunting prospect: if Yugi had finally cracked after all this time, Yami himself would be forced to take over.

Without the Reality Warp card still in Yugi's deck. Yami had never even considered using the Twilight Shadows, they represented the innocent creativity and genius of Yugi. That aside, he needed to go through a deck multiple times and test-run it to grasp its play style and understand the nuances of each card. Learning on the fly was one thing, that he could do as a master of strategy, but coming to terms with a brand new deck facing a nearly invincible monster with thousands of lives hanging in the balance…

He shivered.

"_Yugi, please be all right…_"

He finally finished navigating the maze of tunnels and corridors that made up the inside of the Puzzle, and arrived at Yugi's soul room.

He tried to open the door.

It was locked.

"Yugi," he called out. "Open up, please."

Yami received no answer.

He stood there, mortified.

What the hell was he going to do?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Yugi held his head in his hands as he felt the turmoil of his emotions rage inside him like a thunderstorm. How could so much anger, so much sorrow so much _hate_, be within the heart of one young man? How could he keep his grip on his own sanity, much less win a duel in which someone would lose everything they hold dear?

But as he struggled to hold on, and not simply lose himself to the emotions that threatened to consume him, something deep within his heart, something beyond even Yami's place in his soul resonated.

It was as swift and fleeting as the flap of a butterfly's wing, but it delved deep into the torrent of dark raging emotions, and brought them to a standstill.

Yugi's eyes snapped open, and as the sun would rise to wash away the night, something one could only describe as a revelation came over him.

Looking down at his trembling hands, he closed them into fists, and took the deepest breath he had ever taken in his life, and as he exhaled, his hands fell to his sides as he seemed to simply...deflate.

"Pegasus..." His voice was barely above a whisper, but it seemed to have a strength enough that it reached across the entire arena. "I can't..."

"You can't what? Win? Are you throwing away your one chance to save this city?" Pegasus spat.

Yugi lifted his head and not only Pegasus, but Belial paused. Yugi's eyes never looked more weary, as though he might drift off to sleep and fall on his face at any moment, but they seemed to glow from within with something resembling...peace.

For the first time since Apocalypse had been released, Yugi Moto was smiling.

"I can't...I can't hate you for what you've done Pegasus...I can't keep acting like there's that much of a difference between the mistakes you've made...and the mistakes I've made."

Pegasus' eyes looked like they were about to burst right out of his head. Whatever retort he had planned next came grinding to a halt. "Mistakes...You don't mean...?"

With a faint smile on his face Yugi nodded his head slowly. "I think I know why I've felt so torn up inside since the Tournament of Shadows ended. I've been running away from what happened, with how I released Apocalypse, and because of not wanting to face that I couldn't see the truth."

He took another deep breath. "The whole reason Apocalypse was released, was because I defeated Yami Marik. And while it's true his return has caused suffering and destruction, who's to say we would be any better off if Marik had prevailed and not Yami and I?

"I can't keep acting like I've committed some unforgivable sin, because what I did back then was for the good of every man, woman and child on this planet. I wasn't ready to accept that sometimes there's no easy way out, and that sometimes the lesser of two evils has to be chosen, but now…"

He placed his hand over his heart. "Pegasus, we both made terrible mistakes trying to help those we love, but isn't that what being human is all about? Making mistakes, but pushing forward to make the most of what comes next? Were both trying to protect our homes, our friends, our families. I can't...I can't be so selfish as to keep believing I alone am in the right!"

Deep within his soul, as he heard his hikari pour his heart out, Yami slowly began to smile.

_'Yugi...I never imagined you would gain the courage to release such a terrible burden from both our shoulders. Maybe I'm no longer the stronger of the two halves of this being after all...'_

Belial in the meantime, was gritting his teeth in a snarl that threatened to crack several molars.

_'No no no no NO! This is not how this is supposed to go, the Pharaoh's vessel is insignificant, he can't possibly be able to control himself in this duel, he should be doing everything possible to _kill_ Pegasus!'_

Pegasus simply stood there in stunned silence. It was as though the hate filled miasma clouding both men's judgments was slowly lifting with Yugi's words. He looked down at his deck, his cards as if only just now realizing the insanity of what was transpiring.

"Yugi-boy...I'm sorry, but this duel...we can't stop it now, not until one of us-" Pegasus began but was cut off by his opponent.

"I know, I won't lie and say this is going to be an easy problem to fix Pegasus. But we can't give up, not on each other, nor the world. All we can do is continue dueling, and have faith in this beautiful game you poured your heart and soul into creating."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Thankfully, Zeruge caught up to the Ishtar siblings before they had made it too far. Even though they didn't admit it, the demon knew that the reason they hadn't made it too far was simply because they were too afraid to go much further without him. Odion could _maybe_ hold off a regular Legion grunt for a few minutes, but if they were faced with another Bouncer or something of the sort Zeruge's presence was an absolutely necessity.

As he staggered toward them, Ishizu clapped a hand to her mouth to stifle a gasp.

"Zeruge… You look horrible!"

He grinned weakly. "Thank you, Ms. Ishtar. You look lovely yourself."

The Egyptian woman couldn't help but blush a deep crimson, but that didn't stop her from rushing over and inspecting their protector's wounds.

"What… What _was _that thing?" Marik blurted out.

"I… I don't know.." Zeruge let out a deep groan as Ishizu accidentally pressed a very large bruise under his armor on his side.

She started back, and before she could apologize Zeruge raised a hand.

"I… I took some degree of a beating back there. However, I am fine to continue to escort you to safety."

"How are we supposed to leave?" enquired Odion. "All the helicopters are on the top floor, and they have already taken off."

"That will remain to be seen. The building itself, however, is completely infested. If we make it to the outside, I am sure the humans are regrouping and possibly preparing for a counterattack of sorts."

If someone with a more forceful personality took one look at the bruised and battered giant and listened to his lack of a plan, it was almost certain that they would be unable to take what he said very seriously. However, Ishizu, Marik and even Odion were as of now too terrified to question the individual who's presence was the sole reason for their survival until this point.

Under other circumstances, Zeruge might have been more enterprising. However, at this point his mind was simply obsessed with the figure that had emerged so smoothly from the stone, calling itself God, and more importantly, the symbol on its forehead.

And so, the motely foursome silently made their way down the next flight of stairs until they hit the ground floor. Thankfully, the building was laid out in such a way that the primary entrance to the underground bunker was on the opposite side of the building. So whichever members of the Legion had spilled out into the building proper were now occupied in the other wing. That meant they still had a few minutes.

A few minutes Zeruge intended to use to maximum effect.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Roland had dropped his usual, polite pretense and seemed to have adopted a very angry glare now.

"You are stepping into the nest of a very angry swarm of hornets, Wheeler," he spat.

Joey raised an eyebrow. "Yeah and I'm supposed to be afraid?"

His opponent glowered. "I activate the Card of Sanctity."

Joey raised an eyebrow, but nonetheless drew the required four cards from his deck. A risky move on Roland's part to say the least, but when faced with a monster of the caliber of Gilford the Lightning, one simply _had_ to take risks, didn't they?

"Normal spell, activate. Terraforming. I can now add one field spell from my deck to my hand."

Slowly, he pulled his deck out of his deck slot and located the necessary card.

Joey sucked a breath in. This was it.

Roland clicked open the field spell slot of his Duel Disk and placed the card in it. "Mausoleum of the Emperor, activate."

Joey's jaw almost dropped as a towering golden temple appeared behind Roland. It was made of sandstone, with two large blocks ascending skyward atop a pedestal which was framed by a flight of stairs. In between the two blocks was a torch lit by blazing, golden flames. The entire structure cast a shadow over the dueling field.

"Mausoleum… of… the Emperor?" spluttered Joey. "Not the…"

Roland smiled inwardly.

"Yes, Wheeler. Not the Seal of Orichalcos."

Joey looked thoroughly confused. He gestured helplessly towards the cards in Roland's graveyard, then towards the man himself.

"I take it you made certain assumptions when you noticed the stone embedded in the armor of most of my monsters as well as my own unique eye color?"

"Yeah," grunted Joey. "As I'm pretty sure anyone who's dueled any of your freaky friends has."

"Well, let me tell you, Wheeler, your assumptions are correct."

This through Joey off an even further loop.

Roland smiled coldly. "The Legion was indeed responsible for the origin of what you ignorant individuals call the Orichalcos stone. It was, however, solely Dartz who channeled its powers in a way to create the infamous field spell, the Seal of Orichalcos, that he and his followers worshipped like fanatics. To us, the stone represents something you couldn't possibly hope to understand. It is far, _far_ more important than that foolish card was to Dartz and his organization. The Orichalcos stone is the base of our civilization, it epitomizes our lifestyle and draws us together to crush those who stand in the way of our ultimate goals."

Most of his words seemed like meaningless banter to Joey. However, he knew he had an opportunity here to learn as much as possible, and he wasn't about to blow it. History wasn't going to help him in the current situation but in a long term campaign, knowing everything about your opponent was necessary.

"So what about the stones on Earth?" growled Joey. "How did they get here?"

Roland had slipped back into his superior, easy mood.

"The Legion is millennia older then this pitiful race that dominates the Earth, these _homo sapiens_. Before the first human had even got down from the trees and begun inventing crude tools, my ancestors had already laid out the blueprints for a plan that would extend throughout the galaxies and be preserved through _thousands _of years; a plan you could never hope to comprehend. The Legion are destined to be at the forefront of all life, for we are _the_ superior race in this Universe. Everything we do, every action we take has a greater purpose which is linked to the greater plan. You may mistake the Legion for a mindless horde of bloodthirsty savages, but in truth, we are the instrument of an ambition which is as old as the Universe. An ambition you could never hope to understand."

"_Keep him talking_," thought Joey silently to himself.

"You didn't answer my question," he growled.

"Eager, are we?" mused Roland. "Well I'm not about to fall for your ploy and reveal the entirety of the Legion's plans to you in my loud-mouthed attempts to prove the superiority of my race over yours. However, I can provide you with perhaps one or two pieces of an unimaginably large puzzle which you could possibly ponder over in death. Do you remember that fateful battle following the Pharaoh's defeat of Dartz?"

Joey grimaced.

The epic confrontation with the Great Leviathan. Immeasurably enormous, glaring down at them with the malice of the Devil, knocking aside a monster as powerful as Kaiba's Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon with barely any effort: it was a wonder that the Egyptian Gods had finally been able to seal the deal and send it crashing into the depths of the ocean.

How could _not_ remember?

Especially the prelude to the summon of the trinity of Obelisk, Slifer and Ra… The army of monsters that him, Yami and Kaiba had called upon had proved all but useless. The Leviathan had destroyed all of them along with the spirits of the Legendary Knights, before proceeding to absorb the three duelists. It had been the most horrifying experience of Joey's life, which had definitely been filled with its fair share of them.

It had been akin to walking into the Ninth Circle of Hell and staring Satan in the eye. Being one with the heart of evil. Certainly not something he would ever forget.

"Yeah," he muttered. "What about it?"

"Ever wondered where it came from?"

Joey paused momentarily, absorbing what had just been said. He began to join the dots in his mind.

The Leviathan had been dependant on the Orichalcos for power. The Orichalcos originated from the Legion.

His eyes widened.

"You can't be serious…"

Roland lifted his shades again, and his eyes were glinting green.

"You freaks sent the Leviathan to Earth?" choked Joey.

The former tournament official let out another sharp chuckle.

"You're underestimating our level of involvement."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Flashback: 10,000 B.C._

_The Emperor stood alone on the hovercraft overlooking the empty planet. It was rather barren, with only about one fourth of it being covered by land. The rest was an endless ocean which stretched as far as the eye could see._

_At least, it was _now_ empty._

_Before his project had hatched._

_The denizens of the planet had resisted, yes. They had tried. But those born in the natural world were hardly a match for the product of the assimilated brilliance of the finest minds of the Universe's foremost race._

_Never had taking a planet and eliminating all life on it been so easy._

_Time, however, would eventually take its toll._

_As the Emperor looked on at his project, no, _project_ was far too mundane a word at this point, _weapon_ was far more appropriate, simply slowly circling the water underneath him, hundreds of meters long, currently feasting on the corpse of an octopus like creature perhaps the size of a small mountain, he realized things could not last forever. Nothing could last forever, except for himself of course._

_Innovation would be required._

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

_8,000 B.C._

_The Emperor's genius had worked again._

_The second weapon had matured. In terms of sheer power and destructive potential it paled in comparison to the first. It relied on external power from the Orichalcos stones. The biologists who had worked on the previous weapon estimated that it could not withstand more than a few megatons worth of energy, when compared to the first, which had almost limitless endurance capabilities._

_However, its purpose was not to be used as a weapon. It was male, and that was what counted._

_Its egg had been set down in an area of the planet quite a distance away from the first weapon. Time had passed, both had been observed. The original was growing older, and the Emperor was sure it would not last long._

_One scientist had even suggested it was too late. The Emperor had killed him for committing the transgression of questioning his judgment. _

_As it turned out, the scientist had indeed been wrong. Two giant corpses were observed floating to the surface a few years down the line, but when divers were sent in, they required nine gigantic green eggs which looked almost like stones._

_The Emperor was ready to enact the next phase of his plan. Waiting for the two weapons to mate, he had ordered some subordinates to study suitable planets. Three had been discovered. The criteria were simple._

_One, a suitable environment for the weapons to survive. And second, a civilization worth enslaving was required._

_The first two attempts were spectacular failures. The weapons hatched soon after they had been set down on the planets. The idea behind sending three eggs to each planet was to determine which of the weapons was truly powerful. It was, after all, the basis for the Legion civilization as a whole. The strong deserve to live, and the weak either to die or to serve the strong. The weapons, unfortunately, were not able to exist in a hierarchy of any sort. There was a good chance that at least a few of the nine eggs would spawn weapons unworthy of spearheading any kind of campaign by the Legion, considering the genes from their father would weaken them considerably. The Emperor conjectured that after the eggs hatched, the weapons would engage in battle until the only the strongest of the trio was left alive._

_He had not, however, counted on the collateral damage of the battles. On the first two planets, all life had been eliminated as a result of the three-way conflict between the weapons. The first resulted in the death of _all_ the weapons as well, with the last survivor succumbing to its wounds soon. The second did indeed leave one weapon alive and well, but all life had been eliminated in the process, as well as eradication of the planet's resources. Worthless now, and no point at all in continuing to pursue it._

_The third, however, had been slightly more successful._

_The trio of weapons had engaged in a ferocious battle, their natural abilities leading to fires all over the planet. The Legion's plan had been fortunate, however, in this instance. Those who resided on land were mostly primitive life-forms. The most advanced civilization of the planet had existed _underwater_, and therefore was unaffected by the battle._

_One weapon had emerged victorious from the battle, supreme, without peer in terms of sheer power. It still had a mix of genes from both parents, and though it had inherited the bloodlust and sheer power of its mother, it still required an external source of energy, namely the Orichalcos stones, just like its father._

_The Emperor had infinite wisdom. He had anticipated that even the best of his creations would have minute flaws. Along with the space pod disguised as a meteor which contained the eggs, hundreds of shards of the stones had been sent out as well. _

_Humans, it turned out, were attracted to power like a fish to water._

_The foremost figure of human civilization, the Emperor of that particular underground civilization, Dartz, had looked at the weapon as a messiah of sorts. It had taken some poking and prodding in the right direction on the Emperor's part, but soon he had convinced a majority of his people that the path preached by the Stones was the correct one. They had used the Stones to their fullest extent, been corrupted by them, to the point where they could scarcely recognize themselves. It was ironic, they began to look more like members of the Legion then humans._

_Dartz had dubbed them his Orichalcos Soldiers. He had dubbed the weapon, his God, the _Great Leviathan.

_The Emperor's plan had been flawless. A lush planet full with resources with a ready-made army, was ready to be sucked dry._

_There was, however, a spanner in the works. The Emperor had neglected to consider the Chaos Theory._

_The Butterfly Effect was an integral part of the Chaos Theory, and was defined as the _sensitive dependence on initial conditions_. The initial conditions in question had been that _all _humans would give into the temptation of the Orichalcos stones. That was not the circumstance in question. As it turned out, there was an initially small resistance, which further ballooned and gained support from other factions which were at the time unknown. _

_A large battle ensued, and things went spectacularly wrong from then._

_The "Great Leviathan" was rendered powerless, nearly all of the race was killed, and most of the stones were destroyed. Dartz was more or less the only remnant of the previously advanced civilization. _

_The Emperor had concluded that the experiment would have to be noted a failure. It would have been possible, no, easy, for the Legion to take the planet in a military fashion, but it was hardly worth the time nor the effort. All life on the planet was completely uncivilized and not worth subjugating for anything but use as menial laborers, which the Legion had plenty of._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Joey's jaw was hanging rather low. "Tell me… Tell me you're not serious," he groaned.

"The Legion has basically been responsible for everything Dartz has ever done?" he blustered. "You freaks _created _NINE Leviathans and used them as biological weapons? What is it you _want_?"

Before Roland could answer, Joey continued his rant. "Yeah, universal domination, isn't it?" he spat. "I know your type. You have this sense of _entitlement _that whatever you want you can just _take_."

He raised a fist and slammed it into his chest. "Lemme tell you something, you snake. As long as I have a breath in my body, you _freaks_ aren't going to achieve whatever the hell it is you want. We beat your little _experiment_ last time, and there's no way in hell we can't do the same again."

A sinister smile crossed Roland's face. "Oh, please. If you think that Paradias under Dartz was anywhere _near_ as dangerous as the Legion, you are far more deluded than I thought. You would do better to give up right now. You have no _idea_."

"Talk is cheap," thundered back Joey. "Back it up with your cards!"

Roland shrugged. "If you say so. I pay one thousand life-points by the effect of Mausoleum of the Emperor, which substitutes a tribute, and set one monster in defense mode."

He let out a small grunt of pain as his life-points fell. Meanwhile, a horizontal brown-backed card appeared in front of him.

(Joey: 4700, Roland: 3400)

"Then I set two cards facedown. That will end my turn."

Joey snapped the top card off his deck, bringing his hand to a total of seven cards.

He stared at Roland's field.

"_It's a relatively strong defense, that's for sure. He effectively set a monster for one tribute. I don't see that very often nowadays, since most of the useful flip effect monsters are level four or lower. Then there's his two facedowns as well…_"

He glanced at another card in his hand.

"All right. I normal summon Gilford the Thunder (1600/1500)."

Appearing next to the towering warrior was a smaller version of him. Instead of a gray armor and a crimson cloak, he held wore brown armor with a dark navy blue cloak. He was shorter than Gilford the Lightning but more muscular, and in his right hand he clutched a long battle-axe. He had a thick stubble growing around his face, complimenting his overall rather gruff look.

"Another Gilford…" murmured Roland. "So you may have a strategy of sorts going on. "I activate my facedown trap, Dark Handicap."

As he spoke, a selection of black vine-like structures exploded from his field, wrapping themselves around Gilford the Lightning. The massive warrior struggled, but the more he did, the more difficult it was for him to move at all.

"What the hell just happened?" snapped Joey.

Roland held up a card in his hand and showed it to Joey. Its name read Legion Imperial Kaiser (2300/1900).

"Dark Handicap allows me to discard dark attribute monster in my hand, and in turn, one monster on your field loses attack points equal to the attack points of the discarded monster."

His opponent looked helplessly at the once great warrior (500/1400), who was now struggling within the entrapment.

Joey glowered at Roland. "Fine. Looks like you're too scared to face my true power, so you're resorting to these cheap, underhanded tricks. Its battle phase time. Gilford the Thunder, attack his monster!"

The axe-wielder charged across the field, and hefted his axe up. The brown backed card flipped over to reveal a wraith-like creature. It seemed to lack any sort of physical form under a billowing black cloak, except for two pale, gnarled hands which emerged from two sleeves clutching a long wooden scythe.

"Reaper of the Cards (1380/1930)?"

Joey's jaw dropped. "That's got to be one of the oldest, most useless-…"

"Save your judgment until the completion of this strategy," snarled Roland. "When Reaper of the Cards is flipped, I can destroy one trap card in play. Did I mention Dark Handicap was a continuous trap?"

Joey stared in astonishment as the wraith slashed its scythe in a forward motion, sending out a semi-circle shape of energy that burst forth and slashed the vines to pieces. He was even more shocked when the wave continued on and cut Gilford clean in to. He turned his head away as the corpse fell to the ground with a sickening _thunk_, before vanishing into millions of tiny pixels.

"When Dark Handicap is destroyed, the monster that it had targeted is destroyed as well," continued Roland. "There is a consolation prize: the controller of that monster is allowed one draw."

Even before Joey snapped the top card off his deck, Roland tapped another button on his Duel Disk. "Then I activate Appropriate!"

Joey frowned again; he didn't need anyone telling him what _that_ particular trap card did but Roland explained anyway.

"Whenever you draw outside your draw phase, I am permitted two myself."

Both duelists drew, and Roland happened to glance at the field, and then the life-point counters. The Reaper was gone, and Joey's life-points untouched.

"Explain yourself," growled Roland.

Joey grinned. "It's quite simple. Gilford the Thunder's effect is that whenever he attacks a monster in defense mode, it's automatically destroyed without applying damage calculation to either player. Flip effects are unfortunately still applied, so you were able to pull that cheap stunt and destroy Gilford."

"Would you care to stop with your rambling and continue you move?"

Joey shriveled his nose. "Fine. I set two cards and end my turn."

Roland drew. "I move straight to my main phase one, and normal summon Dark Resonator (1300/300) in attack mode." A small malicious fiend materialized onto Roland's field. It was dressed like a shaman, with a ragged robe and a gray, spiked helmet. It eyes were a deep red, and it held a tuning fork in one hand, and a staff in the other.

"That's weaker than Gilford the Thunder," warned Joey.

"Indeed, but that is not going to stop me from attacking."

Joey looked up in surprise as the fiend charged forward, and knocked its tuning fork against the axe-wielding monster. It had no effect, however, and in an angry reply the assaulted one brandished its axe, catching Roland's monster in the stomach and throwing it back.

(Joey: 4700, Roland: 3100)

"However, once per turn my Dark Resonator can receive immunity from destruction by battle."

"So what purpose did that serve?" snapped Joey.

Roland held up a card.

"Quick-play spell, Relive the Nightmare, activate. When a dark attribute monster with fifteen hundred or less attack points engages in battle with a monster more powerful than it, I can add one trap card with "Virus" in its name from my graveyard to my hand. I choose Crush Card Virus."

"_I can't let him cripple me again like that-…_" thought Joey urgently, and tapped a button on his Duel Disk.

"Here's a page I borrowed from Yugi's book: Lightforce Sword! I pick one card in your hand, and it's removed from play for three of your turns!"

Roland had just located the card and added it to his hand, when a glowing blade of energy descended out of nowhere and slammed into it. He gasped in shock and dropped the sizzling card, which fell to the ground, the blade remaining stuck in it.

"You will pay dearly for such a transgression!" he roared.

Joey rolled his eyes. "I've come to realize you're all talk and no action. Seriously, I've countered each and every one of your moves once I realized your strategy."

A seething Roland continued to glare at his opponent before muttering. "I end my turn."

Joey drew, and his eyes brightened.

"I play Monster Reborn, to special summon Kaiser Seahorse (1700/1650) from my graveyard," he said.

The amphibious looking warrior appeared once again on his field.

"Then I sacrifice Kaiser Seahorse and Gilford the Thunder so that Gilford the Lightning (2800/1400) can fry your monsters once again!"

"Another one?" snarled Roland in shock as the massive, athletic warrior reappeared on Joey's field. He raised his sword, and lightning struck it again, which he directed toward the lone fiend on Roland's field. Within seconds, it was replaced by a pile of ashes.

"Let's just say I spoke to a certain someone who's allowed me to understand and realize my full potential! Now, this is done!" snapped Joey. "I equip Gilford with Lightning Blade, boosting his attack points by eight hundred!"

The legendary warrior (3600/1400) sizzled with electricity once again, and Roland took a nervous step back.

"End it! Thunderbolt Cut!"

With a roar, Gilford charged forward and slashed at Roland's chest. He fell down to one knee, heaving and gasping in pain as a large cut appeared.

(Joey: 4700, Roland: 0)

The loser staggered upward, glaring malevolently at his opponent, who didn't deactivate his Duel Disk.

"Don't even think about trying anything," threatened Joey. "My friend here will be more than enough to cut you up into tiny little pieces."

To punctuate his point, Gilford brandished his blade.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"_Do not waste any further time_," communicated the strange voice that emanated from Dartz's body.

"_Joseph Wheeler is not a credible threat. I will require your presence soon_. _Make your way to our agreed location._"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A visibly frustrated Roland glared up at Joey.

"You are lucky, Mr. Wheeler. Very lucky. We will meet again."

To the Battle City finalist's eternal shock, the man simply charged away in the opposite direction, and leapt off the terrace.

Joey followed him hastily, and leaned over the balcony to see that Roland had landed easily in a crouch, and was now speedily avoiding what remained of terrified civilians, as well as fighting members of the Legion and the national guard.

"That was over a twenty floor drop…" murmured Joey aloud, shivering slightly.

He looked at his Duel Disk, then at Gilford.

"I'm going to need your help to get out of this place."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Very well, Yugi-boy," murmured Pegasus, his voice cracking. "We will do our best."

The King of Games nodded nervously, and closed his eyes before drawing.

He looked at his hand, and then thought over the two cards he had facedown. Defeating the Jabberwocky would be painstakingly difficult, and required a precise sequence of moves on his part. Even the smallest slip-up would most probably cost a lot of people their lives. And that was _assuming_ Pegasus' four facedowns were not prepared to counter him.

"First I play Mirror Trap. By paying half my life-points, I can activate the effect of one trap card from your graveyard."

Pegasus opened his mouth for a minute, and then understood his opponent's plan.

He smiled ruefully. "_I suppose there's a reason you're the champion of this game, Yugi-boy_."

(Yugi: 25, Pegasus 200)

"I choose Magical Trick Mirror, which, in turn, allows me to activate the effect of one spell card from your graveyard. I choose Hidden Armory. At the cost of sacrificing my normal summon for the turn, I can add one equip spell from my deck to my hand."

With a slight smile he pulled out what remained of his deck from the deckslot, and looked through it. He held up the Vorpal Sword and then added it to his hand.

"Very well, Yugi-boy. But in doing so you have forfeited the opportunity to bring forth a champion to face the Jabberwocky."

He then noticed the smile growing even further on Yugi's face.

"Unless…"

"I play one of the best spell cards you created for the Twilight Shadows, Pegasus. It's called Eternity Fusion, and allows me to fuse monsters that are listed as fusion materials for a Twilight Shadow fusion monster by removing them from play in my graveyard!"

"So what will you call upon this time, Yugi-boy?" muttered Pegasus, mentally going through a list of the Twilight Shadows Yugi had summoned and the various fusions that could be summoned through them.

"I remove Twilight Shadow Soldier, Avenger and _Silent Magician LV4_ to special summon Silent Shadow – Twilight Sword Paladin (2700/2700)!"

Pegasus' jaw literally dropped as the spirits of the trio of monsters appeared on Yugi's field, each with a serene expression on his face. They slammed into each other, and a blinding light took over the field. Emerging from within it was a tall figure dressed in silver armor. The armor itself was outlined on points with gold, and embedded with purple diamonds at several points.

In his right hand, the Paladin clutched a long, axe-like claymore, which glowed with purple energy as well. Both hands were covered with massive metallic gauntlets. Nothing distracted any attention from the fusion's face, which looked almost otherworldly. Its skin was a stunning shade of blue, and tendrils extended out underneath its chin to form a sort of bizarre beard. With a roar, it raised its blade and glared at the Jabberwocky.

Pegasus was speechless. "I… I never designed this card."

Yugi nodded.

"That's correct, Pegasus. I created the cards in the Twilight Shadow set involving Silent Magician at a later date. Silent Magician LV4 was, is and always will be the monster closest to my heart, however, I was too distraught over Yami's departure to the Spirit World, with Silent Magician being complicit in my defeat of him, to consider anything to do with the card. I sent my designs to your company at a later date, and by that time it seemed Marik had already emerged, and you didn't get a look at the cards. So now, finally, we play on an even field. You don't know about my cards, and I don't know about yours."

Pegasus pursed his lips.

"Very well. This is what it's all supposed to come down to, isn't it? Go on, Yugi-boy, show me your truest strength, that which emerges from deep within your soul."

His opponent smiled back at him.

"Silent Shadow – Twilight Sword Paladin gains the effects of all his fusion materials. So, to begin with, the Jabberwocky loses one hundred attack points for every one of its level stars. Since it's a level ten monster, its attack points are knocked down to four thousand."

True to Yugi's word, the towering black dragon (4000/2600) let out a snarl of anger as its attack points fell.

Pegasus' mind spun as he thought about the other fusion material: Twilight Shadow Avenger.

"Avenger boosts the attack points of every Twilight Shadow in play by five hundred," informed Yugi. "And by another one of his effects, my Paladin is also treated as a Twilight Shadow."

The blue-skinned magical swordsman (3200/2700) closed his eyes as white energy washed over him.

"Still too weak!"

"You're forgetting Silent Magician LV4," pressed Yugi. "Whenever you draw a card, it gains five hundred attack points."

"But even if you wait until my draw phase, it'll only have thirty-seven hundred…" Pegasus trailed off, and glanced up at the card Yugi had just slid into his spell and trap card zone.

"Starcrossed Greed allows me to remove one Twilight Shadow monster in my graveyard from play. In return, we both draw two cards."

Pegasus wordlessly drew two more cards, while the Silent Shadow (3700/2700) grew increasingly more deadly.

Yugi continued on relentlessly. "I set two cards facedown and end my turn. You've put up a really good fight, Pegasus, but this is it."

Pegasus drew again, and Yugi's fusion (4200/2700) let out a savage roar, slamming the base of his claymore into the ground and taking a step forward. The purple aura coming off him was now overpowering the silver one of the Jabberwocky, in who's crimson eyes a rather unusual emotion was appearing.

Dread.

Meanwhile, Belial was chuckling to himself on the sidelines.

"_Now, the first example will me made in front of the eyes of the whole of humanity_."

Pegasus had inclined his head forward, with his gray hair covering both his empty eye socket as well as the full one.

A tear trickled down, splashing against the metal surface of the mother-ship.

Yugi took a step forward in concern. "Pegasus, I'm really sorry about this. I swear to God, whatever happens, we will together avenge what these heathens have done to our lives. But please, think of it from my point of view. We're talking about _thousands_ of innocent lives here! I hope you can forgive me for this-.."

Pegasus raised his head, and choked back a sob.

"No, Yugi-boy…"

He picked a card out of his hand.

"I hope _you_ can forgive _me_."

He flipped the card around.

Magic Shard Excavation.

Yugi felt his mind go blank momentarily. It was like a vision, as if the mere sight of the card told him what Pegasus was planning.

He slowly slid his remaining two cards into the graveyard, and extracted another one from there. Evolution of God.

The Jabberwocky's aura (5000/2600) flared out again, crushing back that of the Silent Shadow.

Yugi fell down to one knee, staring into the ground.

He spoke quietly. "I don't blame you, Pegasus. Go ahead, finish it. I hold no regret over this loss. We dueled with honor, and I can't hate you for this, because you're not the guilty one. I judge that fiendish individual standing there to be the guilty one."

"Indeed, he is," whispered Pegasus. "And he must pay."

He raised a hand. Yugi looked up, wondering what the man meant.

"And he will."

It dawned on the young man what his erstwhile foe was planning. "Pegasus… No, DON'T!"

Belial had been unable to here the quiet exchange between the two duelists. However, he did gather that something was up when Pegasus' body began to glow with black energy. He soon recognized it. Shadow magic.

Or at least whatever Pegasus had left.

"Jabberwocky…" whispered Pegasus. "End it."

The giant dragon let out a blood curdling roar and belched out a wave of silver flames.

_In Belial's direction_.

The Marquis seemed to realize it just in time. His eyes flared in fury just as the attack hit him.

Pegasus looked skyward. He seemed to be praying, even as the Jabberwocky's flames completely obscured Belial.

Yugi stared on in shock, completely numb, unable to wrap his mind around what had just happened. The flames began to die down after a minute or so.

Revealing a seething Belial.

"Foolish," he breathed. "Very very foolish."

He hadn't suffered so much as a scratch.

Pegasus closed his eyes.

"Die."

With an inhuman howl he thrust out his right hand, unleashing a wave of pulsating green energy even as Yugi shrieked, "NO!"

Pegasus didn't scream. He merely continued to look skyward, raising his hands to a wide open stance, as if he was accepting his fate. It took all of ten seconds until the result became clear to all those watching.

Maximillion Pegasus was dead.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**W00t! Betcha weren't expecting that! Thanks to Metal once again for helping me with so many aspects of the Yugi-Pegasus duel including the conclusions! The first half of this fic is almost over and things are going to come to an explosive head next time! Don't forget about Moscow, we've got a desperate rescue mission being mounted, but everything is not as it seems! See it all next time in chapter 41, tentative title Broken Dreams!**

**Thanks a lot to all my readers once again, and don't forget to review :).**


	43. The Hard Way

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE: The Hard Way

**Here I am again!**

**It's been a while again, and this time I have no excuse except that certain parts were rather hard to write, and I wanted to do them well.**

**Dinomus: Haha I will never let my readers guess! NEVER I say :P Yes, my friend was in the Mumbai area. I live there too. A lot of people I know were in the close vicinity of these bomb blasts. It's sick.**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: I frankly thought I could've done the Roland/Joey duel better, it ended a little quickly. You'll be happy to see more of your contributions here :D**

**Aelstha-Mental: Thanks a lot **

**Dark Oynx: It's no problem, I know what you mean. Just knowing that a loyal reader such as you is always there, appreciating my work, is a great motivation.**

**Candyman123: No problem, hope you enjoy this one.**

The entire scene seemed to have been paused dramatically, with the introduction of Max, David and Aaron and the bewildered reaction of the original task force.

Finally, Rikuo broke the silence.

"You're kidding me, aren't you?" he muttered sardonically. "We're fighting a war on an interstellar scale and a couple of Eagle rejects are supposed to be our backup?"

David spoke up first, in a deep voice. "Mr. Avalon has informed us of the details. You're looking for a missing person. You need help."

Rikuo gestured around him. "We _have_ help. I'm a five thousand year old demon general with more battle experience than the rest of the people in this world put together. We also have one more demon, a Millennium Item holder, and an Eagle agent. So, really, you're not welcome here."

"The _help_ you have here; they can start a war against whoever was responsible for kidnapping your friend," spoke up Max.

He took a step forward and placed a hand on the table, looking Rikuo in the eye. "But you need a different sort of help. To start a war against the guys responsible, you need to _find_ them first. That's where we come in. With all due respect, you guys wouldn't be able to find your own backsides if I gave you a mirror on a stick."

Bakura took an aggressive step forward. "So you're calling us dumb muscle?" he snapped.

Max raised his eyebrows. "Dude I could recommend a barber who uses his _hands_ if you'd like-…"

Meanwhile, the third member of MADness, Aaron, let out a frustrated sigh and took a step forward, between his companions and the set of increasingly angry duelists.

"Ok, look, my two friends here can be a little _overenthusiastic._ This is not exactly the best way to start things off, especially if we're going to be working together-.."

"Who said we want to work with you?" snapped Sarah moodily. It seemed that the day's events had begun to take their toll on her usually polite demeanor as well.

"You don't really have a choice," sighed David. "Let me put this frankly: without us, you'd be _nowhere_. On the ride over we did a bit of poking around and we've at least got some material to work with."

He nodded to Max and the latter extracted a file from a backpack that had been lying at the entrance. He opened it, pulled out a few sheets of paper and pushed them towards Rikuo, who glanced at them disdainfully.

"What are these?"

"Have a look at them."

Bakura, Deondre, Sarah and Eizan all bent over as well. Patrick and Chenko watched the exchange silently.

They were a sequence of pictures. Specifically, pictures taken from a thermal imaging satellite.

The first one depicted a series of crimson points in the midst of a giant swirl of blue. The latter ones showed three points moving further and further away from the swirl, until they seemed to merge with another, much larger shape.

Eizan looked up, and spoke quietly.

"This is a thermal imaging representation of the entire incident at the Valley of Spirits. The ones responsible for taking our friend boarded a plane."

Aaron nodded vigorously."That is correct. If we had more time we'd be able to track the vapor trails of the aircraft and figure out where it landed. Quite a start isn't it?"

"How do such scrubs have access to this kind of information?" demanded Rikuo.

Max rolled his eyes. "How many languages do you speak, General?"

"Four," snapped back Rikuo.

The other man met his piercing gaze. "I only speak one. One zero zero one zero one zero zero one zero one one."

Rikuo just gave him a strange look before realization seemed to dawn for one of his companions. "Wait a minute, that's binary code, isn't it?" Sarah asked.

Max nodded.

"I can't do the things you can do Mr. Wolf. I can't lift cards above my head and dodge bullets with consummate ease. However, you can't even _dream_ of the things I can do. All I need is a system and internet access, and the world is my oyster. The world of the electron and the switch, _that_ is my world. I can open a door into any world of my choice and there's nothing anyone can do to stop me."

He brushed a lock of hair out of his eyes.

"So, Gen, are we cool?"

Aaron sweat-dropped a bit. "Uhh.. My apologies. Max tends to be a bit dramatic."

Rikuo glowered, while Deondre and Bakura tried hard to maintain straight faces.

"How about we try this again?" interjected David.

He pushed Max out of the way and extended his hand. "My name is Xavier Esteban Ricardo Alvarez. However, I go by David Luiz."

Rikuo didn't shake it. David shrugged.

"I'm Max Mairo," put in his friend.

"And you can call me Aaron Pierce," finished the final man, seemingly getting even more embarrassed by the theatrics of his companions. "We're a private detective agency and specialize in high espionage cases. Mr. Avalon has used our services in the past and decided that we could help you track down your friend when he was informed of your, ahem, predicament."

Meanwhile, as he was speaking, Max had extracted a laptop from his bag and was already firing it up.

Eizan broke the rather awkward silence.

"All right. Patrick, you didn't consult me on the prospect of external aid, but at this point we don't have a choice. Mr. Pierce, where are we going to begin?"

Before Aaron could answer, David interjected smoothly, pulling the laptop away from Max and punching in a few keys.

"Right from the beginning. We're going to do this down and dirty, work the clues, and find your friend. We're doing this the hard way."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A giant, golden dragon let out a terrifying roar and then followed it up with a wave of flames that washed over a quintet of jets. Three of them were literally atomized, their pilots with them. The other two were a little more heavily armored, but the flames damaged them more than enough to the extent that one of the pilots literally fell out of a hole in the bottom and the other had his craft go into a wild tailspin and crash somewhere underneath the dark cloud cover.

It was Ryu Zaytel. Specifically, Ryu Zaytel in full dragon demon form, wreaking havoc with the opposing Legion armada.

Zerato was out there as well, angelic wings cracking open from his pack, and a long, shining energy blade appearing in one hand. He wielded it with consummate ease, cleaving fighter after fighter in half.

The two flanked the helicopter, which itself was mounted with guns that Brian was making good use of. Together, the three were cutting a direct path toward the towering mother ship.

There was, however, only so much that three could do against hundreds.

Brian swore and yanked the joystick to the left to barely avoid a missile that would've knocked them straight out of the sky if it had hit.

Kaiba had been hanging onto one of the poles in the back of the chopper for dear life up until that point, and had just barely managed to retain his footing amongst the chaos. The same went for Daniel, Tea, and CJ. Even though the former and latter were both demons, neither had the airborne abilities of Ryu to effectively combat the Legion counteroffensive in a hand-to-hand situation.

"I am NOT going to just stand here and let other people decide my fate!" cursed Kaiba.

He slid his Duel Disk out of his coat.

Daniel's eyes widened. "_Why didn't I think of that? Genius!_"

Brian caught a glance of what Kaiba was doing as he made another sharp turn which nearly through everyone out the door which Zerato and Ryu had used to exit the chopper.

"Kaiba are you insane?" he bellowed.

But it was too late.

"Come on out, Blue Eyes White Dragon (3000/2500)!" roared Kaiba, slamming the card onto his Duel Disk as he ran to the edge.

There was an explosion of white energy somewhere high above them in the night sky, and a massive shape plummeted down toward them. Soon it began to take on features, and within moments was instantly recognizable as the legendary icon of Duel Monsters. It was as big as perhaps five of the fighters put together, and its wings spread out as it let out a spine tingling roar.

Kaiba jumped right off the edge and landed in an awkward scrabble on his favorite monster's back. Luckily it was more than big enough for him to get a hold on the diamond-like scales and pull his way up to the base of the creature's neck.

"Show these cretin the meaning of power!" he hollered. "Burst Stream of Destruction!"

The wyvern reared its head back and spat out a blaze of crystalline white energy that slammed into an oncoming jet, decimating it within seconds.

The recoil from the attack nearly knocked Kaiba off, but he held onto the scales of its neck tight, hoping that the others would get a clue and help him out as well.

Luckily for him, they did.

Daniel's voice could be heard from above the drone of hundreds of engine and the screeches of battle.

"Jinzo (2400/1500) and Elemental Hero Flame Wingman (2100/1200)!"

Appearing floating in the air below the chopper was the familiar cybernetic android, with its brains visible through a transparent type of helmet. It had dark-green goggles on its face, and pink skin. It wore a black and yellow-patterned full-body suit.

Next to it was creature that had a red dragon head for a right arm, a mostly green and black body, with a long red tail, and a white wing on its left shoulder. The creature's head was mostly black with some red, and its eyes were red.

"RYU!" Daniel roared.

The golden dragon had been busy trying to shake off a smaller Legion soldier who had been foolhardy enough to abandon his aircraft and jump onto the demon's back. With a final grunt, it twisted its neck around and crushed the comparatively miniscule soldier between its giant jaws. After that, the dragon flapped its wings hard and made its way toward a point underneath the chopper, after which Daniel jumped off and landed neatly on his friend's back.

With the wolf demon beginning to yell out orders to the monsters he had summoned, and with the Blue Eyes, Zerato and Brian still going strong, the group began to make some decent progress toward the mother ship.

Suddenly, an invisible energy pulse erupted from a point on the mother ship. It came without warning, except for a small green glow at the point of origin. The expanding wave rocked every fighter within a mile's radius as well as the chopper, throwing everyone inside it off their feet. Even Daniel and Kaiba were barely able to stay in a seated position.

Kaiba looked over at the glow and a feeling of dread began to set in even as the battle resumed.

Things were getting out of hand.

Would they reach Yugi in time? Or did the energy wave mean that they were already too late?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Yugi felt his head begin to go light as he stared on blankly at what was left of Pegasus.

Was this really happening?

Belial glanced at the back of his hand, which was still crackling with green energy.

"Pathetic old man," he hissed, clamping it into a fist before turning his gaze towards Yugi.

Yami took this as a cue to take over. Yugi really was in no condition to deal with the powerful Marquis right now, neither physically nor mentally.

"Belial!" thundered the Pharaoh. "Yugi had nothing to do with what Pegasus did! Let us go, now!"

The Marquis ignored him.

"_Pegasus died before the duel could be completed. Therefore, the challenge has been voided_."

As those thoughts passed through his mind, Belial let out an insane shriek of fury, whirling around and firing a spherical green energy attack at Yami, who just barely rolled away in time.

"SOMEBODY MUST PAY!" roared Belial, taking giant strides toward the champion duelist.

Yami's features became disfigured with a ferocious snarl and his Puzzle began to glow with reaction, firing out a wave of golden fire. It hit Belial directly in the chest, slowing his advance to some extent but not stopping him from continuing his reckless troupe onward towards Yami.

Another blast from the Puzzle garnered much the same result and the Pharaoh backed away with a third blast, but it was only a reflexive action. His mind was already telling him that there wasn't any exit and even if there was or he could blast a hole in the station, they were thousands upon thousands of feet in the air.

A hopeless battle or a long fall. Either way ended in death.

But to Yami, it wasn't a choice. The Puzzle glowed sharply as he gathered energy for another blast, a unyielding look on his face as Belial advanced. He was a Pharaoh. He would not back done or run and no matter what, he'd take Belial with him to the afterlife.

The Marquis sneered at the look on the ancient ruler's face, another green burst of energy crackling to life around his hand.

"Defiant to the end. How tediously predictable. But useless, Pharoah, because you are not even a footnote in the Legion's majestic history! Your acts mean nothing compared to us! You and your planet will be ours for eternity!"

"As long as one person resists you, Belial, you will never conquer Earth or humanity!" Gold and green energy collided in a brilliant flare of light and destructive power, the explosion actually rocking Belial back a few steps while hurtling Yami against the wall.

Groaning in pain, the champion duelist managed to recover on his feet. He refused to even show one sign of weakness to this..._monstrosity_ that attacked his planet, attacked his friends and twisted and killed a good man.

His Puzzle seemed to react a moment before his brain consciously realized it, projecting a golden shield as sec a beam of energy hurtled towards him. The two energies sparked and crackled against one another, Yami barely able to make out Belial advancing again as he kept up his attack.

The shield suddenly cracked and buckled, shrinking around it's owner as the Marquis' power began to tip the scales in its favors. A fact that did not go unnoticed by the demon.

"Your pathetic farce is over. Yield and I may spare your life!"

"Better than you have said the same and I tell you what I told them: Never!" The Puzzle burned to life, radiating a surge of golden energy that blew the shield away and scattered the beam attack, searing and scorching the arena as well as producing a blinding storm of light.

Yami began to pant as the aftermath began to clear and he began to charge up for another attack. While he may have been fresher mentally, he was still worn from his chain duel from the Legion and the duel with Pegasus had been taxing on Yugi, mentally, emotionally and _physically._ A downside of sharing the same body that he was hoping wouldn't kill them in hindsight.

The Marquis emerged through the light and smoke, blasts already charged in his hands and his eyes shimmering with the power of the Legion. "Enough!" He hurtled them at the Pharoah. The golden counterattack slammed into one and another explosion rocked the arena, but Yami already knew that he didn't have time to fire another blast as the second attack hurtled right for him.

Red and orange light up Yami's world briefly and he had to shield his face from the light and heat as a fireball intercepted the second attack from above. "What on earth?"

"Who dares!" Belial roared as he shifted his gaze skyward, only to receive a trio of fireballs to the face. The combined explosions sent him staggering back and a fourth fireball, much larger than the rest, plowed into his chest and consumed him in a pillar of fire.

"Never fear, the British cavalry is here!" In time with the line, a form dropped to the deck in front of him Yami and then stood, revealing a woman who had long blonde hair, nearly past her waist. Great flaming wings folded themselves against her back and in her right hand, she held a massive sword whose burnt-orange blade was at least four feet long and despite it's apparent weight, was held easily And for some reason, the fact she was tall enough that the tip of his hair reached her forehead was irritating to the ancient ruler.

He brushed it aside as the woman grinned at him. "Who..."

"Aggressive reporting." She replied cheerfully.

The comment stirred a memory in what Kaiba had said about his adventures. "You're that reporter..."

"Natasha Marquand at your service. Though you can call me Tash and reporting is just a side job." She turned around as the pillar of fire turned into nothing as Belial practically ripped his way out of it with a roar. "I'm actually a Librarian. Well, Assistant Librarian, anyway, since my husband came back from the dead. Didn't even have the decency to get me chocolates. Cheeky bastard, he is..."

"Right." Even as his mind tried to process the statement, the Pharaoh's eyes widened as she raised her blade. "You aren't going to-"

Then she vanished from his sight, reappearing in front of the Marquis. A flaming arc trailed her flurry of sword swings and then were joined by smaller arcs of blood as the Duel Spirit howled in pain. Slashes and cuts opened themselves almost magically on his body, so fast were blows.

"Insignificant speck!" The angered cry was accompanied by a backhand slap that sent Tash hurtling towards a wall like she'd been hit by a freight train. Before a cry had escaped Yami's lips, however, she twisted in the air and landed on her feet against the wall. The metal bucked under the impact, but she didn't seem phased by as she hurtled back towards Belial, flames roaring to life around her sword.

A volley of green energy blasts were slashed apart or acrobatically flown around before Tash flashed past him, a slash opening on the Marquis' shoulder. It was a deadly dance as the winged woman darted around the Legion's front, flashing in and out to land a flaming cut as he blasted out her out of the air and only served to brush her wings and the tips of her hair.

It ended when Tash vanished and reappeared crouched down below him, unleashing a whirling reverse-handed slash that looked like it would have cleaved him from groin to shoulder...until he caught her flaming blade in both hands and her blue eyes widened in surprise.

"I don't know who you are, woman, but my patience with you is at its limit!" The two strained against one another, but Belial was the one who had all the leverage and it was apparent that however strong Tash was in contrast to her slight appearance, he was stronger. Her blade quaked as he began to shove it down, preparing not to trap her under it, but to cleave right through her head with it.

That's when the golden blast caught him the face, the Marquis staggering back in surprise and annoyance more than pain. A series of more blasts staggered him and one even ripped open his shoulder even more, prompting a sharp angry cry.

Tash didn't hesitate, vanishing from sight and reappearing above him, whirling down at him in a summersault. Fire enveloped her form and the now human-sized fireball plowed into him, flooring him and shaking the arena. Then the metal beneath the pair superheated and melted away, the pair vanishing from view.

Yami had already taken two steps towards the hole when a scream and a lance of green power made it bigger and hurtling his rescuer into the sky above the battle station as the Marquis leapt out of the hole, smoking and looking rather irritated. Despite the wounds he had received, they did not seem to bother him in the least and to his horror, Yami saw them begin to close up without a hitch.

"This farce ends now!" Green energy crackled around Belial's form as rage twisted his face and his eyes burned with the Legion's light.

"Time to go!" Tash reappeared in front of Yami, grabbing the Pharaoh under her free arm and with a beat of her wings, launched them up into the sky even as Belial's lightning arced and howled after them with only the woman's inhuman reactions and speed keeping them safe.

As they neared the lip, a loud roar made them both whirl around just in time to see Belial flying right after them. Tash drew back her blade and slammed the flaming weapon down just in time intercept the glowing green fist. The impact and accompanying shockwave hurtled the two combatants apart as it ripped through the air.

Knowing her passenger was not as durable she was, Tash had twisted to take the brunt of the shockwave and was paying for it. They skipped off the lip of the arena and bounced wildly across the battle station's surface before she stopped them by driving her blade into the war machine.

Getting her feet, she growled as Belial landed heavily a few yards in front of them, the metal denting under him. "Persistent bugger, aren't you?" Gripping her weapon, fire ripped down its length and then burst from it, roaring and zigzagging across the ship's surface to surrounded the Marquis and collided with him, the explosion shredding away bits of melted metal to slag and the pillar of fire rocketing into the air.

"ENOUGH!" Belial slammed his hands together, blowing the flames away and forcing Tash to tighten her grip on Yami and shield him with a flaming wing as a blast of energy slammed into it, nearly causing the pair to go flying. It was only Tash's grip on her blade that kept them from doing so and even then, the weapon was nearly torn free itself.

"Love..." Tash ground out as she pulled the weapon free fully and readied it. "Anytime you're ready..."

"Who are you?" roared Yami over the noise.

"I'll explain later, concentrate on a solution to this situation right now!" snapped the winged girl as she continued to flap as she gripped her sword tightly, glaring at Belial who was advancing toward them with a maniacal look on his face.

Yami knew the situation was hopeless. Belial was stronger than both of them, whoever this girl was. His wounds were healing as soon as they were inflicted, while both him and this girl Tash were badly bruised and battered.

He began to draw on his final reserves of energy within the Puzzle in a last ditch hope, when an unusual sound echoed out.

It sounded like… _words_.

"There's a fell voice on the air!" he croaked out.

Tash's expression of concentration and fretfulness broke out into a lazy grin at this. Even Belial stopped momentarily.

The voice began to boom out even louder, to the extent that they could hear it even over the roar of the wind and the various explosions and sounds of the battle.

"_Deleo obscurum , loco is ut sileo. Consurgo liberi of lux lucis , loco obscurum ut sileo_."

Without any prior warning of any kind, a gigantic bolt of lightning lanced out of the darkness and slammed into Belial.

The attack was stronger than anything Yami or Tash could've thrown at the Marquis. It opened a massive cut on his right arm, pushing him down onto one knee.

"What is this?" he gasped, staggering upward after a moment and looking around wildly in the air.

"Don't be shy Adrian!" sang Tash suddenly. "He's just a Marquis!"

The voice continued to boom out, even louder than before. However, Yami could pinpoint where it was coming from: a certain patch underneath the clouds.

Another bolt cracked out and this time slammed into a hovercraft which had been floating on the battle station's perimeter as a sentry. The flash blinded them, but when they were able to see again, no sign remained of the craft.

The patch underneath the clouds began to glow, and a sphere of energy expanded out of it. It seemed the floating sphere contained a man.

Belial, who had been looking around wildly for the source of all this mayhem, turned and fixed his eyes upon the new arrival.

He was dressed in bright red trenchcoat that flapped in the wind and a pair of silver-furred kitten ears twitched atop his head. Beneath his feet, a pentacle filled with arcane designs was glowing softly.

He continued to fly higher until he was at eye level with the top of the battle station, perhaps ten feet away.

"About time," growled Mei, rolling her eyes at the man.

Before he could reply, Belial interrupted hoarsely.

"Who in the nine hells are you?"

"Me?" The man offered the Marquis a casual salute. "I'm just a librarian. Whose about to make you _really, really_ hate him."

"I highly doubt that you could make this day any worse," the Marquis retorted with a snarl.

"This is probably going to change your mind." The man raised his hand skyward and the pentacle around his feet surged in response, lightning crackling from various points along it to arc into his hand to from a massive sphere. Then the sphere bolted skywards in a brilliant flare of light.

He began to boom out unintelligible syllables once again. The results were nothing short of spectacular.

Lightning began to lance from the sky violently once again. This time, however, the lightning was violet in color and wasn't flashing down for the sake of it.

Each time a bolt flashed, it struck a Legion fighter and destroyed.

Soon the sky around the battle station was filled with the explosions and lightning, leaving Belial staring in angry surprise as the small armada was devastated. "NO!"

It was as if God himself had decided enough was enough and was at a point where he was inflicted a modicum of justice upon the invaders.

Tash's form blurred and reappeared alongside the man with Yami still under her arm.

"Time to go?"

"Most definitely."

The man was suddenly replaced by a small white cat that leapt into Tash's arm. And with a flaring beat of her wings, she rocketed away from the battle station.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Zerato felt like a deer caught in the headlights.

Literally.

One second, he was grappling with Legion soldiers in jet-packs and blasting ships left and right, and the next he saw more than half his foes be vanquished in a single display of power.

Which left the question of _who_.

Lightning bolts had descended from the skies. To control such magical power required unheard of focus and innate abilities. Only the Council members were capable of such a God-like display. The Council members, and…

He narrowed his eyes as he looked to the east. A crimson form was streaking toward them.

Could it actually be that the Librarian had decided to enter the fray?

He didn't have time to contemplate these kind of matters, however. Especially when the rest of his charges were still caught in a messy battle.

Brian, Tea, and CJ were still in the helicopter which was exchanging rapid gunfire in a brutal dogfight with a pair of remaining Legion gunship stragglers. Kaiba's Blue Eyes seemed to have been injured, and he was desperate for an opportunity to 'get another ride' and recall it. Meanwhile, Daniel and Ryu were surrounded by three other fighters.

Zerato heaved a breath. He was running low on power reserves. Still, what needed to be done needed to be done.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Belial stared at the open wound on his right arm, and for a moment just held the look.

He then gnashed his teeth in fury, staggering off his knees.

"These _insects _will pay!" he howled. Picking his communicator off the floor, he rasped into it.

"Activate the port-side gun. Blow these maggots out of the sky!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Zerato was just about to engage one of the fighters baring down on Ryu and Daniel, who had been forced to recall his monsters due to injury, when the crimson speck suddenly burst onto the scene.

It was not something he had expected, to say the least.

It was a tall woman with long blonde hair and a pair of flaming red wings with a sword strapped to her back, along with a white kitten in one hand and a disheveled Pharaoh's collar grasped in the other.

"What is this?" spluttered the Archangel.

The kitten leapt out of her hand and in the process transformed into a lean man in a trench coat with kitten-like ears. He was floating easily next to the lady and Yami.

Zerato gasped. So it _was_ the Librarian.

"You…! The Librarian…!"

The man nodded. "Just call me Adrian. It's a pleasure to meet you, Archangel, after gleaning so much information about you, but honestly this is neither the time nor the place for pleasantries. If you'll excuse me…"

Apparently called Adrian, he cracked his knuckles and took off toward the jets surrounding Ryu and Daniel.

As he approached them, a katana appeared on his side. He drew it swiftly, and began to glow so brightly that the spectators were somewhat blinded.

When they were able to see again, he was hovering perfectly unperturbed on the other side of Ryu and Daniel. He sheathed his katana, and as he did so, the fighters began to explode one by one.

Yami stared on stupidly.

"_Just who is this guy_?"

Meanwhile, Tash nodded to Zerato.

"I understand your original plan was to escape here by means of teleportation."

The Archangel nodded, still slightly confused. "Teleportation of these many people requires a great deal of power. I was planning to only use it at the opportune moment, as I would then be too drained to do it again for a while."

Tash looked around. Adrian was floating back to them, followed by a bewildered pair of demons. Kaiba had summoned his Blue Eyes back and was climbing back into the helicopter, equally confused at this mysterious pair who had simply appeared and destroyed half the Legion armada.

"I think now would be the best time to do so then, wouldn't you agree?" muttered the British girl.

Zerato nodded. "Will you and the Librarian be joining us?"

Tash nodded. "There's words to be had. No offense to your employers but the Council haven't been very forthcoming in information to these duelists. Adrian thought it was time he stepped in momentarily, things were getting slightly out of hand."

Yami did a double take. Slightly? So what were things that got _really_ out of hand?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Part of the giant wall began to fold open, the towering, emerald cannon emerging from within it.

Belial remained crouched on the edge, leering over at the cluster around the helicopter.

He would have done it himself.

But he was weakened. First the Pharaoh, then the girl, and finally the strange man in a trench coat who possessed almost incomprehensible power.

It was preferable right now to exercise the gigantic might of the Legion that was behind him, and wipe out his enemies in a spectacular show of force.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Within a few minutes, all the duelists including, a relieved Yami, were standing in the helicopter, with Tash and Adrian hovering outside.

"You!" demanded Kaiba, the moment he had gotten back in and noticed the two new arrivals, specifically, Mei. "What are you doing here?"

"Me," she replied dryly. "We need to get moving, money-bags, save the questions for later."

Zerato was standing on the other edge, his entire body shimmering white.

"I need about a minute and a half more," he gasped.

"You might want to lower that estimate," called out Adrian, narrowing his eyes and turning to look at a growing green glow in the distance.

"Don't interfere," snapped Kaiba. "We don't even know who you are. Just because you killed a bunch of these freaks doesn't mean-…"

"Don't argue at this time, _please_, Mr. Kaiba," echoed Zerato in a raised voice. His eyes were shut tight, fists clenched.

The duelists all turned and watched him apprehensively. The green glow on the edge of the battle station was glowing even more.

Zerato exhaled.

"Librarian: I need you to block the attack until I'm ready."

Adrian nodded, and floated over to the front of the chopper. He spread his arms, and electricity began to crackle around him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Belial noticed the lean figure hovering in front of the chopper, and his eyes widened.

"FIRE NOW!" he howled into the communicator.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rikuo and Deondre were engaged in a regular, table-top duel without Duel Disks to pass the time as Max, David and Aaron pounded away on their laptops. At first Rikuo was insistent that he do something to help the situation, but Eizan had calmly managed to explain to him that the best thing to do was sit tight and rest until the rather unorthodox members of MADness were able to track the vapor trails.

"D.D. Survivor (1800/200) attacks Green Gadget (1400/600)," muttered Deondre. Bakura continued to peer over curiously, while Sarah sat in a corner alone, rather stony-faced.

"That's game."

"Yes, it is," retorted Rikuo. "Trap Reflector lets me copy your Dimension Wall, which instead deals you that four hundred points of damage."

The Dog Demon Lord looked at his life-point score which had last been written down. Three hundred.

He scowled and shuffled his deck back together.

"What about you, robber?" called out Rikuo to Bakura in a bored tone. "Fancy a duel?"

The holder of the Millennium Ring's features became marred with irritation.

"You whelp," he snapped. "I am a legend amongst the fraternity of thieves, none can compare their achievements with mine. I am no mere burglar, I am the King of Thieves-…"

"Oye!" shouted out Max. "Canines and pickpockets alike, we're getting somewhere! I can now provide you lot with an opportunity to actually release your pent-up testosterone in the field rather than snapping away at each other like out of work wrestlers."

Both Rikuo and Bakura paused. The former's eye began to twitch.

"Canines," he repeated.

Max nodded vigorously. "Or whatever it is you want to be called. Come on over here, we've got something for you."

"Amero, when this is over I will let you strike the first blow," croaked Bakura, almost shaking with furiousness.

"That is kind of you," replied Rikuo in a strangely calm voice. "You may then use his intestines for wall paper or whatever it is you Britons do."

Max didn't even seem to hear the rather unusual exchange, as the rest of the group nervously shuffled to a spot behind his chair, making sure to keep two bodies between Max and Rikuo and Bakura all the while.

On his screen was an image that depicted a thermal image of the sky above northern Asia.

"Now, see, normally, tracking down the vapor trail of a single plane would be a needle in a haystack situation," began David.

"But since we seem to have _guests_, most major cities have their airports completely shut down. Only a few rather wealthy individuals seem to have been able to get their planes up and running in time to escape whatever's going on from their own private airfields. So, thankfully, we haven't had too many intersecting vapor trails."

He tapped a few more keys, and well defined crimson lines began to appear on the screen. There were perhaps thirty of them, criss-crossing all over the place. One of them was a bit bolder than the others, and seemed to begin from the bottom: presumably this was the vapor trail of the plane they were tracking that lifted off somewhere from the middle of central China.

Max took up the explanation, placing his finger at the bottom of the bold line and tracing upward.

"Now as you may have guessed, this is the trail we're tracking. We got lucky, central China doesn't seem to have many runways. The flight path was largely uninterrupted until a region maybe a hundred miles south of here. It seemed, however, that another plane crossed the vapor trail at this point."

He stopped his hand at a large, glowing, red dot.

"Now, one vapor trail proceeds toward a private airfield about sixty miles west of our current location. The other ends in Sheremetyevo International Airport, which is about eighty five miles north."

Rikuo glanced at Eizan, who spoke slowly.

"This is progress. We have now eliminated all but two potential landing sites."

The Wolf Demon General snapped back. "Not as big a help as you would like us to believe, old man. Each place is at least an hour's drive away. We will need to split up to check out both. And even if we pin-point which airfield is the correct one, that doesn't bring us much closer to finding _him_."

He seemed adamant not to mention Jason by name.

"Hey, head honcho, you're forgetting about us," put in Max.

Before he could infuriate the Wolf Demon General further, Aaron shoved him away and took up the conversation.

"In all seriousness, Mr. Amero, when we take a case, we see it through. I suggest we split up and check out both the places. Max, David and I will look for potential clues. Call it four hours, and we rendezvous back here and decide the next step."

Chenko, meanwhile, had been busy on his own laptop. He looked up over it and spoke thinly.

"It is currently twelve thirty a.m. The news is stating that the extraterrestrials will be in Moscow by tomorrow afternoon. Mr. Avalon pays me well but fighting aliens is not a part of my job description. Let me warn you, if you have not found your friend by noon, you are on your own. Mr. Avalon and I will be leaving."

"I'm sure we will not need to arrive at that situation," interrupted Patrick diplomatically. "As of now, I would recommend that you leave immediately to investigate. Chenko, would you care to accompany one of the groups?"

The thickset Russian glanced at his employer and finally nodded.

Eizan stood up heavily.

"All right. Rikuo, Mr. Pierce, Mr. Luiz and Chenko will check out the Moscow International Airport. Mr. Mairo, Sarah, Deondre and Bakura, you four will come with me to the private airfield. Does everyone have a cell phone?"

Rikuo, Bakura and Deondre shook their heads. Before Eizan could reply, Max had opened his backpack and tossed three mobiles to each duelist, complete with a Bluetooth for each one that fit onto their ears.

The trio stared at him.

"I keep some spare tech lying around," he shrugged. "When we get moving David and I will set up two four-way conference calls."

Eizan looked around gravely. "Time is like ammunition here. Use it wisely. If we don't find Jason in the next twelve hours, we may never be able to do so again."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Joey had his back pressed to the wall, breathing heavily. Standing right next to him was Gilford the Lightning, almost eight feet tall and rather intimidating.

Around the corner was possibly the most intense gun battle that had occurred within the borders of the United States since Gettysburg.

NYPD riot cops and the National Guard were assembled behind their vehicles, guns literally blazing in the direction of a large assimilation of those _things_.

It was the first time Joey had ever seen one of them in the flesh other than Roland.

Needless to say, they were appropriately horrifying at such close range.

Each one of the Legion seemed to be as tall as a professional basketball player, with lime green skin and eyes. Their thick combat armor also had the shining emeralds embedded in them, just like so many of the monsters Roland had played in his duel with Joey.

The lawmen were losing. Badly. If Joey were able to get within five feet of any of them, he would see true fear in their eyes.

Dealing with bank robbers and murderers of the _Homo sapiens _variant was one thing. Interplanetary embodiments of devastation was enough to unsettle even the most hardened cop.

The punk duelist looked at Gilford and nodded. The men had to be helped.

The barbaric warrior unsheathed his sword and strode out confidently, letting out a howl to attract the attention of the wall of Legion combatants.

Mechanically, three of them turned around to analyze the new threat.

There wasn't much time for them to register it before a blaze of lightning erupted from the warrior's sword, melting them within their armor.

"How about that?" growled Joey, walking out from behind cover of the wall.

The atomization of three of their brethren seemed to attract the attention of at least half of the perhaps twenty remaining Legion troops.

Joey gulped nervously and remembered something his father had said to him.

"_When in doubt, act like a tough guy_."

He drew himself up to his fullest height, a modest five foot eleven at the tip of his large mop of hair, and rolled up his sleeves.

"Who wants some?" he stuttered.

One of the Legion soldiers who had turned their attention to Joey and Gilford seemed to be a commander of sorts, and spoke in a freakishly mechanical croak.

"_Kill_."

Joey was betting it all on one card now: he could hold his own in a street fight but against opponents like these his strongest punches would be akin to throwing pebbles off the street. If Gilford couldn't take the entire group, he was finished.

Before either the Legion soldiers _or_ Gilford could make the first move, a demonic howl erupted from one of the nearby alleys. Joey turned in alarm to see a wave of black flames erupting from one of the alley ways to the right of the phalanx of soldiers.

The blaze continued on for a solid ninety seconds before it somewhat seemed to evaporate into nothingness.

Not a single soldier remained. However, a pile of emerald crystals clinked together in their place.

Emerging from the alley was a towering demon clad in black armor with silver gauntlets. Two large wings spread out behind him.

Joey's eyes widened with recognition. "You!" he gasped. "Zeruge…!"

For a moment his mind flashed back to the beach where he had seen the demon shatter Drake Manning's nose with absurd ease when he had tried to attack Rikuo.

The demon was gasping with exertion, almost down on one knee. The cops were shocked out of their minds, and their reaction was only natural: they swiveled in his directions, turning their guns on him with fingers on triggers.

"Stop!" cried out Joey hoarsely, taking a step forward. "He's on our side…!"

The levels of alarm only raised and some of the lawmen turned their weapons on him. Momentarily, Joey couldn't blame them: he was standing next to a giant of a man clad in archaic armor and holding a sword bigger than most of the cops' entire bodies.

Just when the situation seemed like it couldn't get any more bizarre, two comparatively diminutive forms emerged from the alley, flanking Zeruge. Joey's eyes widened as he recognized one of them almost immediately.

The long blonde hair, tanned skin, purple cloak…

If ten automatic weapons hadn't been trained on him, Joey might have actually rushed forward and strangled Marik Ishtar to death.

On the other side was Ishizu Ishtar, her delicate Egyptian beauty completely unmistakable. Coming up behind the demon was the hulking figure of Odion, who seemed to be carrying multiple wounds as he huffed with every step he took.

Ishizu looked nothing short of terrified.

"Please!" she choked out loud, directing her words at the lawmen.

"_Stop this_!"

The men were even more bewildered. Despite their obvious large number, they began to back away in trepidation. After all, this giant had just slaughtered an entire squadron of these biological travesties, _one_ of whom had proved nearly impossible to kill. His companions, especially the blonde one and the large one, didn't scream "normal".

The unit's captain was at his wits end. Radio communications were down, so it wasn't as if he could refer the situation to a superior for advice. His mouth opened, and the beginning syllables of the phrase "open fire" began to form on his lips, when everyone stopped short at a gigantic _crack_ that echoed through the air.

Everyone paused, looking around warily.

Joey couldn't quite put his finger on it, but was _the ground shaking_?

A colossal groan sounded out behind him. The elite duelist turned around in shock, and nearly lost his footing in the process as the ground trembled once more.

Behind him, the cops dropped their guns one by one, jaws dropping.

Two of the skyscrapers a few blocks down the empty street were groaning and swaying as a pair of three clawed hands, each one the size of a house, curled around their edges and began pushing with immeasurable strength.

The once proud monuments to human architecture collapsed, on either side with earth shattering crashes, the shockwaves blowing out the windows in every direction for miles and bringing nearly the entire party to their knees, clutching their ears. From within the dust clouds and ruins emerged a nightmare apparition, a behemoth monster that was simply gargantuan.

It was slightly humanoid, and it was alive: these were the only two similarities between the towering beast and the people on the street staring up at it in terror.

The creature had grayish brown, almost metallic skin; one couldn't tell it was armor or its actual skin color. It resembled the surface of a meteor, which crags and craters visible literally all over the place. It peered out from beneath an enormous metal helm outfitted with what almost looked like satellite equipment with four bulbous yellow eyes and a mouth with needle cyst like teeth resembling an Angler fish.

On each of its arms a wrist mounted gatling gun thrummed ready to unleash a concentrated barrage of plasma blasts at a moment's notice. As if this hadn't been enough, on each of its top shoulders was mounted a missile launcher large enough to hold an entire silo's worth of nuclear warheads.

Embedded in its chest was a _massive _green stone, which seemed to pulsate and suck the light out of its surroundings.

Joey quivered as the behemoth paused momentarily and looked down at the group of stragglers.

"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!" bellowed Zeruge.

"_**RUN**_!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"FIRE!" roared Belial again.

This time, his subordinates who were operating the titanic mechanism somewhere below obeyed immediately.

The opening of the gargantuan portside gun was brimming with emerald energy. With an enormous _bang_, it was all expelled out at once.

If one was standing on the street and looking at this scene, it was akin to a bolt of lightning: however, instead of lancing from its place in the clouds to the ground, it was flashing directly across the sky: towards a rapidly growing white sphere.

When it collided, an explosion the likes of which very few had witnessed before took place. It wasn't noisy: the sheer energy that it released was akin to a nuclear explosion. Erupting from the epicenter was a titanic ring of lime green energy that flattened anything in its path: namely stragglers of the remains of the Legion armada that were almost negated from existence.

For a moment, the light was so bright it blinded even Belial: when he looked up again, he saw that the white shield had held.

Clutching one of his fists so tightly that his nails formed crescent shaped cuts in his palms, he screeched into his communicator, "AGAIN!"

At his command, the weapon system recoiled once again, so powerfully that it shook the entire battle station: and in the process, belched out yet another stream of green energy.

This time, to Belial's shock, the white energy faded away before the blast could even strike it. However, he could just about make out a shimmering glow _inside _the helicopter. His jaw widened slightly as the glow expanded a little bit before vanishing, just like a puff of smoke.

Even as the energy wave tore the empty chopper apart, he knew what the truth was.

They were gone.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Chenko and Rikuo didn't say a word as they climbed into the front seats of the SUV that the former had used to pick the latter and his companions from the airfield. Meanwhile, Aaron and David continued working on their laptops in the back, chatting animatedly.

Sarah looked around pointedly as the rest of them stood around in the courtyard.

"How are we going?"

Before anyone could reply, a loud honking noise pierced the otherwise still night air. Everyone turned around in surprise to see a large _camper_ making its way towards them across the rough road. It was jet black in color, and they could just about make out a jovial Max sitting comfortably in the driver's seat.

No one said a word until it came grinding to a halt right next to them.

Max stuck his head out of the window and grinned. "Hop on."

Bakura's eye twitched. "There's no way in hell I'm getting on that thing."

Max made a face, and quickly made his way to the passenger door, which he opened to reveal the interior of the trailer.

It looked more like a weapons lab. All four walls were covered with screens of various sizes, with an island in the middle that housed more computer equipment than any of them, barring Sarah and Eizan, had seen in their entire lifetimes.

"David, Aaron and I live in this thing," explained Max, folding out a bed in demonstration. "Business hasn't been too good, so we decided to stop paying rent on that grotty little flat anyway and move full time into this bad boy which does a top speed of two hundred miles an hour and disposes of the trash every hour on the hour! What do you think?"

"I think you were deprived of oxygen at birth," mumbled Bakura.

Even Eizan seemed slightly stunned. Sarah was the only one who was able to hold herself together.

"All right, just get in," she sighed.

Deondre and Bakura continued mumbling things under their breath as they slid in quietly, seating themselves on the fold-out furniture.

"Oh, and by the way," called out Max from his place in the driver's seat. "Just a fair warning- the suspension on this thing has been shot to pieces over the last few weeks."

Bakura's eyes widened. "Wait, what-…"

His voice was lost in a mixture of a joyful whoop from Max and the revving of the vehicle's engine as it shot off.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

James and Diablo stood shoulder to shoulder, facing the mole.

They looked rather awkward like that, the mole thought. One was barely five foot eight, the other well over six foot six and probably a hundred and fifty pounds heavier. Still, it was advisable to keep comments like that to oneself. Especially if one valued one's life.

"You made the journey rather quickly, I must say," mused James.

"I didn't come here to banter," came the even reply. "Show me the prisoner."

Diablo nodded and turned around, placing his hand on the door knob behind him. Then, he paused.

"What are you waiting for?" snapped James.

The wrestler ignored him, sniffing the air momentarily.

"We're not alone."

James narrowed his eyes and placed his hand on the weapon in his belt.

The lights began to flicker.

"That piece of scrap metal will do you no good," snapped Diablo. "It's not Nakamura and his flunkies…"

The mole panicked, backing into a corner.

"This wasn't part of what I was told. We were supposed to be _safe_ here."

Diablo replied to this with a disdainful look.

"In this business no one is ever safe."

The lights flickered again.

"They are here."

"_Who_?" cried out the mole.

"James, take the prisoner and this lowlife and go," said Diablo evenly, cracking his knuckles. "I will cover you."

The other Paradias operative was already on it, making his way into the other room and picking up a stun gun lying on one of the tables as he did so.

"I'm not dying!" cried out the mole.

"Neither are we," snapped Diablo in reply. "But I assure you, if we have to go down, so will you…. Ms. Avalon."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Blight almost felt insulted.

_Hold them off_?

Did the ape have any idea who he was dealing with?

In any case, it didn't matter. Blight was smart enough to not bother with any confrontation, however minimal, with the large one, and instead simply focus on pursuing Cassell wherever he went.

He thought back to the final meeting with Haou, Sylar and Apocalypse.

Their orders had been precise. A lesser man would have wondered as to what sense these actions would make in the larger scheme of things, but for Horsemen, the tactical genius of their master was rather evident.

The future of Apocalypse's campaign hinged on several factors, and the rogue Council member was merely tying up loose ends.

Blight had no doubt that Haou and Sylar were silently fuming at the idea of performing such _menial_ tasks. In comparison, Blight's task seemed even more insignificant.

However, Apocalypse was Apocalypse. He was meticulous and did not tolerate failure. Therefore it only made sense that he assign tasks that needed completion to those who were least likely to fail.

Right now the Earth was rampant with forces of deadly power. Each faction was mighty in its own way and had an insatiable desire to come out on top.

However, never once did Blight doubt that he would be on the winning side.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Shorter than normal, not even ten thousand words, but I assure you that will change soon (probably because of the lack of dueling in this one).**

**Enjoy!**


	44. And Then There Were Four

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO: And Then There Were Four

**Jesus Christ was that a long time! But believe me people it's going to be well worth it! I'm so hyped right now, I honestly feel like this is **_**the **_**best chapter I've ever written, and certainly one of the most important.**

**Dark Oynx: I appreciate the compliments once again, sir. I too was a little bit iffy about Adrian and Tash but a friend talked me into it, and come to think of it, at least the former will have a big role to play in events to come.**

**Inara Harame: Haha Tashy has tried to get me to join the Society at certain times, but I'm swamped with work and my own writing unfortunately. By the way, these are not the Society Adrian and Tash. They are based on the versions in Craig's stories, but I am introducing certain original points, with his permission of course.**

**Dinomus: Transformer style? Heh heh, yup I'm evil. Nope, this Librarian is based on a character owned by my dear friend Master of the Library. Check out his stories please.**

_Never again_.

James didn't even know what else to add to that statement.

_Never again would he go to Russia with a psychotic wrestler and run away from a safe house with an unconscious prisoner and his former enemy in the back of his car_?

Nice try, he thought wryly to himself as he backed out of the driveway.

The road ahead was dark and empty. Of course, this only meant it was all the more dangerous. James fingered the automatic weapon next to him.

The countryside was dangerous, and simply a gun wouldn't do him any good against the variety of foes that could be onto him.

His concentration was broken by that annoying _bitch_'_s_ voice.

"Where are we going?"

"Just shut up, you stupid wench," snapped the assassin. "I can't drive with you shrieking in my ears."

Serena shook her blonde hair frantically. "I called your boss two days ago when the man I loved was humiliated by someone who claimed to be working for that damn Council. Drake was merely defending the honor of his race, which seems to be growing less and less united as we speak. I chose to ally myself with Paradias because Reflect seems to have some idea where he's _taking_ this organization. However, endangering my life was _not_ part of the original agreement-.."

"You already endangered your life when you betrayed Eagle," snapped James. "Do you think that the second old man Nakamura found out about your little agreement with Reflect he would hesitate for a bullet to be put through your brain? So, shut your damn mouth and let me drive before I shut it for you."

"What are you, five years old?" she sneered back. "Incapable of doing two things at once?"

James' eyebrows flared at the insult. "I swear to God, Avalon, nothing would give me greater pleasure than to take a knife and-…"

"I'm serious, you fool!" she snapped. "You haven't moved in the last two minutes."

James swiveled his head back to the windscreen. In front of him was a long path with a line of trees on either side.

That was odd. The van seemed to be in the same place as it was when she first asked him where they were going.

He _knew_ he had pressed down on a pedal. Had it been the brake instead of the accelerator? It would have been hellishly coincidental for him to be too distracted by Serena's whining to not even notice that they had not moved.

He switched the engine from first gear to second and pressed on the accelerator. The van shook and huffed forward.

James relaxed as they moved to a point fifty feet from where they were originally. He estimated this distance as a certain tree was growing a lot bigger while they came closer to it.

For a second, he then averted his eyes back to the gun on the seat next to him, thinking for a second about how many rounds he had put in it.

When he looked back up, he uttered a very loud and rude four letter word.

They seemed to be back in the place they had been right after he had ended their conversation. The tree was looking awfully small again.

"What in the-…" muttered Serena.

James glanced desperately from one side to another and slammed down on the accelerator again.

It was bizarre. They moved forward again, and just as they reached that same point fifty feet away, they seemed to receive a strange jolt from the ground underneath them. Then, when they looked around again, their surroundings were exactly the same as the point where they had begun.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Blight chortled happily to himself.

The trick that he was employing was a very old one, but one that never ceased to work in the most bewildering fashion.

The truth was that James' car _was_ moving. It was only a simple illusion that the First Horseman had orchestrated with ease by using his considerable magical prowess.

Blight could have _easily_ stopped the car in a variety of much faster and more efficient ways, but _really_, how much fun was that?

He drummed his fingers impatiently on the branch of a considerably shorter sapling as the van continued to move forward at an increasing speed.

Those same fingers then crunched into a fist of satisfaction as it slammed into a fallen tree trunk some way down the road at about fifty miles an hour.

There was a gigantic crash, and a hiss as smoke began to issue from the engine.

Blight then cracked his knuckles and started off towards the wreck at a brisk pace.

It was time extract the target.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

When James came to, his head was throbbing, and his cheek was slightly wet. The cause of that was obvious to him soon enough; he had sustained a large cut during the sudden crash while he blacked out. Right now he couldn't even _begin_ to think about what had happened and how: the first thing he needed to do was empty his stomach.

Somehow, he got the driver's door open, and bent over in order to retch heavily.

Falling out of the van on his knees, he leaned his head in his hand in an attempt to clear his vision, and mind.

It took him about five minutes, but with a groan, he was able to stagger upward.

Slowly, he made his way back to the wrecked van, and trying to recall what had happened.

His vehicle had seemed like it simply could not move… And then there had been Serena, who's constant whining was more of a source of a headache than the mysterious crash itself… About the van, about their mysterious stalker, about the prisoner…

His eyes shot open in shock.

_The prisoner…!_

He groped his way wildly toward the back of the van.

The door was open.

Jason Becker was gone.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Reflect's fist tightened as the conversation progressed.

He still managed to keep some calmness in his voice, though.

"So, what you're telling me is that you had an _accident_, which knocked you out, and when you came to, Becker had just _vanished _ into thin air?"

James normally spoke however he wanted to anybody, but this was Reflect. He tread with caution.

"Sir, he could not have gotten far. I will search the surroundings-…"

"Don't even go there," spat Reflect derisively. "The drug you shot him with would leave an elephant out cold for twenty-four hours. If he managed to come to and escape by _himself_, that means _you_ messed up in the initial takedown."

James was about to speak, but paused. The man certainly had a point.

"There is another party involved here; that much is obvious."

James was growing increasingly nervous. He hadn't told Reflect about either Diablo's premonitions _or_ the bizarre hallucinations he had been experiencing which led to the crash. It was better to sound sane and slightly in control of the situation when conversing with a man who could end your life with one phone call.

"Don't worry, boss, I will track the perpetrator down and neutralize it," he growled.

"You had better. Otherwise, I'll be forced to neutralize _you_."

On that charming note, Reflect disconnected the line.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Diablo really wasn't a very patient man.

Once, in the ring, while waiting for a referee to rule whether it was legal for him to spit water in his opponent's face as a distraction, he had gotten bored and decided to break the man's jaw. As well as the referees. As well as the five security guards who had attempted to pounce on him.

A sane man would've sent eight.

So, unbelievably strong, filled with violent tendencies, and impatient. Not a good combination. Especially for the person who was causing the wait.

After twenty tense minutes, Diablo gave it up. Cracking his knuckles, he swung open the door off the safe house and stepped out into the chilly night.

He looked at the tire tracks that led west into the narrow muddy path between some extensive vegetative growth.

Diablo sniffed the air again. The faint smell of burning car oil was drifting toward him in the same direction.

Meanwhile, another one of his highly tuned senses was picking up the sound of _another _ vehicle on its way toward his location.

Something was definitely up.

So, investigate what was going on with James, or confront the newcomers?

Diablo stamped the ground in frustration.

Truth was, he _really_ just was a fighter. His brain did well to co-ordinate his gigantic set of muscles, but little else. Field decisions were not his thing, whether or not he would ever admit it.

Oh, _hell_.

He turned on heel and charged off down the path James had gone.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Max stamped down hard on the break with a sigh as his camper grinded to a stop outside the shady-looking, isolated construction about a half a mile from the runway.

The first thing Bakura did was crash out of the door and empty his stomach on the ground.

Deondre, Sarah and Eizan were able to hold their food, but each one had a distinctly green tinge to their faces.

Max was whistling cheerfully as he stepped out the driver's seat.

Bakura staggered toward him, and seized his collar with both hands.

"My mortal enemy's father put a village full of innocent citizens to death in order to protect his country from enemies that would not have been able to harm it if not for his _own_ oversight. A tombkeeper I know developed an alternate personality because his father engraved ancient symbols on his back with a knife. _I _spent weeks in a cave, living off snakes and planning revenge against the royals of Egypt. We're all insane. But you, _you_ take the cake. I mean it. You're a certified lunatic, and there is _no _two ways about it."

Max looked at him strangely. "Peace back at you, bro."

Eizan had done his best to remain professional, and was slowly making his way toward the door of the safe house, service weapon in hand.

Bakura seemed to have regained himself, and strolled slowly toward where the highest ranking member of Eagle was standing.

"We can safely assume that whoever is in there, if anybody, will not be expecting us," said Eizan in a low voice. "Mr. Mairo, you remain in the vehicle to intercept anybody who attempts to make an escape. According to the blueprints I checked before leaving, there are two entrances to this place. Mr. Bakura, you come with me to the back. Sarah, you and Mr. Andersen will take the front. If the need for violence arises, which it probably will, aim to subdue, _not_ kill. Dead men will not give us Jason."

Bakura threw him a dirty look, but said nothing,

Sarah was checking her own handgun, and then nodded to her boss.

"Good to go."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was a like a takedown from an action flick. Bakura and Deondre kicked open the two doors simultaneously, with their partners whirling around, weapons at the ready, screaming, "FREEZE!"

They got no response. Slowly, methodically, the demon, the keeper of the Millennium Ring, and the two members of Eagle searched the single story structure room-by-room.

"Clear," hollered Eizan.

Bakura hit the wall in frustration.

"Now what? There's no plane out there, meaning we don't have any kind of _clue_ as to where the people you're after would've gone, even _if_ they landed here to begin with!"

Eizan didn't have an answer. He shakily placed his weapon on a table which he began to lean against, breathing heavily.

"We had just better hope the others have better luck than we do…"

Their conversation was cut short by a yell from the outside. A startled Sarah poked her head out of the door to see Max bent low, crouching over something on the ground.

"Come over here, _quick_!" he urged.

Sarah looked at the other three, who shrugged. With a sigh she trooped back out the front door to where the hyperactive detective was kneeling.

As she got closer, she realized why he was in such a position.

Tire tracks.

She smiled tiredly, something she hadn't done since before they had left for China.

"Nice work, Max."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

In London, it was James who had been furious over Diablo's screw-up.

This time, it was the other way around.

James' eye twitched as he leaned against a tree, spit flying against him from the furious wrester's roars.

"_Three minutes_!" he howled. "I leave you by yourself for _three_ _minutes_ and you manage to wreck our only means of transportation _and_ lose the damn prisoner in one go! Are you trying to set some type of damn record here for the biggest screw up in Paradias history?"

James sneered at him. "This mission just became a little harder, that's all. On the flip side, when I wasn't holding your hand every step of the way in London we lost Schweinstigger _and_ seventy-two million dollars, the latter of which _cannot_ come out of your damn paycheck, you fool. So don't go pointing fingers about a small slip when you were clearly responsible for a massive capitulation of-.."

"Why you little-…!" roared Diablo, taking a step forward, which James matched.

"Do you guys want to keep comparing gonad sizes or can we actually get to finding him?" enquired Serena dryly, from where she was standing a few feet away.

Both men turned to her and glared. She did, however, have a point of sorts.

The more time they wasted arguing, the further away the prisoner got.

James looked around.

"Whoever took him, has to have been on foot. This road has no visible tire tracks other than our own, and it's too narrow to accommodate any other vehicle in any case what with the van having crashed right in the middle of it. So, there is a good chance in my opinion that our target is travelling by foot. In that case, they could not have gotten very far, considering they'd be weighed down by one hundred and sixty-five odd pounds."

He pulled a flashlight out of his pocket and flashed it in all directions, getting a look at the vegetation around them.

"It's thick. We won't be able to search the surroundings too effectively. I suggest-…"

His voice was cut off by Diablo raising his hand, and pricking up his ears.

Footsteps.

Diablo turned to his colleague and hissed, "Get out of here. Find the damn prisoner. I will deal with these new arrivals."

James was about to protest, but paused. The man had a point. He was more ideally suited to handling multiple opponents in a possibly physical confrontation, while James was better with the intelligence related work.

He grabbed Serena's shoulder roughly despite the cry of protest and dragged her into a small path leading into the woods, which was obscured by the van.

Diablo crunched his knuckles, and inhaled slowly. A smile spread across his face as he took up the best tactical position he could.

This was where he was in his element. Unsuspecting victims, just making their way mindlessly toward him. A killer. That was what he was.

That was a role he thrived in.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sarah and Eizan had both had their weapons up, and were leading from the front. Bakura and Deondre followed with their hands loosely at their sides, while Max brought up the rear. He was barely able to contain the sheer, almost bizarre excitement on his face.

They moved as a unit, silently down the pathway.

Sarah's eyes widened as she saw the crashed van. Signaling to Eizan to cover her, she dropped her arms and raced toward the back door, which was hanging open.

Upon getting a look at the inside, which was obviously empty, she turned around with a defeated sigh.

"Whoever was here is gone," she muttered.

Eizan shook his head and was about to speak before Max interrupted him.

"Just give me a minute," he put in. Dropping to his knees, he rubbed the dust off the license plate on the rear end of the van.

"So, I note down the details this number plate and trace it online. Now, _if_ this is the landing site of the plane that took your friend, I'm guessing the plate will not be legit, or, in simpler words, it's been stolen. That alone eliminates Moscow International Airport as a potential landing site, meaning we'll be able to focus all our attention on this one."

"Well done, Sherlock Holmes," growled Bakura. "But what else does this tell us?"

Max smiled at him, almost patronizingly. The mere expression on his face made Bakura want to gut him.

"A car to me is like Aladdin's cave to you. When a vehicle is stolen, a lot of the times the license plate is switched. But the chassis number is a form of identification that a whole bunch of people neglect to scratch off. It's a small obscure scratch on the engine that most wouldn't even notice. All I have to do is find out what the chassis number is, and then run a search online. That gives me the vehicle's details, such as its original owner, and the circumstances under which it was stolen. More important is the list of suspects _who_ stole it. Give me an hour with an Internet connection, and I'll narrow down the potential kidnappers to a bare minimum."

"I am afraid that will not be happening," came a deep, almost scary voice from behind them.

Bakura, Max, Deondre, Eizan and Sarah whirled around to see an enormous man dressed in a black spandex. Deondre was probably the largest of the former quintet, standing a fair six foot nothing and probably a hundred and eighty five solid pounds.

Compared to this new arrival, he felt small. The man was probably a foot taller than him, and twice as heavy to go with it.

Everyone just stared in astonishment at the giant, except for Eizan.

He narrowed his eyes as his mind made its way back to an obscure picture it had recorded from a surveillance operation two years ago.

"El Lobo Diablo," he muttered.

The psychotic wrestler cocked his head in a mocking acknowledgment.

"According to Mr. Reflect, it would be necessary at this point for all of you to disappear."

"There is no time for this, you fool!" snapped Eizan. "The intelligence war between Eagle and Paradias is microscopic in comparison to the events that are occurring right now! If you and your foolish leader interfere in the processes that are occurring right now you risk not only your own deaths but the destruction of the whole human race!"

Diablo bared a feral grin and took a step forward.

"Jason Becker is lost to you, old man. Do not stick your nose where it does not belong."

The veteran agent's eyes widened in shock as he glanced back to the car. "Are you serious-..?"

"Your arrogance blinds you," spat Diablo. "Mr. Reflect has orchestrated a plan beyond any of your comprehension, and one that supersedes whatever idiotic machinations you and the pitiful Infinity Council have in mind. Tell me, _where is_ _Becker_?"

Eizan stamped his foot on the ground in anger. "You are less intelligent than I thought. Without the appropriate degree of control being exercised over him, which _only_ I can provide, he is possibly the most dangerous man alive right now. If I had been able to take control of him by now, I wouldn't be wasting my time in this ridiculous wasteland! If you know a _thing_ about Jason's whereabouts you must tell me where he is for the good of the planet as a whole!"

"SILENCE!" roared Diablo. "I _must_ do NOTHING, old man," he spat.

Glowering at the assembled group, he continued, "It is obvious that your incompetence has reached astounding new levels. Were it under less pressing circumstances I would certainly have taken the time out to have a good laugh at the levels that Eagle has sunk to. As it were, I will only have the time to put a swift end to your miserable facades of lives before-…"

He was cut off by a deathly low voice which was filled with anger.

"You miserable maggot, close your mouth before I close it for you."

It was Bakura.

The others looked at him silently as he stepped forward, golden lightning arcing around his hands. None of them had seen him in such a venomous mood before.

Diablo gave him a hard look.

"So you, Thief King, desire to be the first to fall to the hands of El Lobo Diablo?"

Bakura narrowed his eyes, but said nothing.

Diablo scoffed, almost reading his adversary's mind. "Oh, I know more than just your title, _Yami Bakura_. I know everything about you. Paradias has _extensive_ files on the large number of psychopaths that inhabit this world."

Bakura scoffed. "I'm the psychopath? I am fully content to wage war on humanity, but do not do so when it is under siege from a greater force who's success can result in _my_ destruction as well. Your organization is made up of helpless scumbags, and you are even more pathetic for serving such pathetic bureaucrats."

Diablo's face darkened. Deondre, Max, Eizan and Sarah took wary steps back.

Bakura's mouth curled into a derisive sneer. "Look at you. Not good for anything besides the odd fight. You are nothing but dumb muscle. Kaiba told me how you saved his behind in London. Had it not been for you, Paradias would have achieved yet another victor-…"

He was unable to complete his sentence as the giant charged towards him with a feral roar, and threw a massive punch.

The Thief King ducked under the blow smoothly and danced his way to a position opposite the sociopath wrestler.

"You're a big girl's blouse," hissed Bakura. He had no idea what the term meant, but it was something he had picked up in Britain that worked really well to rile up a certain kind of guy. Diablo was that kind of guy.

With another shriek he charged toward Bakura, the exact same move that ended with a powerful punch. Bakura avoided it in the exact same way, but this time he crashed an elbow against Diablo's neck in the process.

The Paradias agent staggered to a halt as Bakura bounced off the balls of his feet and landed in a crouch a few meters to the right.

Looking up at the giant, Bakura was beginning to think that the fight wouldn't be so difficult after all. He didn't want to have to call on his reserves of magic, as he was sure he would need them at a later stage what with enemies galore over the countryside. But Diablo seemed to be a very poor fighter, which was characteristic for a guy like him. Either his size was an effective deterrent in the first place, or one or two punches was good enough to take out his opponents from the get-go.

Slowly, a heaving Diablo turned around. A scary grin broke out on his face as he rolled his neck.

_He hadn't felt it_.

Bakura raised his eyebrows. Maybe this guy was tougher than he seemed.

It seemed as though Diablo was going to repeat the same move for the third consecutive time, but in the middle of his charge he suddenly slid down into the ground, his heel crashing into Bakura's shin. The Thief King grunted in pain and was nearly unable to stop himself from falling forward into Diablo's waiting fist.

Bakura grimaced in exertion but rolled his body as far as it could get in mid air, landing neatly on two feet perpendicular to his opponent.

With a heave, he took a step forward and slammed his elbow into Diablo's temple. He followed it up with a powerful left hook to the jaw, and another elbow to the throat.

He then danced back, panting slightly, and looking up to observe the damage he had done.

Diablo was still grinning.

"What the fu-…" swore Bakura, but again, he was unable to complete his sentence as the huge agent took four huge steps forward, slamming his head into Bakura's face. The blow left him completely stunned, knocking him off his feet.

From there, it came down to a choice: live or die. Bakura chose to live, and rolled away just in time as Diablo's massive foot crashed down on the space he had been occupying not three seconds ago, leaving a gigantic impact site nearly six inches deep. Regardless of the power afforded to him by the Millennium Ring, there was no way he would have been able to react fast enough to block a foot powered by three hundred and fifty pounds of pure muscle to the head.

Bakura came to his feet, and avoided a colossal left from Diablo. He took the opportunity to drive forward and slam his elbow into the wrester's nose. He grinned in satisfaction as he felt something crack, finally. Small rivulets of blood started to flow, and the Thief King was able to dance away just in time to avoid being grabbed in a bear hug by the giant.

The two combatants stood face to face, legs apart, both panting slightly. A winded Bakura paced backward, avoiding Diablo's wild lunges and a massive punch that would have taken his head off had it hit.

The insane momentum left the wrestler open for one of the favorite tricks within Bakura's repertoire. Diablo had been breathing through his mouth, since his nose was broken. Therefore his lower jaw was hanging open, a perfect opportunity for what was known as 'the cigarette punch'. It was bar fight trick, in which you offered your guy a cigarette, and as he put it to his lips, you hit him with a massive uppercut to the chin. His open jaw was shattered along with most of his teeth, and if you were lucky he would probably bite off his tongue.

Bakura delivered the uppercut at full strength, crashing his fist into Diablo's chin and following through a full foot. Even though he was small compared to Diablo, he was really a very strong guy with a ton of experience: about five thousand years worth.

The punch should have killed Diablo then and then. It should have broken his neck and taken his head clean off, leaving it rolling on the ground.

Bakura took a step back to see the result. To his horror, Diablo craned his neck forward almost instantly. His insane grin was gone, replaced by an angry snarl.

His response was spectacular. It came in the form of a _thunderous_ two handed slap from either side to the side of Bakura's head.

It was disorienting, to say the least. Bakura barely had time to leap away and avoid the follow up punch which would have killed him.

He lay in a heap on the ground, wheezing as his mind spun. He had hit Diablo five times and the man was laughing at him. Diablo had hit him twice and he couldn't move.

Right then and there he knew he had made a terrible mistake in underestimating the Spaniard. Using magic from the get-go was always advisable against someone like this. Now, he was severely weakened and using his powers would take _even_ more out of him. Not good; not good at all.

"Get up, you miserable maggot," hollered Diablo, echoing Bakura's earlier taunt. The insult began to irritate Bakura, to the point where he was able to struggle upward. Part of his mind was tired, and just wanted perhaps Deondre to step in and occupy the maniac for some time. The other half, the half that was scoffing "_Are you going to let this particular guy beat you?_", was the half that had given him a bit more gas in the tank.

Deondre took a tentative step forward, knowing that only he was capable of dealing with Diablo at this point, but Bakura raised a hand to stop him.

"You're awfully arrogant, thinking you can handle me yourself," spat Diablo contemptuously.

"No need for more than one of us to get your blood all over him," replied the Thief King maliciously.

Diablo's eyes darkened, and he charged forward with a roar. Bakura slid into his fighting stance, hoping for the best.

But then, Diablo got fancy, and Bakura knew he was going to win after all.

He tried to kick his opponent kung-fu style, one foot raised to waist level and swinging with a powerful torque., which was the stupidest thing to do in situation like this.

If it connected, it would have undoubtedly killed him then and there. But Bakura knew what was doing to happen, so he rocked back and avoided the brunt of it, grabbing Diablo's foot in the process. Using every ounce of strength in his tired arms, he heaved upward. It was _exactly _like bench pressing nearly four hundred pounds.

But it worked. Diablo crashed down onto the ground on his back, and right then and there everyone knew the fight was over.

With his opponent on the ground, Bakura was not going to spurn a chance to end it right then and there.

He unleashed the mother of all kicks to Diablo's temple, twice, thrice, and a fourth time so hard that his shoe was split open.

The wrestler somehow managed to stagger upward, using his massive right arm as leverage, but he was almost blinded with blood.

Bakura danced back and unleashed another cigarette punch, rocking Diablo back and opening his solar plexus for a stab from Bakura's elbow.

No other human being would have been able to stand up to so much punishment, but Diablo was superhuman. He let out a blind jab which Bakura batted away. He was panting hard now, getting ready for the killer blow. He had already decided what to do: as hard a punch as possible to the throat.

"_Let's see how much muscle you have there_," he thought grimly, ducking under another flail and pulling back, preparing to end it.

At that exact second, he heard two things one after the other. No normal human would be able to distinguish these two sounds from the background echoes of the environment, but Bakura was anything but a normal human.

The first was similar in decibel level to a phone book being dropped on the ground. But its nature was more like that of a level cough. The second was probably the most distinctive sound in the world: an ejected shell case clattering to the concrete of the ground below.

The two sounds computed in Bakura's head almost instantly, and he knew that someone was firing a silenced gun in his general direction.

Immediately, he let go of the idea of killing the insane wrestler and threw himself backward. It was just as well: a bullet sped past his face perhaps eighteen inches away and slammed into a tree.

He turned to the furiously to look at who had dared to interrupt the fight.

He didn't recognize the lean, red-headed youth, but Sarah and Eizan did. It was James.

Immediately, everyone dived down, with the two Eagle agents pulling out their own weapons in the process.

James calmly unleashed a steady hail of aimed bullets in the direction of each and every one of the assembled duelists.

Sarah had taken refuge behind a tree, and was taking quick, short breaths. The moment she got a pause between shots, she turned around and fired a bullet into the area where she had seen James when he had started shooting.

As it were, he had been smart enough to take a few steps forward himself. He didn't seem like he was aiming to kill, rather, it was more as if he was providing cover via firefight for Diablo to make his way to his side of the clearing.

"Son of a bitch," hissed Bakura against the ground. He was _this_ close to ending that fool's life and he had been foiled by a _child_.

Sarah heard another stream of bullets exiting their barrel a few feet to her right. She smiled. Eizan always had her back.

James had had the initial advantage of surprise. But now, it had turned into a two versus one firefight with Eizan and Sarah having the advantage of cover of trees. The Paradias operative was steadily losing ground, taking backward steps into the dark undergrowth. However, it still seemed like his plan had worked. Diablo was now right next to him, and running hard in the opposite direction.

The bullets continued to fly, but his aim was growing increasingly worse: probably not on purpose, but more because James was sprinting away from them at top speed. Sarah could have continued shooting, but the truth was she was no expert marksman. Hitting a target in a silent training room was one thing, trying to nick this sneering fool who was thirty yards away, running in the darkness, was quite another.

Barely had her weapon dropped to her side had the other two disappeared into the darkness completely.

Bakura staggered up, one hand nursing a large bruise on his face.

He spat on the ground in fury.

"I was so close…"

He gnarled his hands in mid-air.

Eizan sighed and pressed his fingers against his temple.

"It's all right. We know that it was indeed Paradias who had kidnapped Jason."

"But did you hear the tone in that guy's voice, some of the things he was saying?" mumbled Max slowly, staring at the ground.

Everyone turned to look at him.

"What do you mean?" questioned Deondre.

"He didn't at all sound like a guy in control of the situation. C'mon, he was asking _us_ where your friend was, for crying out loud. At first I couldn't understand a word of what he was saying, but then it genuinely seemed as if he was frustrated about something."

Sarah stared at him in disbelief. "Wait a second… Are you suggesting…"

Max looked up with a slight smile on his face. "Yeah. Based on what I've seen and you guys have told me, it _does_ seem as if those two were the ones who _originally_ took your friend from you in China. _But, _based on the way that car was just abandoned there and the fact that the big guy didn't have a clue of where his _own_ prisoner was, it seems like someone _else_ kidnapped your friend from _them_."

Bakura let out an audible groan.

"Great, so this is a two-way nightmare now. We have to follow up an entirely new thread to find Becker with these Paradias bastards likely to be hounding us the whole time."

"This may be easier than you think," chuckled Max. He was cracking his knuckles and taking slow steps back toward the trailer.

"Where are you going?" growled Bakura.

"Give me five minutes. If we're in luck, there may have been a satellite positioned over this area. I've known Mr. Avalon for coming up on two years now, and if I may say so, he's a bit of a paranoid guy, with all due respect. He has a few friends in the Russian Federal Space Agency, and greases their hands every month under the table to keep a spare lens directed to this general area. I won't be able to give you details of who is responsible, but what I can give you is a decent idea about the path that they followed away from here."

Eizan allowed himself a very faint smile. "All right, then. Get to it, Mr. Mairo."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"This has been all too easy," chortled Blight as he strode through the empty, towering, cavern-like halls of the huge structure.

The man accompanying him did not reply.

"You had best ready yourself. _He _will be here soon now that he knows I have the prisoner. Certain procedures need to be followed, and then, my master will utilize his divine powers to give you back what you most truly desire. Meanwhile, those pursuing Becker are not as foolish as they seem. I expect them to realize that you've been playing them for fools all this while and reach this spot soon."

"And then what?" came the stony reply.

"Our new friend deserves to stretch his legs. We will release him among them."

Blight held up his hand distractedly, looking at each line that was present on his unnaturally pale skin.

"Like a lion among lambs. Lambs for slaughter."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Teleportation was never an easy process, even for a semi-divine being like Zerato. It became doubly hard when he was performing it with multiple individuals all depending on his doing it successfully with their _lives_. Oh, how he preferred simple flight.

It was, however, out of the question at that given point in time. So he had done his best, and with his last breath before vanishing, had sent out a small prayer to the Council.

None of the others had experienced it really. It was not a fun process. To begin with, having your entire body split up into its trillions of constituent atoms was painful. Then, those atoms travelled at a speed roughly equivalent to that of light in a vacuum, until they arrived at the necessary destination. Finally, the atoms were made to reconvene.

Once again, it was not fun and highly painful.

Zerato had neither the time nor the inclination to warn his companions of this before they had proceeded. Therefore, by the time they arrived, there were some rather undesirable after-effects which were being experienced in abdominal regions.

Zerato fell down onto one knee, leaning against the ground on his knuckles, heaving with exertion as perspiration built up on his forehead.

Yami, Kaiba, Tea, Daniel, Ryu, CJ, and Brian were all lying on the ground groaning in agony, and a few had already regurgitated their last meals.

Tash and Adrian were standing side by side across from Zerato, waiting patiently for the others to get to their feet.

Kaiba was the first to recover. Panting, he dusted off his trench coat and got up, taking a moment to glance around at his surroundings.

They were in the middle of nowhere. _Literally_.

The ground was covered with nothing but sparse vegetation, with a few fields here and there, as far as the eye could see. It was basically a wasteland.

After spending the last two months in the hustle of Manhattan, it was a bit shocking.

"Where exactly are we?" growled the CEO, moving over to lean against a rock.

Zerato was about to reply, when Adrian put in coolly, "Farm county. This is northern Florida, and we're hundreds of miles from any major city. Eagle has another garrison about a mile's walk from here. The original helicopters with the injured should be arriving at any moment. I think Zerato's execution of the teleportation wasn't perfect with regards to the intended location, but under the circumstances I think we can cut him some slack."

"Speaking of questions, who the hell are you?" grunted Ryu as he dragged himself into a sitting position.

Adrian couldn't help but allow himself a bemused smile.

"That is one hell of a difficult question, to be honest."

"Well you better get around to answering it quickly, buddy-boy, if you know what's good for you," growled Daniel.

Before anyone could act even more aggressive, Zerato intervened.

"This individual…" he heaved, "is known as the Librarian. It is his job to maintain a record of every event that takes place in the cosmos, and oversee the storage of all this information."

His words seemed to fall flat. Everyone just fixed him with a very strange stare.

He sighed, and raised his hands. "All right, all right. Let me put this as simply as possible. Consider the Infinity Council to be the judge of a court which represents the cosmos; they oversee the events that occur within it. The Librarian is the judge's stenographer."

Adrian made a face. "Well, I wouldn't quite put it so mundanely, but that analogy probably helps you guys understand my role."

"Wait a second. Any and all members of Eagle who have participated in important missions have had at least rudimentary knowledge of the Infinity Council and its functioning. Why have I never even _heard_ of the existence of someone called the Librarian?"

"Well, for starters, the official policy is the less said the better," shrugged Adrian. "I don't really have much of an effect at _all_ on anyone's day to day life. Had Apocalypse not been released and the Legion not made its way to Earth, I probably would've been organizing books, playing scrabble with Tash here, or spending some time in my sauna."

The looks on the faces of the other duelists began to grow even stranger. Adrian seemed oblivious as he continued.

"Like the Council, my powers too are restricted by certain laws that prevent me from interfering in certain situations. This means that powerful as I am, I unfortunately can't join you'll in an all out war against Apocalypse, that would defeat the ideals that the resistance against him stands for. However, I was able to jump through a few loopholes to save your behinds back there."

"We could've done just fine without-…" began Kaiba angrily but he was cut off by a cautious Yami.

"All right, Librarian, if that's what you call yourself; I am assuming you can explain the current situation to us in further detail."

Adrian nodded. "I can give it to you in broad strokes once we reach the garrison but we can't waste too much time talking. I will provide you with the location of the next Seal of Immortality, and after that I have urgent business to attend to back at my library."

With no further words being spoken, the group of duelists began to follow the trio of Adrian, Tash and Zerato to the north.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was the most frantic race of Joey's life, and to be fair, he had run quite a few as an athlete during his younger days.

But to be fair, in none of those had he been running for his life.

There was no question of pacing himself, keeping some energy reserves lying in wait for the final burst of speed. It was simple: outrun the monstrosity that was ravaging the cityscape behind them, or die.

Some of the lawmen were keeping easy pace with him. Others, who had been fighting for longer, were far more tired and began to lag behind.

Zeruge and Odion, though both extremely physically fit, and in Zeruge's case far beyond that, were a few meters behind Joey, electing to stay with Marik and Ishizu, both of whom were exhausted.

The Egyptian woman was panting for breath, simply unable to keep along.

"Please…" she whispered in a dry voice. "I'm slowing you down. Leave me!"

"Just shut up," growled Odion. Even as he continued jogging at a medium pace, he cast a glance back at the towering creature which had taken to attacking the Empire State Building. The monumental tower stood over twelve hundred feet tall, and was naturally built with a very strong foundation. Was it strong enough to withstand blow after blow from an extraterrestrial giant that looked like it had come straight from Hell?

Odion would rather have not found out. He cast a helpless glance over at Zeruge. While Odion was easily capable of lifting either Ishizu or Marik on his shoulders, it would slow him down considerably, to the point where he would be slower than either of them were right now.

They were not going to make it.

These miserable thoughts continued to overtake his mind until he heard Joey's hoarse voice screaming back at them. He looked up to see that the punk duelist had taken a slight detour into a side lane.

"What is he-…" began the Egyptian, but he saw a look of relief in Zeruge's eyes.

They took the turn to see Joey attempting to kick in the door of an abandoned school bus.

Zeruge took a swift step forward, and Joey leapt to the side. With a single aimed punch, the demon had caved in the door completely.

The fivesome piled in as quickly as they could.

"Who can drive this thing?" breathed Marik.

All eyes fell squarely on Joey.

"No," he deadpanned.

A deep roar was heard in the background. Whatever advantage they had had on the creature in terms of distance was fading. Fast.

"Joey, Marik and I have never driven anything but cars. Odion is injured and Zeruge would probably not fit in the driver's seat."

Joey wrung his hands in frustration. "I come back from the brink of death and you're asking me to take a trip back by driving this hunk of scrap as fast as I can?"

"We don't have _time_!" growled Zeruge, turning to glare at Joey.

There was another roar, even louder. It was almost upon them.

Joey sighed and slammed his hands to his head.

"Ok," came his muffled voice. Dropping his hands to his sides, he made his way over to the driver's seat and found that, thankfully, the keys were still in the ignition.

"Hold on to your seats," he advised, settling himself into the seat and starting the vehicle. "It's going to be a bumpy ride."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"All right, I've gotten in," announced Max with a grin. "I first tracked the chassis number of the van and found out that it used to belong to a guy in Moscow who transported gardening equipment for a living. He was killed and his car was stolen by two individuals; one of whom was described by witnesses as resembling a professional wrestler, and the other as a red-headed juvenile delinquent."

The connotations of this were obvious. No one said anything.

"Then, the satellite. It took me all of fifteen minutes. You guys can follow its path with me now."

Bakura, Eizan, Sarah and Deondre crowded around the chair on which he was seated and peered into the screen of Max's laptop.

On it was an aerial view of the forest they had just exited. Everything seemed very small of course, and they could just about make out their own trailer as a small black speck on the grass.

Max clicked back a few times, and brought up an image of the SUV they had found abandoned.

"All right," he said evenly. "Now we go back in time."

Clicking through screens again, he reached a point where they saw the car in the process of slamming into a tree. However, standing a few meters away from it was a small white figure. No further details could be made out.

"Right…" murmured the PI as he clicked forward. The next sequence of images depicted the white figure at the back of the van, opening the doors and lifting out a prone figure.

"All right, we know he's definitely been taken by someone else," sighed Eizan. "Question is, who, and where are they know?"

"Well I can certainly help answer the latter of those questions," responded Max. "From now I can track this guy for as long as the current position of this satellite lens allows me to."

They continued to click on and on. The white figure seemed to be able to glow through the thick undergrowth: almost as if he was floating _above_ it. It continued to move east, at least for about forty miles, by Max's calculations, taking the scale of the images into account.

"Hold on a second…" grunted Deondre. "The way this guy is moving with Jason…. He'll probably pass right by Avalon's place!"

Max nodded. "These images are being updated every minute or so. I'm guessing he's a bit like you in the sense he's not bound by usual human limitations of speed. If we call the other group who headed north, and we all get off our asses and head back at top speed, we can corner the guy. Back there the forest ends, its open flat land in all directions. No way will we miss them."

The dog demon smiled faintly and cracked his knuckles.

Even Sarah and Eizan seemed slightly relieved, as finally they seemed to be getting somewhere.

"I'll call ahead and inform the others, as well as Patrick."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The garrison in Florida really wasn't very much. It had a few resident agents who had holed up in one of the back rooms, terrified of the idea of members of the Legion finding them. It consisted of a conference room, a kitchen, a dormitory, and an underground bunker.

The group were in the first of those rooms, some sitting, and others, like Kaiba, electing to stand.

Adrian was standing at the head of the table, drumming his fingers on it. Tash was seated next to him, stretching back in a lounge chair.

"The Legion…" began Adrian slowly. He paused once before continuing.

"The Legion are an extraterrestrial race tens of millions of years old. They originated on an unnamed planet in a galaxy thousands of light years from Earth. Right from the get-go, it was evident that they were superior to most other races in the universe in every conceivable way. Physical strength, intelligence, sheer tactical know-how: they had it all. Greatest of all was their ambition. When their young were brought into society, from childhood they were made to understand that the only thing that mattered was the victory of the race as a whole. It's similar to religious fundamentalists here on Earth, but far worse in the sense that it's inbred into their entire race. Don't even _try_ arguing with a member of the Legion, it'd be like trying to tell a computer that two plus two is equal to five."

"So why have they come here?" grunted CJ.

"The Legion are quite possibly the largest race in the universe in terms of sheer numbers. As their ambition grew, so did their tendency to ruthlessly exploit the natural resources of their home planet. About twenty thousand years ago it had become no more than a barren wasteland, ravaged by war and destruction. It didn't take them long to start colonizing other planets. However, they were quite smart about how they did it. If Mars had inhabitants, they never would have bothered wasting time and resources taking control of the planet, as it lacked any natural resources to begin with. The Legion way is to observe, plan and then observe some more, before finally acting. Ten thousand years ago, they decided that Earth would have seemed like a suitable planet to take over.

"At the time, and until now, the Legion's society is based on two things: a one for all ideal, meaning everyone is expected to give up anything for the greater good of the Legion as a whole, and the sacred position that a certain stone that was first harvested on their home planet and then synthesized by their scientists. This stone fuels their entire civilization. It acts as literal fuel for their gunships, spacecrafts and weapons. It is a power source for their battle suits and weapons. The most important part, and one that even I have had difficulty understanding how, is that nearly all members of the Legion have some kind of personal affinity to the stone."

"What do you mean?" questioned Brian.

Adrian frowned, attempting to figure out a suitable explanation.

"All right, let me put it this way. Being _near_ this stone all the time affords them certain powers. In some cases, it's simply enhanced strength and speed. But for others, it works even better. The Legion Emperor, the man you were battling, Pharaoh, probably has one of the highest affinities for the stone in history. He's probably been injecting it into his blood instead of simply keeping one with him. This makes his levels of raw power absolutely insane, almost akin to that of a demi-god."

"Get to the point!" snapped Kaiba.

Adrian gave him a withering look before continuing. "Anyway, some of you have already had experiences with this primordial force. You know these stones as the Orichalcos stones."

Yami, Kaiba and Tea kept silent. Having had plenty of involvement with users of the legendary Seal, all of them had privately drawn certain conclusions about the members of the Legion and the stones they wore in their chests. None had really been brave enough to verbally make the connection, but this came as more of a confirmation than a surprise.

The others were almost in an uproar.

Daniel was gaping at Adrian with his mouth wide open.

"Orichalcos stones? Are you telling me-…"

Adrian nodded. "Yes, the Legion was directly responsible for everything that the one known as Dartz has done in the last ten thousand years. I was going to get to that."

"Wait, if the Legion created the Orichalcos stones…," said Yami slowly. His eyes went wide as it clicked in his head.

"That is correct," muttered Adrian. "The Leviathan was originally a Legion bio-weapon."

With that, the room erupted into chaos.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Patrick Avalon was completely human. He had never had any sort of paranormal abilities. His _shingan_, or Eyes of the Heart, was something that a few blind individuals could cultivate to make up for their lack of eyesight. It enabled the one in question to sense movement, objects and individuals in his or her surroundings through use of another highly developed sense, which varied from person to person. In Patrick's case it was his hearing.

But the _shingan_ was not paranormal, merely a human skill that took ages of practice.

Therefore, even he was surprised that when Apocalypse entered the room without making any perceptible sound, he just_ knew_. It was as if he had just been taken to the edge of a deep, dark hole. Whether or not one could see the hole, they knew they were in a precarious position.

"**Patrick Avalon**."

Almost unconsciously, Patrick knelt. Sweat was pouring down his forehead.

"**You have aided me in my ultimate aim. I punish failure, but I do not forget services.**"

Patrick was not sure what to say; he was not sure if it sounded like a threat or praise.

"**Tell me, what is it you truly desire?**"

"My eyesight," murmured Patrick. "I have not long left in the world of living. I wish to be able to observe it once again before I pass on."

Again, he had no idea what was happening in front of him, but the nightmare voice rolled on.

"**You have helped Apocalypse. Apocalypse will help you in return. But at a later stage. As of now, it is imperative that you stay out of my way. Individuals will be dying soon, and if you too are dead I will be unable to fulfill your wish.**"

"Yes… Yes milord," stuttered Patrick, shakily standing up and making for the door as fast as he could.

When he left, Blight, who had flanked Apocalypse, let out a sneering chuckle.

"Poor deluded fool."

Apocalypse did not reply. His eyes were fixed on the prone form at the end of the room, which was beginning to stir.

"**Blight, leave**."

Blight's sardonic front disappeared, and with a mumbled, "Yes, master" he made himself scarce.

Apocalypse simply stood there for a few minutes, the sheer power radiating from his form indescribable.

The young man opposite him finally opened his eyes with a groan.

They fluttered shut again but then snapped open in surprise.

"Who are you?" muttered the young man, looking around at his surroundings.

"**The question, actually, is who are **_**you**_**? Are you Jason Becker, or are you Quinn?**"

He got a derisive snort as a reply. "Please. Jason is gone. This time for good. I'm here to stay. Now, tell me. Who are you?"

Apocalypse continued to stare into his eyes. Quinn held the gaze for a few minutes.

"**What is it you want, Quinn**?"

Quinn used his right arm as leverage to get to his feet. Even at full height, six foot two, he was dwarfed by Apocalypse's hefty stature. That did not deter him, however.

"Freedom. Freedom to do exactly as I please. Freedom to watch the world burn."

Apocalypse took a step forward.

"**There is great power within you, that is obvious to anyone. However, your control over it is unpredictable. What would you say if I granted you the ability to keep your power under your total control, the ability to use it as and when you please**?"

Quinn allowed himself a lazy grin, running his fingers through his hair. "Well, you've certainly got my interest. What do you want in return?"

Apocalypse placed his hand on Quinn's shoulder. The sociopathic man shuddered, it felt like someone had placed a melting ice-cube and there and cold water was trickling down his back.

"**I am Apocalypse. I want you to be my Fourth Horseman**."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Patrick was hurriedly shoving valuables into a bag, while Blight watched on, scoffing at the mortal's attachment to material possessions.

It was human's lack of understanding that sheer _power_ was all that mattered that made them an eternally helpless race.

Blight then recalled another of Apocalypse's instructions. Lose ends needed to be eliminated.

He tapped his foot on the ground to get the old man's attention.

"Call your daughter."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Eizan flipped his cell phone shut and turned to nod at the rest of the duelists in the trailer.

"I just got off the phone with Chenko. He's bringing Rikuo, Aaron and David back. The former was none too happy about being made to go all the way to Moscow for nothing, but at least we're one step closer to settling this."

He got nods from everyone. He then turned to Max, who was driving.

"Tell me how to check the position of our target on your computer."

"The program is open and still running," replied the PI. "Just refresh the page and it'll take you through the movement over the last few minutes."

Eizan nodded and went over to the laptop. He stared at the screen for a few minutes before choking out in surprise, "Wait, that can't be right!"

Max nearly swerved off the road.

"What're you talking about?" he spluttered.

Eizan was beginning to tremble with shock. Sarah went over to him.

"Sir, what's going on?" she said urgently.

"The individual we've been tracking: he stopped moving _when he reached Patrick's mansion_."

The room fell silent.

"Have you called him yet?" questioned Bakura.

Eizan clicked open his phone again and dialed. He held it to his ear for a minute, before shaking his head.

"This… This can't be," he groaned.

No one said anything.

Eizan held his face in his hands for a few moments. "I did this to him…." he mumbled. "If he hadn't gotten involved then maybe-…"

Sarah went over to him and shook her head. "Sir, don't say that. You did what was best for us. You did what was best for Jason. We'll find whoever did it. That's _assuming_ he's even dead. That place was huge, the perpetrator might not have even known that Patrick was in it."

Eizan didn't say a word.

Max just pressed down harder on the accelerator.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Chenko, Rikuo, Aaron and David were in an SUV, with the former driving.

It had been pretty much a wasted trip with not much being said. By the time they had arrived in Moscow, they had gotten a call from Eizan telling them to come back. None of them had been too happy about it, but these were not times to complain.

When they were about a mile out, David nudged Rikuo.

"What?" grunted the wolf demon.

The PI pointed to the sky about a hundred feet above the palace. There was a small green, glowing orb there.

"What's that?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Serena, James and Diablo crept slowly through the undergrowth. It was three o'clock in the morning, but all of them were trained well enough to be able to find their way around in the dark.

"You're absolutely sure about this?" hissed James, for the fifth time in the last five minutes.

"Yes, of course" muttered Serena. "If Director Nakamura and other people from Eagle are here, the only place they could hole up is my father's mansion. He's been friends with Nakamura for a long time, Nakamura trusts him. It'll be simple; you break in, you do what's necessary so we need to know about Jason, and then go find him."

James glowered at her. "Don't you dare tell me what to do."

Serena glared back. "And I'm saying it one more time. Don't let me father get hurt."

Diablo snorted from behind her. "Don't worry, bitch. We're not interested in pointless pain, that's for another time. Right now, we just-…"

He was cut off because there was a handgun's barrel between his eyes. On the other end of it was Serena's right hand. James had found himself in a similar predicament.

"What in the f-…"

"This is a triple cross. Don't worry, _bitch_," hissed Serena. "I'm not going to kill you now. Someone else is going to kill you rather soon though."

James' eyes first expressed shock, but were now boiling over with rage.

"You're screwing with the wrong people you little piece of-…"

"Another word and there'll only be one of you left alive," she snapped. "Now get moving!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Eizan breathed in and out deeply, one last time, before the trailer slid to a stop. Sarah was checking her weapon, while Deondre and Bakura were making fists with their hands.

"Remember, people," he breathed. "Our aim is to get Jason out of there alive. If you need to kill, go ahead, but make sure he isn't caught in the crossfire."

He shakily walked out of the door, staring at the ground ahead of him all the while.

"Nakamura…" trailed off Bakura.

"What?"

"The try not to hurt Becker part? That's going to be kind of hard."

Eizan snapped his eyes up.

At that instant, his entire world fell apart.

Hovering about a hundred feet above the ground was a human figure glowing green. However, it was completely unmistakable. Six foot two, about one-seventy roughly, a black jacket, casual jeans and a mop of black hair.

Draped over his right arm was another prone human figure, which was also unmistakable as Patrick.

Sarah's hands flew up to her mouth.

"That _can't_ be Jason," she whispered.

Eizan's head dropped for a moment.

Then he lifted it again, a look of blank resignation in his eyes. "You're right. That's not Jason. That's Quinn."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sarah continued to prod the two fuming Paradias agents forward, like a goatherd would prod two bucks.

"You're going to pay dearly for this-…" started up James again as they exited the thick forest and entered the opening around the palace.

This time, he was cut off not by an angry retort from Serena, but an absolutely unbelievable sight above them.

Jason Becker, or Quinn, or whatever the hell he was calling himself, was levitating himself a hundred feet up in the air, and was glowing with green energy. In one hand, he held the prone form of a man.

Serena looked up too, and a shrill screech from her pierced the night air.

"FATHER!"

The screech would not really have served any purpose since neither Diablo nor James knew or cared who her father was.

But it did attract the attention of two other groups: one about a hundred feet to their right, and another directly opposite them, at the mouth of a road leading into the clearing from the north.

Sarah was the first to react. The voice was unmistakable.

"Serena?" he shouted in disbelief. These were almost too many shocks for one day.

The former Eagle agent ignored her. Abandoning her two prisoners, she began running toward the spot directly below Quinn.

"LET HIM GO YOU BASTARD! HE MADE A DEAL WITH YOU'LL!"

When Quinn replied, he did so in a voice that was level, that was smooth, but was somehow loud enough to boom into the ears of everyone in the vicinity. It was also a voice that brought chills down their spines.

"This man's name is Patrick Avalon. Just like the rest of you pitiful humans, he wanted too many things. The first among them was for my Master Apocalypse to get rid of his blindness. Well, I'm going to do that for him."

It was an effortless movement, almost a flick of his wrist. However, it was enough to send Patrick's prone form tumbling down the ground. Before he could hit, Quinn lifted a finger: literally. It was all too fast for the human eye to see. But what had actually happened was that a small ray of green energy had exited the psychopath's finger and slammed right into the falling Patrick.

The unconscious man exploded into flames in mid-air. His eyes opened for a split second, wide with disbelief, but before he could scream, ashes were raining all over the ground.

Rikuo clenched his fist, trembling with rage.

Serena could not believe what she had just witnessed. She fell down onto one knee, tears streaming down her face.

"Jason, stop this!" shouted Deondre.

Just as he completed this sentence, the new Horseman turned to face him. This movement, a simple twist of the man's waist in mid-air, seemed to generate an invisible force that expanded out in all directions and knock everyone standing around him off their feet.

"MY NAME IS QUINN," he roared.

Rikuo was the first to struggle to his feet. Instinctively, he looked back up at Quinn. However, he then noticed something else.

His amber eyes focused on the constellations above, something was not right…

"EVERYONE, SPREAD OUT AS FAR AS POSSIBLE! NOW!"

In bewilderment, shock, and fear, everyone did as instructed, even James and Diablo. Except Serena.

Eizan glanced up and gasped.

"Amero," he shouted. "It's.. It's _huge_!"

There was a green twinkle among the stars, and the twinkle was growing larger every second.

As it grew closer and closer, everyone could see what it really was.

It was a big, no, a large, no, a _colossal _meteor that was glowing a bright green. Quinn began to laugh brazenly as its silhouette began to expand right behind him.

It was then that Eizan noticed Serena.

"SERENA! GET OUT OF THERE!" he bellowed.

There was no response, and even if there had been one, it would have been rendered inaudible over the rumbling caused by the gigantic projectile that Quinn had summoned from the heavens.

Even as Sarah screamed, "NO!", Eizan darted toward the kneeling girl.

By the time he had reached her, even Quinn had levitated himself higher to avoid being in the path of the impending meteor.

Eizan closed his eyes, and pushed Serena to his side.

"What is he doing-…" began Rikuo.

Before he could complete his sentence, however, an earth shattering roar echoed around all around them.

Rikuo and Bakura were the only ones who had been looking, and the both of them could have _sworn_ that they had seen the silhouette of a _massive_ red dragon behind Eizan; massive enough to be an easy match in size for the meteor.

But even as this happened, Eizan raised his hands. A huge stream of red energy issued forth, hitting dead center against the cataclysmic projectile that was now barely a few hundred meters away.

The meteor slowed dramatically as the energy splashed against its surface, slowing it, stalling it.

Every man and woman present cowered under the intense heat, the huge mass of blazing rock taking up the whole sky at this short distance. Gravity pulled in the huge boulder with tremendous force, but Eizan stood fast, his eyes fierce with determination, the both his hands shaking with the extreme effort he was putting in.

Rikuo had no idea what was going on. Too many things were going on at once. This was more of an insane situation than anything he had been involved with in the past. But what he _did_ know was that unless this old man succeeded in what he was doing, not that Rikuo knew how he was capable of such a paranormal feat, they were all going to die.

Lifting up one hand, he shouted a few harsh symbols in Japanese. Black energy flowed out of his hand, slamming into Eizan's body, strengthening him, empowering him.

The Director of Eagle let out an inhuman roar, and once again, Rikuo was sure that he had seen a red dragon's image appear behind Eizan. The crimson energy he was firing out suddenly quadrupled in width, and the meteor rock almost halted in midair, the combined energies of Rikuo and Eizan cutting through the massive boulder as it coursed through to the very core. From the inside out light begun to shine through the cracks, and half a second later, the meteor imploded, fragmenting into house-sized chunks of smoldering rock in the open field.

While everyone else was left scampering to avoid the falling debris, Eizan collapsed onto one knee, panting with exertion.

Quinn began to clap. "Spectacular! That was an excellent counter, I couldn't have done it any better!"

He was laughing at the top of his lungs as he began to levitate himself down to ground level.

"Is this a game to you?" demanded Rikuo in pure anger, striding toward the Horseman.

Quinn didn't even turn. He merely flicked his hand, as if he was brushing off a fly, and a massive invisible force slammed into Rikuo, punching him away.

Quinn landed, and the grass beneath him began to catch fire as he took slow, agonizing steps toward Eizan and Serena.

"I have waited a long time for this…" he breathed.

His right hand began to crackle with green energy.

Eizan did not reply. Serena merely lay on her side, prone.

"_Die,_ old man."

With a Satanic scream, the Fourth Horseman of Apocalypse let out a stream of green energy through his right hand. This time his attack was unobstructed. Both Eizan Nakamura and Serena Avalon screamed in agony for a fraction of a second before they were incinerated into nothing but ashes.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Man, I got chills just writing the last few pages. Quinn is a sadistic prick ^^**

**There will be dueling next chapter, thankfully, so updates should come much faster. Love you guys, review!**


	45. The Eternal Game

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE: The Eternal Game

**Sorry for the delay, I had to flush SAT out of my life. I did get a 2240 though :D**

**Only one review :(? You guys can do better than that, c'mon.**

It took Sarah a full moment to let it even register in her brain. By then, Rikuo had hopped toward her and lifted her up one handed, dragging her away from the smoldering spot where Quinn was currently standing, an easy smile on his face.

_Eizan was dead_.

She just could not bring herself to wrap her mind around it.

It was like somebody had walked up to her and told her that water was orange, and then made her look at a water body which _was_ actually orange. Seeing was indeed believing, but even though she had just seen her former mentor been reduced to nothing but ashes, she was struggling to face reality.

He was alive, surely, somehow. This was _Eizan_ who was being spoken about. The one constant, the one pillar of hope who had remained throughout the chaos and suffering.

A tear rolled down her cheek. And _Serena_. Her childhood best friend.

Quinn continued to stand in front of the ashes, the smile broadening on his face.

The others were slowly edging away from him across the field, absolutely terrified.

Without even looking up, he spoke.

"Oh, come now. The fun has just started and you're already leaving?"

His voice resounded in the now relative silence.

"Perhaps I should have some more friends join the party."

Rikuo's eyes bulged, and his amber eyes began to glow. Bakura stood uneasily by his side, ready for anything but very uncertain about their chances of making it out alive. The remainder of the group stood behind them silently, some of them beginning to pray in their minds. Even Diablo and James, two cold-blooded murderers in their own right, were absolutely shell shocked.

The Horseman raised his hands to the heavens, and began to chant in an arcane tongue.

The remnants of the gigantic meteorite which Eizan had somehow been able to destroy began to float out of the ground. There were eight of them, specifically, and each one was easily the size of a modern town-house.

The rocks began to spin slowly, then rotated blinding fast, bursting into green flames as they whirled around like planets revolving around the sun. He brought his arms crashing down as the spell climaxed, and the rocks embedded themselves deep into the earth.

"Demons of fire, daughters of Lucifer, Loki and Hades, offerings to thee I bring!" he hissed, and the embedded rocks began to emit a weird cackling noise, the sound midway between rocks combusting and the strange sound of little girls laughing.

The extraterrestrial rock began to tremble slightly, and a green aura began to expand around them.

"What in Ra's name…" mumbled Bakura, taking an involuntary step back.

Without warning, eight towering forms began to emerge from within the debris. For some reason, the duelists were reminded of the final monster used by none other than Mandarin in his ill-fated duel with Quinn. The creatures looked like _golems_. Golems with green energy pulsating in their veins.

"Arise, my Heliopaths," whispered Quinn, as he began to levitate himself higher once again so as to get a better view of the massacre that was about to occur.

The Heliopaths roared as they lumbered out of the house sized fragments of celestial rock, towering a full twenty feet tall and ten feet wide. They were roughly humanoid in shape, except that where there would be muscle mass, there were huge chunks of blazing rock in its stead. Eight of these demons lumbered down the slope at the utterly terrified duelists further down the field, the grass igniting in huge bonfires in their destructive wake.

"No, no, no, no, no!" spat Rikuo vehemently, slamming his fist into the ground all of a sudden.

He stood up and glared ahead at the oncoming beasts, eyes blazing.

"I don't care how powerful you think you are, you bastard!" he roared up at Quinn, clenching his fist. Black electricity began to swirl around it.

He then looked down at the Heliopath in the lead. It was probably over three times as tall as him and maybe fifteen times as heavy.

"If it's a fight you want, then it shall be a fight you get."

With that, he charged forward with a feral roar, charging into the possible oblivion his destiny had brought him to face.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It had taken a good fifteen minutes for the uproar to settle down. After that, Adrian was able to resume his brief explanations. He recounted the basic nature of the race of the Legion, as well as providing the more battle-hardened, seasoned fighters and duelists with some basic knowledge of the tactics that they employed.

"So where does this leave us in the simultaneous campaign against Apocalypse?" put in Daniel. He was sitting cross-legged on the floor, staring up at the Librarian intensely.

Adrian seemed to be snapping his fingers at random intervals and generating wisps of smoke as he did.

"I won't deny this makes things a _lot_ more complicated. The presence of tens of thousands of Legion soldiers all over the planet will severely restrict your movement. However, rest assured that the Legion will be as fervently against Apocalypse as it is to the human race. The Legion dream is to enslave every civilized race in the Universe. If Apocalypse was to destroy all of existence in one fell swoop, he would not only annihilate potential colonization centers for the Legion, but obviously the Legion itself. Self preservation will always come first for them. The Legion Emperor Belial is a highly powerful being whom I would recommend avoiding at all costs, but if you'll are able to execute this correctly you might just turn all the power he commands as an advantage to yourself."

"What are you talking about?" growled Kaiba.

Adrian turned to look at him, and snapped his fingers extra hard again. A long column of smoke appeared and began to float its way up. As it did, Adrian absently opened his mouth and blew. The column of smoke began to twist into the shape of a ring, but continued floating up.

Everyone stared at him oddly, but he continued anyway.

"Rather than attempt to split your resources over two fronts to combat two separate individual forces, try and make them bring the fight to each other. Distract them with each other, so you can operate easier in a more covert manner."

Tea glared at him. "You're insane," she growled.

Tash scowled. "Ok, look, I know you guys have been through a lot, but at least hear him out-…"

Daniel joined in, seemingly very angry as well. "You're suggesting that we initiate a full scale war between a guy who is basically the God of destruction, and a race of uncountable grunts headed up by a psychopath? Do you want to do Apocalypse's work _for_ him? I don't know where you live and to be honest I don't give a damn, but I'm _pretty_ sure it's not Earth. If you did you'd have the common sense to realize that a battle like that would leave our planet in ruins, possibly completely destroyed!"

"He has a point," snapped Kaiba, standing up. "You're offering us potential solutions to a very big problem when you have the best possible one in yourself!"

"Excuse me?" muttered Adrian.

"You heard me," growled the CEO. "I saw what you did back in New York. There must have been hundreds of fighters there that you destroyed with consummate ease. Not to mention that Belial nut himself was in a weak state. Hopefully you're not as cowardly as the Council, and I'm guessing you're not since you've already taken some initiative. _You_ fight Apocalypse and the Legion. We'll continue doing what the Council pretty much forced us to do: find those damn Seals."

Adrian sighed, rubbing his forehead with his fingers as he stared at the ground. "I've been around for longer than any of you can imagine. Believe me, people, it sickens me to see so much bloodshed. You have no idea how painful it is for me to just stand by and watch as -…"

"So get of your behind and do something about it!" roared CJ.

"_Silence, you fools_," growled the Librarian, looking up suddenly.

There was an edge to his voice that seemed to scare the living daylights out of everyone in the room, except Tash and Kaiba. Tash, because she seemed to know him rather intimately, and Kaiba, well, because, he was Kaiba.

Adrian then shook his head, and seemed to return to normal.

"I'm sorry for that," he groaned. "Look, let me put it to you this way. I _am_ strong, yes. I'd say I could maybe handle one Horseman of Apocalypse by himself. But it'd drain me completely and if another, or say the Legion Emperor chanced upon me, I'd stand no chance."

"So, basically, you're scared," scoffed CJ. "You and the Council are pathetic. You let ordinary humans and demons do the fighting while you sit back and cower-…"

"No, actually," Adrian managed to get out. He was staring down at the ground. "I've got things to do."

"What things?" snarled Kaiba.

Adrian looked up. "There's one individual who holds the key to everything. He could turn the entire war in our favor, he just doesn't know it yet. I have to help him unlock his power before it's too late."

"Who is this person?" put in Yami.

"I can't tell you," sighed Adrian, standing up.

Kaiba shook his head almost disdainfully. "You're just the same as the Council. Get out of here, we're going to do what we can. Since it would seem we're some of the few around with the actual guts to _try_."

Adrian was appearing as if he was trying to ignore the jibe, but the rest seemed to agree with it just as well.

He turned to Zerato.

"You know about the location of the Third Seal, right?"

The Archangel, who had remained silent through the entire exchange, nodded and stood up.

Adrian then looked back at the entire group. Tash stood up to join him. It seemed as if they were both ready to leave.

"The location of this Seal quite possibly gives you cause for both relief as well as frustration."

"And why is that?" put in Ryu.

"It is hallowed ground," replied Adrian, looking up absently at the floating wisps of smoke. "That means that only certain individuals will be able to traverse through it. Even though it restricts your options as to who will be able to go after the Seal, it also prevents certain other _undesirable_ elements from joining you."

"Where is it?" growled Yami. Now, even he was getting impatient.

Adrian nodded in Zerato's direction.

The Archangel spoke, and as he did, a slightly glazed look passed over his eyes.

"The Garden of Eden."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

From the beginning, it had seemed like they didn't have much of a chance at all.

Soon, their fears were confirmed.

The Heliopaths moved among them like nightmare apparitions, turning to fire everything they touched. Only Rikuo, Deondre and Bakura were able act proactively against them at _all_. The others were left to scamper and dodge as massive flaming fists and feet descended at random intervals, threatening to reduce them to the size of insects if they were not fast enough.

Rikuo tensed his feet as one of the Heliopaths lumbered around to face him, the two slits in its head that represented eyes glowing green.

With a roar, it crashed forward, throwing back both its arms and then swinging them toward him.

The wolf demon leapt up just in time. As this happened, the thought crossed his mind that it was time to take things up a notch.

With a derisive sneer he felt at his waist and ripped the Howling Sword out of its sheath.

As he did so, it caught the shine of the moonlight. It was truly a majestic sight.

He landed on the other side of the Heliopath. Gripping the blade's handle with both hands, he attempted a massive sideways swing. It slammed into the thick rock that made up the demon's side, and he felt something give. But, it didn't seem enough.

Before he could complete the motion of ripping the blade out and completing a second swing, Rikuo was hit by a train.

Well, at least that's what it seemed like. In actuality, another Heliopath had snuck up behind him and swatted him away like a fat man would swat away a pesky fly on a hot day. He took the blow in the ribs, and it sent him sailing perhaps thirty feet in the opposite direction. He landed with a groan, as his sword skidded even further away.

Deondre and Bakura were back to back, surrounded by four Heliopaths who were feinting forward and roaring like a pack of hungry hounds cornering their fallen prey.

Bakura snarled, and his Millennium Ring began to glow. Two, glowing golden energy swords appeared in each of his hands. Their searing touch was almost unfamiliar to him, the last time he had used them had been during his battle with Anubis during the Tournament of Shadows.

Deondre didn't have any such abilities. However, he did have one very simple one: brute force. Ducking under a heavy swing from the Heliopath directly opposite him, he rocketed into the air and delivered a twisting kick to the demon's head. Pain shot up his leg and he landed in an awkward crouch. As he turned back in disbelief, he saw that only a small part of the Heliopath's rock head had been chipped off.

Just as the demon reared up with a groan, ready to crush him alive, he heard a hiss about thirty feet away.

The sound was unmistakable. It was the fast release of gas when a bazooka was fired.

Deondre blinked in confusion.

"_Wait… A _bazooka_?_" he thought wildly, as he looked in the direction of the sound.

Through the darkness lit up by the green flames, he was able to make out a grinning Max standing on the top of his camper, a massive bazooka on his shoulder. It was nearly four feet long and probably weighed half as much as Max himself. Deondre guessed that the PI spent a lot of time in the gym.

In any case, he had already pulled the trigger. What followed was the miss of some sort of explosive gas as machinery began to whir inside.

The result after that was spectacular.

A foot long missile exited the barrel of the weapon at colossal speeds, over a hundred meters per second. Had Deondre blinked, he would have missed the sight of it crashing directly into the torso of the Heliopath he had just attacked.

Deondre had once read that projectiles such as the one Max had fired normally only explode when they collide with something too hard for it to penetrate.

The Heliopath's head was _far_ too hard for the missile to penetrate.

Therefore, within less than a tenth of a second after exiting the bazooka, the entire top half of the Heliopath simply vanished. Vanished in an explosion of flames and a thunderous _bang_, that is.

The massive detonation had occurred barely a few feet from where Deondre was lying. He was forced to throw his hands over his head and roll away as fast as possible to avoid a shower of rock shrapnel that rained as far as twenty feet all around the spot that now had simply a pair of ten foot tall legs with just a smoldering stump on top of them.

"One down, seven to go," hollered Max.

"_Actually, eight to go_," thought Deondre grimly to himself as he spared a glance at the now seemingly tiny figure of Quinn which was floating hundreds of feet above them. Were it not for the green glow around him, one would not be able to make him out in the black night sky.

"_And that final eighth one isn't going to be as easy as one shot from his little toy_ _if he so chooses to be_…."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Quinn looked down upon the battle occurring beneath him with increasing displeasure.

In the beginning, the motley group he had been facing looked like it would be easily overwhelmed by his Heliopaths. That was probably due to their reactions of undeniable horror and shock at the death of their leader.

But as time passed, it seemed as if they were _somehow_ turning the tide, at least a little. One of the younger idiots had produced a firearm and simply blown one of the fire demons apart. The wolf demon, Amero, was working on another with his massive blade. Working as a team, the Thief King and the dog demon were doing all right as well.

Perhaps it was time to step in.

He continued to stare down, analyzing possible targets.

Who could be caused the most pain?

A dark grin crossed his face.

"_Ahh… Sarah, I'm going to enjoy this_."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sarah was getting rather desperate. She hadn't managed to get over the shock of Eizan's death by any means, but self preservation was a rather strong motivation.

More than desperation, frustration was also creeping into her. While others were able to actively fight the army of monstrosities that Quinn had somehow created, she was reduced to being forced to hide out behind a tree and move every time one of the Heliopaths got close to where she was.

She swore as Max discharged a missile into one of the demons' midsections. The resulting explosion threw a lot of shrapnel in her direction.

Trying to ignore the pain from the multitude of cuts that had now appeared on her hands, she stumbled to her right, keeping her head on a pivot to try and glean where the camper was. Maybe she could try and get out, there was no shame in that, she couldn't do anything in this situation…

She walked right into a tall figure. Taking a startled step back, she almost screamed.

"Such a beautiful girl shouldn't be using that type of language," chuckled Quinn. "But then again, I'm not one to comment on that topic."

Sarah began to tremble in shock. This was the monster, the insane psychopath she had heard so many stories about and now seen in action, the one who had killed the man who had almost been her second father…

That last thought helped manifest her terror into rage.

Continuing to step back, she fumbled for the gun in her pocket.

"Oh, please, Sarah," hissed the Horseman, taking a step forward. His green aura began to expand.

"Don't insult me with such mediocre weapons."

Trying desperately to block out his taunts, she ripped out the weapon and flicked the safety off. Without further pause, she pulled the trigger until it was clicking on empty. Twelve times she had performed this action, and twelve bullets had been discharged in Quinn's direction.

One by one, they raced toward him at tens of meters per second, and each one crashed into his aura before then losing all its kinetic energy and dropping to the ground with a metallic clink.

Quinn's eyes darkened. "That isn't very nice."

He took two more gigantic steps. Sarah would've run had she thought it would make any kind of difference.

"Oh, I wish Jason was here to see this," hissed the sadist as his fingers curled around the Eagle agent's neck. The pain was unbearable, each centimeter of his skin felt like a flaming brand. Almost, effortlessly, he lifted her up and began to tighten his fingers.

"He loved you, did you know that?" sneered Quinn. Sarah didn't respond, not because she didn't want to, but because she had no oxygen to spare.

"Oh yes, I spent ages in his pathetic, dreary mind. Even when that miserable old man thought that I was gone for good, I was still lurking within him, dormant, waiting for the one thing which would give me the edge over him. Ever since he first met you, he began experiencing these _pathetic_ human emotions. Of course we all know you'd have never reciprocated them, and I'll admit that watching him suffer in that fact was one of the few joys I had in the last decade."

He tightened his grip, almost completely cutting off her air supply.

"His watching helplessly as I put you out of my misery would've been another sight to behold, but I had to deal with him first, which in itself was quite a bit of fun. So, this time, I'll have to make do with giving you a particularly painful death-…"

Just as she felt her vision going black, there was a loud _thud_, and she fell down in a heap.

Looking up, she was barely able to make out a snarling black figure in a spandex attempting to pound Quinn to pieces.

Her eyes widened and she struggled up. "Is that Dia-…"

"Don't let it get to your head," snapped a snide, familiar voice behind her.

She turned to see James with his gun aimed at the trashing pair, afraid to shoot for fear of hitting his partner.

"Did you two just, _save _me?" she murmured incredulously.

James glared at her. "He was distracted, it worked out for us. Now get the hell out of here-…"

He was unable to finish speaking as a _massive_ explosion of green energy plumed out around Quinn. It threw Diablo back a good twenty to thirty feet, and he landed on his back with a groan. The Fourth Horseman's eyes were shining a bright emerald, and there seemed to be a real fury replacing his earlier playful sadism.

James gasped in shock, and fired. Again, the bullets bounced off Quinn's aura as if there were no power behind them at all.

"You should not have interfered," hissed Quinn, raising his right hand. It began to glow an extra bright green.

James gulped.

Neither he nor Sarah had any idea what Quinn was planning to do, and thankfully, never would: a loud _crash_ sounded behind them.

Everyone who was not imminently occupied in a physical fight turned to look at the source of the sound.

An eighty foot tall evergreen tree had been felled. Felled by _Legion_ _foot soldiers_.

It was the first time that any of the combatants in the field had seen one of them in person. They were truly horrifying, resembling reptiles more than an advanced race. Each soldier seemed to be clad in a different kind of armor that in themselves were glowing green.

One of the soldiers was carrying a gun with a long, thin barrel. He mounted it on his shoulder and pulled the trigger. A jet of pale green energy issued forth in Quinn's direction. He raised his eyebrows, and lifted his right hand to intercept the stream. His skin seemed to somewhat absorb the energy, but only to a certain degree. His hand still seemed to have a glowing orb in it.

"Fools," he growled, and with a howl thrust his hand back out. The orb expanded into a massive burst of energy which slammed into the soldier that had originally fired the blast. He seemed to be vaporized on the spot.

The other members of the Legion were not deterred. There were quite possibly thirty or forty of them. They began marching on.

Quinn's right hand was glowing brighter than the rest of his body. He let out a shrill screech in some arcane language. All remaining seven Heliopaths froze momentarily, and then began to slowly lumber around in the direction of the oncoming soldiers.

"That should keep them occupied," he mused. "As for you two-…"

He turned back to face his two would-be victims, but froze. They were both gone.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kaiba was the first to react.

"The… The Garden of Eden," he said slowly.

Adrian nodded wearily.

"Yes, Mr. Kaiba. The very same Garden of Eden where the first members of the human race, Adam and Eve, spent the first part of their lives. The Garden of Eden that houses the both the Tree of Life as well as the Tree of Knowledge. The Garden that witnessed the fall of the human race from grace."

Only Yami, Daniel, CJ, Tea, Ryu and Brian seemed to have not lost the plot completely. That was understandable, however, considering they had been to the City of the Dead and back.

"So why would you call the Garden a cause for frustration?" questioned Yami.

"Originally, the Garden of Eden was supposed to be the sole home of the one race that was intended to be pure: man," began Adrian. "Man was supposed to live, grow, and die within the confines of the garden, uncorrupted by the outside. We all know how _that_ particular line of history turned out, but that's beside the point. The Garden was created to keep outside influences out, and remains that way to this day. I don't know what has happened to the inside of the Garden, that's one of the few parts of existence that remains outside my Sight. But there is only one individual among us who is capable of making it into the Garden and finding the Seal of Immortality."

"Who?" muttered Daniel.

The Librarian jerked his thumb at Zerato. "Him."

Everyone was silent again for a moment.

"So you're saying that _Zerato_ has to proceed into the Garden of Eden _alone_, deal with whatever obstacles are in his path, retrieve the Seal, and return all by _himself_?" growled Kaiba through gritted teeth.

"You're underestimating him," interjected Adrian, but the CEO was past that sort of argument.

"What was the damn point of even asking us for help if you're just going to leave us by ourselves in this damn hole and go do it yourself?" he snapped.

Zerato took a cautious step forward. "Kaiba… Believe me, I'm not exactly thrilled at the idea of doing this myself either," he sighed. "The guardians protecting the Seals will get increasingly powerful, and we already know how bad it was in Necropolis. As for the Valley of Spirits, the fact that we haven't heard from Eizan and the others should by itself imply that they're having a hell of a time. But the Garden of Eden is a sacrosanct place. There are certain… _vices_, about the place that make it dangerous for an ordinary human, or extraordinary one, for that matter, to stray into."

Kaiba didn't seem to understand what the Archangel implied and stood there with his mouth slightly open, an irritated look in his tired eyes.

It was Brian who picked up the conversation. He fixed Zerato with a hard look and spoke.

"You're speaking about the temptation caused by the Tree of Knowledge."

Everyone turned to him in shock.

Yami wasn't exactly an expert on Christian mythology, but he knew enough to get an idea of what Brian meant.

"The Tree…. It's still there after all this time?" he choked.

Adrian sighed.

"There are reasons the Council chose places like this to hide the Seals… One bite, _one bite_ from an apple picked from the Tree of Knowledge, and you had might as well kiss your sanity goodbye. Consider that it turned Adam and Eve from the images of the ideal, God-fearing human being to everything that they had been created to stand against, imagine what it would do to a modern day human being, full of temptations and easily corruptible."

"So you think that we're incapable of stopping ourselves from eating a damn _fruit_?" roared Kaiba. The others seemed to echo his sentiments, and were also beginning to stand up and voice their protests.

"Please, people, please calm down!" called out Adrian.

Zerato gave him a frustrated glance, as if to say, "_See what I've been dealing with_?"

"Look, this comes from the Council itself. They don't want to risk one or more of your sanity, considering they've already taken and asked so much from you," shouted Zerato over the din. "I am going to the Garden at nightfall."

He received withering looks, but kept silent after that.

"So then we have nothing to talk about here," grunted CJ, a sentiment which most seemed to agree with.

"Well, not exactly," replied Adrian quietly. "Since Zerato is going to be leaving soon, and myself and Tash will be returning to my library to attend to some other business, I thought it would be advisable to establish a chain of command here."

Tea gave him an odd look. "A chain of command?"

"Yes. Just someone who will be in charge on a provisional basis until Zerato returns; someone who will take the calls in any situation that comes up."

"_Too bad Rikuo isn't here_," mused Daniel to himself.

He then decided to speak up. "Well, I think it's gotta be Yugi," he announced.

Almost instantly, Kaiba's fist tightened.

No one else said anything.

Yami looked slightly embarrassed.

"So, we have no objections?" Adrian seemed almost glad that it was over.

Kaiba didn't look happy at all, but didn't speak.

The Librarian nodded in Yami's direction. "All right, Pharaoh. You're the de facto leader of this group, at least until Zerato returns. All you guys need to do is lie low and make sure no one finds out where you are. There's a very good chance the Legion might not even attempt to find you'll, but in the event that they manage to chance upon this garrison, the Council will know. You'll get reinforcements."

He then began to speak to the group as a whole.

"I know that you lot are frustrated that you have nothing to do right now. But take it positively. Rest up, you've just been through a horrible experience in New York. As soon as we find out about what's going on in China, we'll move onto the fourth Seal."

No one replied, but he didn't pause.

"You guys are doing a great job of keeping it together under the circumstances. The whole world is depending on you… Just remember that and continue to do so. I'll see you guys around."

With that, he nodded to Tash, who had been sitting silently by his side. She placed a hand on his shoulder, and waved sympathetically to the others.

Right then, Adrian paused.

"Oh… I almost forgot. I've left something behind for all of you in the storage room. Consider them gifts, if anything, but use them wisely."

With that, both vanished in a puff of smoke.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Zerato was almost glad to leave when it came down to it. The constant complaining and whining had almost driven him insane. But the more he looked at it objectively, the less he felt he had a right to comment. After all, the individuals he was dealing with were not seasoned soldiers of the ultimate war as he was. Some of them had fought all the battles of their lifetime using a children's card game. However, when it came down to it, the decision was the Council's, and he was not in a position to question them.

Nobody was.

As he drifted out of the back door into the pale dusk, the cool air of the coming night helped him relax somewhat. Putting these confusing thoughts out of his mind, he decided to now focus solely on the task at hand.

Tasks, specifically.

The first was to enter the Garden of Eden without upsetting its defenses too much. The reason for this was that the Garden _was_ hallowed ground, meaning that no mortal was permitted to enter it, ever. He had to ensure that the defenses were completely, or at least mostly intact, so as to prevent anyone from entering the Garden, either unknowingly or knowingly.

The second was to try and make his way through the Garden, rather, what was left of it, as quickly as possible. The term 'quickly' in this case was very relative. The average human could take months to reach the center, where the Seal was located. Most of them would probably never make it to begin with. The Council had given Zerato twelve hours.

The third served a double purpose. Retrieve the Seal, and kill the Guardian.

Most would call it senseless murder. Again, Zerato knew not to question the Council. The reason for this order was that the Guardian was a vile being whom the Council would never have let live this long in such a holy place if not for the fact that it had something to guard. If the Seal was taken, the Guardian would very likely stir up a lot of further trouble, which no one needed with Apocalypse, the Legion, and Paradias already making merry.

He knew what had to be done. Now, it was time to do it.

He stretched his arms out, and large white wings unfurled behind him. Silently, he took off into the sky.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Joey wasn't the best of drivers under any circumstances. Back in Domino, distances were so small that he normally ended up walking from one place to another. He had eventually gotten himself a license, but hadn't driven any vehicle in the last six months.

However, self preservation was a powerful motivator.

He winced slightly as he slammed into an abandoned BMW. He had seen it, but at sixty-five miles per hour those type of sharp turns were nearly impossible.

"How far is it from us?" he hollered despairingly, continuing to jam his foot down on the accelerator.

Ishizu and Odion were seated on the second from front seats, clutching the bar in front of them so hard that their knuckles were white.

Zeruge was standing halfway between Joey and the back of the bus.

"It's about a hundred meters back," he roared back.

A hundred meters was probably a kind description. The towering green goliath was gaining on them, and fast.

"Goddamn it," grunted Joey, making another random turn. He knew, however, that in a game of cat and mouse they were certain to lose in a city environment. Even though their extraterrestrial pursuer was much larger, it was more mobile than the bus and could change direction far more easily.

He then realized that they needed to outrun it.

Again, that wasn't going to happen in the messy streets of Manhattan. The only way they had a chance was if they made it to the West Side Highway.

He glanced at the street number they had just passed. The Highway was about twenty blocks to the east.

"All right, sit tight," he growled. "Time to see what this baby can really do."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Zerato flew through the night, in a seemingly aimless fashion.

The truth was that he was following a very specific route through the skies to a spot no one could find, except for those who already knew where it was.

Once he reached that spot, a rather painful process would need to be endured to enter the Garden.

He wished he could have explained all this to the disgruntled duelists he had left behind. To enter the Garden of Eden was to return to the very roots of existence, to the scene of quite possibly the worst crime that had ever been committed in the history of the Universe.

It was a sensitive matter.

If someone like Eve, who was essentially living a perfect life, could be tempted by the apple, then how would someone burdened by a war with both Apocalypse and the Legion resist the idea of being able to defeat them both with a few bites of a fruit?

Of course, he hadn't the time to explain it to them, nor did he want to deal with their reactions of outrage. It was better this way.

In any case, the surprise that the Librarian had left behind for them would be sufficient to keep them busy.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Yami had ceded control of their body to Yugi, totally spent after his confrontation with Belial.

The young gamer wasn't feeling exactly energetic himself, but decided to investigate Adrian's 'surprise' for them.

He made his way through the cobweb and dust ridden path to the storage room.

"_What a contrast to the HQ in New York, but how much safer this is_," he mused to himself.

Opening the door, his eyes widened in surprise to see the lights already on.

It wasn't much of a 'storage' room persay. Nothing really seemed to be stored there. The only visible piece of furniture was a wooden table in the center of the room, which had a large black album on it.

His curiosity piqued, Yugi crossed the room over to the table and opened it.

The album was filled with sleeves about ten centimeters by six centimeters.

In them, were cards.

Monster cards, specifically. Monster cards with white borders.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Flashback_

"_Your analytical skills are spoken off with respect," replied Jason smoothly. "Indeed, such a move would make little sense if my real strategy was not what it was. The important thing is that Armed Dragon is a level three monster, while Clevonce is a level two. That means their total levels are five, making it perfect for me to summon a level five Synchro monster."_

"_Hold on," shouted Yami. "Synchro monster? What on Earth is a Synchro monster? I've never heard of any such thing in seven years of knowing this game."_

"_Indeed, you probably haven't," agreed Jason, "Clevonce is a Tuner monster, the opening type of monster to a new, powerful breed of monsters. By sending him and the correctly leveled monster to the graveyard, I can Synchro Summon a much more powerful beast."_

_End Flashback_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

For the first time in days, a broad grin spread over Yugi's face.

"Guys," he hollered. "Come over here and bring your decks with you!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Zerato knew that he had reached when the faint background sounds began to fade.

He had been flying at about two hundred feet, high enough to stay out of sight, but low enough to still hear whatever was going on beneath him.

There was a noticeable shift in the general atmosphere as he approached his destination. The din died down, and an invisible weight seemed to lift off his shoulders. The air seemed a lot purer and sweet-smelling.

He began to descend, as he passed over a thick forest.

When he finally touched down, he was in a clearing in the otherwise overgrown vegetation. And for the first time, since an age unknown, the eye of a living being beheld a white, barely illuminated tree.

Its body looked like large, twisted roots that wrapped around each other like snakes coiling. Its leaves were like that of a willow, a soft cream that stood in a similar color state to its soft, ivory trunk. The sky above was visible, and the moonlight reflected off of its surface like sparkles upon water. Small, light wisps of light misted from the entire entity, licking and lapping at the air. Zerato hovered there in mid-air, completely entranced by the sight before him.

Zerato touched down onto the ground, eyes still drinking in the awe inspiring sight of the tree before him.

He could almost taste the aura of the 'willow' on his lips as he turned to it. Whatever it was radiating, he could feel it cascade across his skin like a soft breeze, and he had to resist the urge to walk closer. He circled it lightly, green eye darting about it, silently searching. He could feel a small drop of sweat trickle down the side of his jaw, and his artificial fist clenched and unclenched in a soft, rhythmic fashion.

This was it. This was the entrance.

Very few were privy to the manner in which one was to enter the Garden of Eden. Even Zerato, one of the highest ranking servants of the Infinity Council, had never been told about it. Many stories were passed around, and the closest he had ever gotten was hearing of some 'tree myth' from one of Lady Life's servants.

It had all clicked, however, when he had been told the truth by the mother of all that existed herself. It was the reason no being had even been able to truly find such a place, and why some doubted it ever existed. Because Eden never actually existed in this world.

It existed outside of it.

And finding it was the _easy _part.

There was a soft rustle, and a distinct thump only a few feet to his left. Zerato drew his hand back almost instinctively, a white orb beginning to glow in it. His sky blue eye studied the open air ruthlessly, looking for any signs of movement to accompany the noise. That's when he noticed something amongst the grass, something that hadn't been there moments before. He untensed slightly, the energy dying in his hand very slowly.

He took a few steps forward, leaning down, and lifting the object into the moonlight. He turned it back and forth in his hand, inspecting it.

A small red apple that shined brightly in the lunar glow.

He looked up. There were no other fruits anywhere amongst the leaves or branches.

Without warning, a sudden urge to bite the apple entered his mind. He grimaced, closing his eyes and turning away from it. That, however, didn't stop the thoughts from tormenting him. He was almost certain he heard a light hissing in his head, a hiss that was telling him to dig into the little crimson treat he held. To do something that wasn't right, but something he nevertheless had to under the circumstances.

The hand holding the apple began to shake lightly, sweat beading on his forehead. The hissing was becoming more pronounced. Zerato didn't want to do this, regardless of what he was told to. It was not worth it. He tried to focus, tried to drop the red fruit from his grasp, but every time his fingers loosened they would only clench back up.

Before he could stop himself the apple was brought to his lips. His jaw opened of their own will, trembling as they took the first bite. One bite led to two, which led to three, then four. It wasn't long before the entire apple was eaten, the Archangel swallowing the last bit. He had no idea why his body was acting the way it was, fighting the urge on pure instinct. The second the pulp plummeted into his stomach the hissing stopped, and his shaking ceased.

Zerato immediately threw away the core disgustedly, backpedaling from the shimmering tree. He took a few deep breaths, the overwhelming urges disappearing the moment the core left his hand.

He never had a chance to get his bearings before his world suddenly exploded from behind his eye. It felt as if CJ had just smashed a football against the back of his head. Zerato reeled. His vision swam, colors meshing in his eyesight like paint running together in a grotesque color display. His body felt weak, and he slumped to his knees. He groaned, placing his hand against the ground to steady himself as he doubled over. Blackness crept into the edge of his vision, and his heart began to slam against his chest.

Somewhere off in the distance Zerato could hear creaking and scratching, like old boards being walked upon, and the sound of sandpaper against wood. But his mind couldn't fixate upon the sounds as he fell to his side. It felt like the heat in his body had suddenly escaped through every pore, and he shivered, curling around himself in a desperate instinctual move to stay warm. More creaking was heard as well as the rustle of leaves above him.

The glowing leaves fell around him like snow, and he suddenly felt something begin to wrap around his torso, something else grasping one of his legs.

He could barely make out a tree root enveloping his arm before darkness consumed his mind.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The Archangel groggily cracked his eyes open. It felt like each eyelid was being tied down to the ground. He was barely able to move his arms to maneuver himself into a sitting position. So he lay like that for a few minutes, face down in the ground, unable to see anything other than the dry rock in front of him.

Finally, the pain in his shoulders began to ease slightly.

He let out a groan and flipped himself over, getting both eyes open to take in the view of what was ahead of him.

Immediately, he wished that he had not.

The cluster of trees, where he was quite sure he passed out, was gone.

Replaced by a perfectly mirrored forest the likes of which he had never seen.

While not holding nearly the dense expanse of trees his earlier location had, there were still many nonetheless. The grass was a light reddish brown, almost bordering on muddy pink. Even the trees were similar in style, but these came with disgusting ebony trunks, a consistency looking like smashed charcoals. Leaves hung from them with a color scheme of fall. Dark reds, thick browns, shaded yellows. But the leaves themselves looked like serrated blades, shredded at the edges as if willing to cut any who dared pick at them. The air was heavy with a smell akin to sulfur. Its acrid scent almost made Zerato gag.

The sky looked as if ichorous fire burned above the seemingly constant overcast. The clouds were tinged with red and orange, and every now and then an explosion would occur, spewing molten rock and lava through the cloud cover and to the ground several hundred stories below. Each time it did this, the sound was like a bomb, played in surround sound as it happened all across the land.

The greatest servant of the Infinity Council was completely unprepared for the sight of it all, and he almost fell back from the sudden understanding that washed over him.

This dark, horrid place was exactly where he had to be.

This was Eden.

This place, which was once written to have been a place of unfathomable beauty, was now the land of demons.

The demons who would stop at nothing to ensure no one was able to reach the very thing they were created to protect.

The Seal of Immortality against pure energy.

This was not going to be easy, but the word 'easy' would never be in the job description of someone who worked for the Infinity Council, he thought grimly.

The trees were tall, over thirty meters each, with an infinite number of branches twisting and turning from along their trunk.

He sighed and got to his feet slowly. It felt as if the entire world was turning ninety degrees as he did so.

Zerato turned, completely surprised to see the exact same tree that he had picked that apple from. Its white trunk and shimmering leaves leaving it like the traditional odd black sheep amongst the surrounding white ones. Its luster didn't seem lost in the least amongst the burning sky and dark landscape, and if Zerato's imagination served him well, it seemed even brighter than before.

Zerato's eyes narrowed. Something was not right here.

He flexed his back muscles slightly, and his otherwise hidden white wings spread out behind him. With a single flap, he took to the sky.

His ascent was slow and laborious. It was almost as if the air was tens of times denser than that back on Earth. It weighed down on him, driving him back three inches for every inch of progress he made.

A fleeting expression of despair crossed his face. It could really only mean one thing.

Whatever was going on in this place, it was dampening his magic, making it ridiculously difficult for him to fly.

Avoiding random intrusions from branches that just seemed to pop up randomly in his flight path, Zerato finally made it above the tree cover.

Gazing to the north, his face took on a look of determination. There would be time to vent his frustrations later. Now, he merely had to focus on the task at hand. Get the Seal, and get out.

It had been almost the same amount of time to break through the forestry as it had taken to reach that tree back on Earth. Halfway through he had begun to fly alongside a sizable stream, its waters cloudy and dark. The ring changed directions at the time, almost keeping him perpendicular to the small river.

Not even a moment past the forest, the ground dropped off into a massive cliff side.

Zerato slowed down in mid-air, studying the situation before him. He took a look a long look to his right and left, dismayed to find that the cliff edge seemed to extend in both directions as far as the eye could see. Even the forest line stayed the same in both directions.

The sky continued to burn overhead, the thunderous detonations still sometimes causing Zerato to flinch. He dismounted his broom, setting it carefully on the ground and walking to the edge. He almost staggered at the sight before him. The ground below had to be thousands of feet from the edge, the stream falling into a large waterfall. There was a large pool at the base of the waterfall, which led into an even bigger river then the one Zerato had been following.

His eyesight traveled the length of the river below, taking in the next large area of red forest. This forest extended to his left and right as well, disappearing off into the horizon. Past it however, he could make out was seemed to be some type of barren plain. And there, far off in the distance, was a heavy grey fog.

Zerato concentrated his supernatural vision, the line of his sight suddenly tunneling upon his target. The fog seemed to be swirling slowly around something. Something that was glowing much in the same manner as the tree that brought him here.

Even though he couldn't see it, he knew that was it.

It was the _other _tree was located in the Garden.

That was also where the Seal was, and where he had to be.

He looked down into the depths of the waterfall and groaned audibly. Continuing to fly would drain his energy even further. Just how was he going to get off this blasted cliff?

Sudden splashing and churning caused Zerato to turn towards the stream edge nearest the forest. The dark water bubbled as if it was boiling, steam and mist rising from the top. It splashed onto the banks on both sides. He narrowed as it steadily increased in potency, crashing about as if giants were playing basketball underneath. Almost as soon as it started, however, it stopped, the waters becoming calm and still again.

Before Zerato could react, a dozen pale bodies crashed through the surface, leaping several meters into the air. They landed on their feet, water raining down around them as they landed roughly.

Stark white hair graced each one of their heads, jagged and tousled about. Red tribal tattoo's adorned their chests like battle marks. Eyes encompassing nothing but thick blackness and even without pupils, Zerato could feel them staring at him hatefully. Lips were drawn back in a sneer, revealing sharp fangs that were accompanied by reverberated growling. Sinewy muscle lined their male forms, tensing repeatedly as they stalked around him with panther like grace. Black, bone-like claws sat where fingers should have been, clicking and clacking in a vile surround sound as several tapped them together repeatedly. Small, almost comical, ebony feathered wings protruded upwards from their shoulder blades.

It took a moment for the Archangel; to recognize the creature's which now had him effectively circled to the cliff.

Incubi. Demons of a terrible kind, that preyed upon sleeping victims. The Council had attempted to eradicate the entire population, thousands of years ago. It seemed that they had not been _completely_ successful.

Zerato groaned audibly and back pedaled as the first one leapt towards him, snarling like a rabid wolf. He avoided the mindless lunge and placed a perfectly timed elbow in the back of the creature's neck. There was a satisfying _snap_ and the creature fell limply to the ground.

He had no time, however, to savor this small victory. Three more Incubi charged forward, talons swinging. The Archangel tightened his fist, and suddenly, white energy began to crackle around it. Within seconds, the energy had taken a tangible form. It looked like a white blade was attached to his hand.

He let out a hiss and swung the energy blade in a wide arc.

Two Incubi dodged expertly, the fourth being caught squarely in the side. The blade stopped as it ground into its ribcage and Zerato roared forward with the movement, his other hand assisting the one which had the blade. The Incubus' body couldn't hold, screaming in pain as Zerato's energy sword eviscerated its body. He was spinning to the side even before the two halves hit the ground, dodging black talons that were trying to rip him limb from limb.

More Incubi closed in, and Zerato was desperately pivoting this way and that, trying to find some space. The rabble of demons was pushing him further and further to the edge of the cliff.

A pair of pale arms wrapped around Zerato's neck from behind, lifting him slightly from the ground. Clawed fists were suddenly slamming into his chest and abdomen at an alarming rate. Zerato grunted with each impact, growling as his anger began to wash over him. His hand shot back in a fraction of a second, a curse already being launched as his palm connected solidly with the Incubus' nose that was holding him. Its head split vertically at the mouth, Zerato fighting free before blood and brains could splash over him.

The Archangel slammed his fist into the ground, a bright orange spell flashing into existence. A rippling, semi-translucent wave arose, flowing forward like a flood and throwing all of the advancing Incubi away from him.

"Goddamnit all," he swore, glancing back. The edge of the cliff was nearer to him than ever; as were the advancing Incubi who had quickly recovered from his assault.

With a frustrated sigh, he snapped his wings open.

One of the demons caught onto what he was planning, and with a howl bounded forward. Its jaws snapped shut minus any resistance; they had closed on the empty space where his right arm had been microseconds ago.

With a monumental effort he had somehow lifted off the edge of the cliff, and was now hovering a few feet away, looking warily at the gathering of mindless demons who were practically frothing at the mouth.

"_I can't afford to waste time_," he thought blankly, and slowly twisted his body away from the unreal sight.

Just as he prepared to brace his wings against the invisible weight and float down toward the base of the cliff, he felt _another_ weight suddenly landing on his back and almost dragging him down all the way without warning.

Before he could even think, the weight was accompanied by searing pain. He was unable to contain a scream as he felt a sharp object rip through his back. Blood leaked out, and even though his skin immediately began to heal himself, the agony was almost unbearable. He heard a harsh shriek that almost burst his eardrum.

Rather than succumb to the sensory overload, Zerato reached behind him, clawing at the Incubus that had made a daring jump onto his back. He felt his hands slam against cold skin, but however many blows he rained onto the demon, he kept losing altitude.

Without warning, he felt another form land on his right shoulder. The demon probably weighed about forty kilos at the maximum, but it felt like forty tons. His vision was obscured by a tree of arms, messy hair, and jet-black eyes.

He could barely do anything but push and shove wildly by the time a third had descended upon him. It was a wonder there was enough surface area on his body for them to hang onto. He was now oblivious to the multitude of cuts appearing left, right and center all over his skin. What he was _more_ aware of was that the ground seemed to be rushing up toward him at an unusual pace.

He looked up in horror. Dozens of Incubi had taken off the cliff, blocking him from even trying to fly back up if he managed to break free.

They were going to crush him against the ground.

He had about thirty seconds. At the maximum. And no way to break free physically.

It was then that his mind flashed back momentarily to his last lucky escape: the helicopter next to the Legion mother ship.

A booming crack assaulted his eardrums. It was like the sound of old time canon's going off.

And one second before Zerato would have been smashed in the ground by a mob of snarling demons, the large pile of bodies blasted outward in every direction.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The edges of blackness slowly crept from the sides of his vision, and he blinked rapidly. His ears were ringing and his frame trembled from the sudden loss of adrenaline. He was on his back in Eden's muddy pink grass, spread eagle, staring up at the otherworldly sky.

He rolled over with a grunt, pushing off from his hands and knees. He stood slowly, eye raking around, trying to determine what happened. Off in the distance he could clearly see the cliff, its high rise far above the tree line he was standing next to. He had no idea how he came this far out, but he wasn't about to curse what could possibly be good luck. There weren't any more Incubi, and he wasn't falling, so it was definitely good fortune to him so far.

He still couldn't understand what had happened that last second, but he was fairly certain he blacked out for a brief moment. It was when he turned around, however, that his shock clicked everything into place.

Before him, almost like an infinite wall, was the swirling fog he had observed back up on the cliff. It was dense, moving ever so slowly with an unfelt breeze. It blocked his vision entirely, giving no hints as to what lay beyond its churning depths.

Zerato let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding, pressing a hand to his forehead. Somehow, in the heat of the moment, he had been able to teleport all the way from the cliff side to the small clearing right before the smoking vapors.

_'I'm going to be __**really**__ happy when I'm out of this hellhole...' _he thought tiredly.

He mended the necklace without a second thought, adding a durability charm as a precaution, before slipping it back on. He checked himself, mentally preparing for anything he might encounter in the other side. He inhaled deeply, taking his first step in. Then another.

It wasn't long before his visage disappeared in the rolling fogs.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Zerato wasn't sure how long his feet had trudged on, eyesight entirely blocked by the heavy mist that surrounded his body, but it had to have been well over an hour. The air was cold and stale, but held none of the sulfuric scent that seemed to permeate the rest of the land. The feeling truly was no different than walking in the thick morning fogs at New York, but there was something else in the air. A heavy feeling that settled in his stomach. There were no trees or grass. Just something that seemed to be barren dirt as he walked.

The Archangel wasn't even sure whether he was walking in a straight line anymore.

Just when he was almost certain that he would need to sit and take a break, his body broke through the fog, stepping easily out into the open air.

The sight before him was enough to take his breath away.

It was like being in the eye of a stationary hurricane, standing in open air as the fogs continued to roll around what seemed to be a near mile radius. Zerato looked up, staring in awe at the large circular overhead that was entirely clear, giving him an unobstructed view of the fiery overcast above. It was amazing in its nightmarish glory, an event in nature that couldn't be described with simple words.

There was grass on the ground again, a single tree here and there, but it was the dark, almost black watered lake before him that captured his attention. Its calm inkish waters slowly washing onto the rough beach that surrounded every edge of it. And there in the middle, maybe a quarter of a mile out, was a small island.

With a glowing tree, just like the one that brought him here.

He made it to the right to the edge of the lake, almost heaving for breath. The effects of the heavy fog were amplified here to the point where he was being caused almost physical weakness.

He looked despairingly toward the island. There was no _way_ he was going to be able to fly all the way there.

He looked down, the liquid soaking the bottom of his pants with each successive wave. That's when he took a good look at the water for the first time, its darkness lightened upon seeing it up close. He knelt down, scooping his hand through it and bringing it up to his face. It was amazingly warm, smelling strongly of metal, possibly copper.

Blood.

Disgust set in when he finally realized what the lake was comprised of, its depth giving the normally red liquid a subtle blackness.

Swearing out loud, he dropped the liquid back and wiped his hand against his cloak.

He took a few steps back and gazed out at the island. Picking up a rock, he threw it across the face of the 'water'. It broke the surface about fifteen feet from him, and soon disappeared down beneath it.

"Can't anything about this place be easy?" he growled out loud

An echoing giggle gained Zerato's attention, confusion setting in when the small rock he had floated into the lake was suddenly thrown back at his feet. The upper half of a slim body suddenly broke through the surface, close to the beach edge.

Long, wet black hair framed a young woman's oriental face, white eyes with pink iris' drinking in the young man before her. Soft lips were painted into a sultry smile. Her upper torso was entirely nude, showing off petite, perky breasts that were dotted with small red tattoo's much like the ones that adorned the Incubi. Her skin was a soft cream and tiny grey feathered wings fluttered on her back, similar to the pale blue male demons from before. Blood from the lake cascaded across the natural valleys of her body, tracing her cheeks and shoulders.

He stood motionless for a moment as she beheld him with a widening gaze.

A dull smile spread across his face.

Oh, the irony.

This was a Succubus.

A female demon whose sole power was seduction so strong that seduction was not even the correct word to describe it: sexual compulsion so strong that it was almost morbid was more appropriate. It was also the primary reason, also the one he had been unwilling to reveal, that Zerato had insisted on being the only member of the task force that entered the Garden of Eden.

Not the Incubi. Not the terrible atmosphere. Not the challenge he was going to face on the island.

Succubi were _deadly_. Given time, they could bring _anyone_ under their spell of seduction. Even women. Anyone except beings of divine power who were born immune to their charms.

His smile turned into a nasty smirk.

They were in for a big surprise.

Another slim body broke through the surface. This time a young black woman, tattoos, petite breasts and feathered wings exactly like the one before. Her hair was braided into glistening dreadlocks. Another emerged, short blonde hair tinged red from the bloody waters, wings and tattoo's. Even more burst through, as if they had been swimming under its surface like mermaids, waiting for him to appear before them. A quick glance and Zerato could easily count around forty of the beautiful women, all of them similar in body frame but different in design. Some with blonde, black and brown hair. Some with soft tanned skin, others creamy, some dusky.

The very first Succubus slowly swam to the shore, her movements almost akin to those of a dolphin. A lazy, sexy smile spread across her face.

"_Come play with us_."

The lake prevented him from flying across. There was no guarantee that he would be able to teleport again. It really only left him one option.

Try and swim, with demon wenches that circled the island. Sharks in the hunt.

Zerato heaved his cloak off, and took a few steps into the blood, attempting to shake off the feeling of disgust.

The girl let out a shrill giggle, which seemed to be mimicked by all her counterparts in the lake.

She swam closer to him until she was about a few feet away. She stood up languidly and walked toward him.

Her naked body would have tempted any man. She looked like a dream even with blood dripping off her.

Zerato stood stock still as she came to a halt right in front of him.

Her small hand came up to his cheek.

"_Come play with us forever_."

Zerato's head seemed bowed. He didn't seem like he would notice as her jaws opened to reveal surprisingly sharp teeth.

Before she could bend forward, a shrill scream of pain escaped her mouth.

Zerato had broken her arm.

She fell to her knees, bawling in pathetic agony as he glared down contemptuously at her. She seemed to somehow be growing uglier by the second.

"I hope you will know better than to try and work your vile magic on an angel next time, demon," he hissed.

He then raised his hand, and his energy sword began to shimmer into existence once again.

"On the other hand, maybe there won't be another time for _you_."

His hand moved in a straight line, and her head exploded off. The body rolled the side, spewing blood that mixed with that of the lake.

"Who's next?" he snarled.

The low, haunting voices of the Succubi in the lake almost instantaneously transformed into harsh shrill screams of anger.

He steeled himself as crimson waves began to appear on the surface of the lake as a veritable army of Succubi began to swim at an almost unbelievable pace right toward him. Within seconds, it was like his battle on the top of the cliff all over again, his enemies threatening to overwhelm him with nothing but sheer force.

Only this time, the bodies flying at him were not disgusting, undead-like creatures. They were women who could each win a modeling contest.

Zerato paid no heed to their beauty as he busily slashed and punched at any demon that came within a few feet of him.

By the time twenty were down, he was beginning to tire in earnest. Unlike Incubi, Succubi relied on their seduction powers alone and had no other supernatural abilities to speak of, such as unnatural strength. The only way they could beat him was sheer numbers.

Normally, forty normal humans would have been a walk in the park for Zerato. But he was exhausted, and they were not; and they kept coming.

By the time there were ten left, he was fighting on his last reserves of energy.

The Succubi sensed this, and decided to take advantage.

Zerato stumbled back, his energy sword fading. He was hoping that the Succubi would not stray from their posts as effectively sentries in the lake. If he stood far enough away from the lake they would not come out to attack him. Impasse, if he was right.

Wholesale slaughter if he was wrong.

The remaining women remained about waist deep in the blood, surrounded by the floating corpses of their brethren. Each of them had a look of unspeakable rage on their faces but seemed to be held back by some kind of unspoken rule.

The Archangel relaxed slightly. Mistake.

Never relax when you're within proximity of several angry enemies whom you might not be able to kill. _Never_.

It seemed as if they were struggling against some invisible bonds, however, slowly but surely the demon women were getting to their feet and moving toward him. Each one was baring her teeth, which glinted in the acrid air.

He shivered. There seemed nothing beautiful about these women right now.

He raised his fists, knowing he could do nothing but hope for the best right now, when there was a loud _bang_ from the island.

He just looked up in time to see a wave of black energy erupt from a point on the shore of the island. He ducked out of the way just in time as the wave slammed into the standing Succubi. They screamed out in pain, louder than their dead sisters had, paralyzed as the energy ate away at their flawless flesh. It took about a minute, but soon ten dead women fell to the ground, their features scorched beyond recognition.

Zerato stared out in amazement back at the island. However, the point source of the energy appeared to be gone.

Zerato decided not to question his good fortune. He had a pretty good idea as to what he was going to be confronted with on the island anyway.

Taking a deep breath, he dived into the lake of blood.

It took about eight score hard strokes before he had been able to pull himself ashore the island.

Deprived of all strength, he lay back in the sand. Strange, whimsical thoughts and images passed through his mind.

He had no idea how long he had laid there, but finally his vision began to clear and a little strength returned to his limbs.

He staggered upward and rubbed his eyes.

A thickset, black figure blocked his vision.

"It took you enough time to wake up from your dreams," said a cold monotone.

Zerato's eyes snapped open.

There was a man dressed in platinum armor standing in front of him. He had a black helmet and cold blue eyes.

The Archangel instantly narrowed his eyes.

"Supreme King Haou," he hissed.

The Second Horseman of Apocalypse nodded.

"Nothing would have pleased me more than to watch you die by the hands of those wenches. However, at this point I knew not the location of the Seal of Immortality. My entry into the Garden was planned to be at exactly the same time as yours. Therefore, once we reached the Tree of Knowledge, you would be the one to retrieve the Seal."

Zerato glared at him.

"And what makes you think I would give the Seal to one of my mortal enemies?" he growled.

"Merely because of your age."

"What do you mean?" snapped Zerato, looking uneasily from one direction to another.

Just like the rest of the Garden, the island looked like it had been laid waste to. It had strange yellow scrub dotting its otherwise rocky surface at random intervals. Trees sprung up at random intervals, but all were almost dead. No leaves grew on them, and only the cores of the fruit that had once grown on them remained.

However, in the center, a good distance away from them, the shining form of _the _Tree was unmistakable.

"You have lived thousands of years. Part of that is due to your eternal youth, and part is due to your skill in battle. However, you have never been able to defeat every foe you face. You have a great instinct for self-preservation. Deny it if you please, the truth is you are no match for me right now. If you provide me with the Seal I will leave you with your life. My Master's fight is with the Council and its servants, not mine."

Zerato didn't answer.

He merely continued to stare at the Tree.

Haou spoke again. "Do not waste my time. I can cause you some pain without killing you if that is what is required to get you to co-operate."

The angel allowed himself a wry smile.

"That will not be necessary."

The Supreme King raised an eyebrow.

Zerato pointed to a spot near the tree.

Keeping one eye on his potential victim, Haou turned to look where the angel's finger had drawn a line to.

The spot was one where two rocks had met, leaving a V-shaped valley between them.

Nestled in between them was an eight foot long, yellow and black snake.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Woo hoo! Envisioned this segment for quite a while. I WILL be taking some creative licence with the Christian mythology aspect, so no one go ape on me.**

**Finally there will be dueling next chapter, I swear. Epic stuff coming up. Stay tuned!**


	46. At the Edge of Life

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR: At the Edge of Life

**Ah, I'm back!**

**Let me tell you, dredging up motivation was a bit hard for this chapter in particular. I feel like the story has gotten a bit too big for me to handle without dealing with a mind-screw every time I need to put a certain plotline together, hence the delay in updates. Plus, I've started writing for a sports journalism site on soccer and basketball. Check out Rahul D at if you're interested :D**

**Good news though is that I'm done with my SATs. Somehow I managed a 2240, meaning no second attempt :D Especially with the winter break soon, I'm going to make an effort to keep the story moving as fast as possible.**

**Gearfried the Synchro: Welcome to the ranks of my readers! That does sound like an interesting idea, but I'm not sure I could have anyone use it at the moment.**

**Dinomus: Umm Zerato was NOT seduced. The fruit that he ate was necessary for him to enter the Garden. It was NOT the Tree of Knowledge. Sorry if it was not clear during the text itself. Heh, the Joker? That's a bit random isn't it :P? That chapter is nearly three years old. It was a fun gimmick back then. No, Bruce Wayne will NOT be appearing. It will remain a stand-alone part of the story.**

Haou immediately dropped his gaze at Zerato completely, deciding to focus on the serpent.

Zerato turned around completely as well, staring at it.

The snake seemed aware of the attention on it, but acted as if it was not. It was moving at a languid pace, curling up its body and then uncurling to provide a forward thrust. Its tongue was sticking out of its jaws ever so slightly, and seemed to be twitching at random intervals.

The reptile took its time to get out of the rocks, and as its coils landed on the flat ground with a slight thud, it finally decided to acknowledge Zerato and Haou.

Looking up with its bright yellow eyes, it fixed them both with a stare that they matched with ease.

The Archangel seemed transfixed.

"_This is the legendary one... The snake that brought about the fall of Man. After all these years, it has been allowed to live and is still not only living, but _flourishing_ within the Garden if the influence its had on the place since Adam and Eve left has been anything to go by._"

"So you two are the ones who have been harming my children_."_

The snake's jaws did not seem to move. A voice, however, sounded in the air, and seemed to be coming from all around them.

It was a…. _different_ voice. It was low, and had a languid quality to it, just like the movements of its bearer. Yet, at the same time, there was a menacing edge. Just like the menacing edge to the hiss of a snake that was about to attack its prey. Despite it seeming soft, at the same time it did appear to have multiple synchronized sources all around them. There was a somewhat feminine tone to it as well.

"Indeed," replied Haou in his curt monotone.

"So, do tell me… What is it that brought you to my Garden in the first place?"

As the snake spoke, there seemed to be extra emphasis on the 'so'. It sounded just like how one would expect a snake's hiss to sound.

Zerato was a bit dumbfounded. He had not considered how to deal with the serpent. All his planning had been spent on simply _getting_ to this spot.

Right now, all he wanted to do was charge across and nail the reptile to the Tree. This was the one, the creature that was responsible for almost every evil act committed by a member of the human race… It made his almost tremble with rage to even _consider_ that this creature had been allowed to live.

The snake cocked its head toward him.

"I know what you are thinking, angel. You are trying to contain your urges to come and slaughter me at this instant."

Zerato had not expected this. He opened his mouth to say something, but words did not come.

"Do not be so surprised… Zerato? That is your name, yes. I was once an angel myself too."

The snake then turned its head slightly toward Haou.

"And you… Supreme King of Darkness, Haou. I find it strange that an entity with a heritage such as yours has lowered himself to running errands for a rogue member of the Council."

Then, the snake seemed to _laugh_. It was unlike any laugh that they had ever heard. It was raspy, yet clear. It was soft, yet loud. It was melodious, yet menacing. Almost like someone playing a specific tune on a xylophone made of bones.

Surreal.

"Perhaps you could use some enlightenment."

As if for emphasis, one of the apples on the tree behind it glowed a little extra brightly.

Haou and Zerato said nothing.

The snake continued.

"Now, let us waste no time. You know why you are here. I know why you are here. And we all know that there is no chance of your getting it."

Zerato tensed up. How the hell did this thing _know_ what he was after?

Haou remained tense.

"Now, now. This _is_ my realm, after all. Are you so foolish as to think I'm not aware of everything that transpires within it?"

The snake laughed its creepy laugh again.

"That is not the case, obviously. If you _were_ so foolish, there is no way that you would have made it this far."

It began to slide closer to Haou.

"There is a darkness about you, little King, that I find absolutely _delicious_…. Perhaps you would care for an apple?"

The serpent's words were cut off because he whom they were addressed to had taken an aggressive step forward and wrapped his gauntleted fingers around it, dragging half its body off the ground in one swift motion.

"Do not think to play games with me, demon," he hissed. "If you dare mock me again-…"

Before he could complete his sentence, a purple aura exploded outward from the snake. Haou swore and dropped it to the ground. The serpent continued to writhe on the ground as its aura expanded. Haou took a somewhat alarmed step back. The energy that was coming off its body seemed to literally create a depression in the ground.

The sky seemed to be darkening as well in accordance with the color of the snake's aura.

"If you _dare_ touch me again…."

The snake's voice was now louder and more terrible than any voice that had ever sounded.

Then, just like that, the aura disappeared and the snake's voice returned to normal.

"Now, at this point, you two must ask yourselves a question. Do you want to stand around wasting time, or should we proceed?"

"Proceed with what?" muttered Zerato suspiciously.

"Even though I could easily crush the both of you with but a _thought_ if I so desired, I feel the need to give you a sporting chance in a more civilized medium of settling this. To be fair, I have not had _anyone_ to play with in a very long time, so I'd rather this last as long as possible."

The serpent laughed its girlish laugh again.

The air around them seemed to darken. Only the tree seemed to continue to glow as brightly as before.

Zerato's eyes widened. _"A Shadow Game…!"_

The snake slithered back some distance, so that a triangle of sorts was formed between it, Haou and Zerato.

"Truth be told, this primitive game always struck me as being somewhat morbid under certain conditions. Let us see if we can fulfill them now. A free for all, to the winner goes the spoils."

Zerato closed his eyes as it laughed again. Haou stood stock straight with a stoic expression on his face, watching the serpent silently.

There was a flash of purple again, and a deck of cards materialized in front of the serpent. It shuffled at a high speed, and then five cards were sprayed out in front of it.

The Archangel opened his eyes, and flicked his wrist, and a shining white Duel Disk appeared on it. The monster and magic/trap card holding zones of it were made of a large, whitish-yellow angel's wing that extended outwards from his arm. The deck and graveyard zone, along with the life-point counter, were all similar to that of a normal Duel Disk, but were white. In the deck zone appeared a deck. It was fairly thick.

A Duel Disk flashed into existence on Haou's arm as well, out of thin air. It was jet black, but otherwise looked like one of Kaiba Corp.'s regular DD3's.

The three individuals fixed each other with hard stares, before the serpent broke the silence.

"Before we begin, it hardly seems fair that I know everything about you, while you don't even know my name."

"I don't care," growled Haou.

The snake ignored him. "You may call me Lilith. Now, let us begin."

(Haou: 8000, Lilith: 8000, Zerato: 8000)

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"CAN YOU AT LEAST TRY TO AVOID THE LASERS YOU IMBECILE?" Rikuo roared at the top of his lungs as a white knuckled Max yanked the steering wheel hard to the right and then left as entire sections of the road were torn away under the barrage of emerald laser fire raining down from the sky as the squadron of attack craft performed another strafing run.

Fighting the Heliopaths had been hopeless. Only Rikuo and possibly Bakura could think of matching them one on one. With _seven _of the beasts remaining, one wouldn't have liked their chances. It was by sheer luck that the Legion foot soldiers had chanced upon them, providing a distraction that had enabled pretty much the entire harried group, with the exception of Diablo and James who had disappeared into the woods, to pile into the camper.

They had failed to take into account, however, that while they themselves had been equal in number to the Heliopaths, the Legion soldiers were far more and much better weaponry. That meant some of their number could stay behind and handle the rock demons along with their master, Quinn, while a remaining clambered into their fighters and took off in hot pursuit of the camper.

"I'VE GOT ENOUGH PROBLEMS WITHOUT YOUR PLAYING BACKSEAT DRIVER FIDO!" the young man yelled practically nose to muzzle with the Wolf Demon Lord either adrenaline or frustration robbing him of any hesitation to speak this way to someone who could rip his head off in an instant.

"You don't like the way I'm driving? HERE!" He lashed out with his foot and kicked the door on Rikuo's side wide open.

"Feel free to get out and walk anytime jackass, now if you'll excuse me I'm going to try and save our collective asses now!"

Rikuo stared at him looking almost impressed at the backbone the MADness agent was showing under the current circumstances.

"Fine, just remind me to disembowel you when we wind up in Hell," He grumbled settling back into his seat and slamming the door shut, before muttering, "To coin an expression from Daniel's generation were up to our necks in shit. EAGLE's about to collapse from the power vacuum Eizan's death will bring, one of our strongest human operatives just went rogue, and we can't even defend ourselves while these space iguanas use us for target practice. What else can go wrong?"

No one besides Max heard this, since all the others were seated toward the back of the vehicle, holding onto their seats for dear life. He rolled his eyes and was about to suggest Rikuo not offer the universe such tempting invitations when he noticed something in the rearview mirror his pupils shrinking.

"...Uh guys? I think our friends radioed in some ground support."

Coming up right behind the camper was a monstrosity that could only be loosely considered a tank. Its wheels looked better suited to fit a Monster Truck, except they were armor plated and covered with caterpillar treads while a frame big enough to house several dozen Shocktroopers bristled with an array of long range weapons all topped off with a pair of enormous glowing circular saw blades set parallel to the road where a bumper would normally be.

"Subtle," Rikuo muttered under his breath. "I suppose the only good news about this is they won't fire with that thing so close to us without the risk of hitting their own troops. Though now it's just a question of if we can avoid those blades without getting in range of the rest of their weapons.

Max suddenly blinked as a thought seemed to occur to him. "Wait a minute...Rikuo, can you drive a stick shift?"

"What?" Rikuo looked at the young man like he had just sprouted an extra head.

"CAN YOU DRIVE A FRICKIN' MANUAL TRANSMISSION AUTOMOBILE YES OR NO?"

"I took some lessons a while back but I don't see how this-…"

"That's good enough, take the wheel and keep us on the road." Max said unbuckling his seatbelt and throwing open a compartment. From there, he pulled, out of all things, a duel disk and a strange looking pair of metal boots.

"What the hell are you doing?" Rikuo bellowed grabbing the steering wheel before they ran right off the road. His claws were fumbling with the floor shifter.

"Something that's either incredibly stupid or sheer genius, it depends on if these guys are as obsessed about this card game as the rest of you people," Max said.

He then strode over to the middle of the vehicle, with everyone else staring at him incredulously. Clambering onto a stool that was bolted into the ground, he opened a hatch in the ceiling. Before Rikuo or anyone else could stop him, he had climbed right out.

"Oh for the love of...YOU BETTER STAY ALIVE LONG ENOUGH FOR ME TO KILL YOU BOY!" Rikuo snarled.

Meanwhile Max had donned the gravity boots that were at present the only thing keeping him from falling right off the roof of the camper. He put on his duel disk and glared at the approaching Legion tank, really hoping he wasn't about to make the biggest and last mistake of his life.

Inside the tank there was a rapid exchange between the pilot and the soldiers controlling the attack craft, which abruptly broke off. A hatch opened in the tank as a Legion soldier climbed out. It was a monstrosity of a creature, seven feet tall and heavier than a sumo wrestler. It looked absolutely horrifying in its red armor, with a glowing Orichalcos stone set in its chest. A serpentine tail curled around the base of its legs.

The beast was also brandishing a Duel Disk. It waited until the tank got close enough before leaping between vehicles effortlessly, denting the part of the roof it landed on.

"Figured as much," Max said suddenly giving a broad grin. "You guys might shoot first and skip the questions when it comes to normal people…. But flash a duel disk and you can't help but take the bait."

"All humanoid life forms possessing knowledge of Duel Monsters are to be given top priority as targets," the soldier echoed. Its raspy gargle of a voice was difficult to hear over the din of the vehicle, but Max got the gist of it. The trooper took a deck from its belt using its tail and slammed it into its Duel Disk.

"The outcome of this battle matters little, but even if it means delaying your destruction the Legion will honor your challenge. Prepare to duel."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Haou, the serpent, and Zerato all stared down each other, the scorched skies of Eden serving as an appropriate backdrop to the showdown of the trio of absolute juggernauts that was about to take place.

"I shall begin," intoned Haou blankly. He pulled the top card off his deck and added it to his hand, making six in total.

"Elemental Hero Stratos (1800/300), normal summon."

Appearing on his field was an armored, futuristic man, dressed in a blue suit and helmet. A sky-blue visor came down over his face, while metallic wings stuck out on either side, fans whirring on them at full speed. He had silver knee pads.

"When normal summoned, Stratos allows me to add one 'Hero' monster from my deck to my hand. Chosen monster, Evil Hero Hell Brat (300/600)."

Wordlessly, he extracted his deck from his Duel Disk and fanned it out in front of him. Locating the card he desired, he slipped it into his other hand before returning the deck to its original place.

"One facedown card is set. Turn end."

The serpent, or Lilith, as she preferred to be called, let out a low hiss. At that, the floating pack of cards in front of it glowed purple, and the top one slid off and joined the other five vertical ones in front of it.

"You two will regret challenging the Empress of the Succubi," hissed Lilith, her voice echoing louder behind her.

Receiving no tangible response from either of her opponents, the snake decided to proceed.

"I normal summon Eternal Sin – Gluttony (0/2000) in defense mode."

Materializing in front of it was a humongous, somewhat disgusting, three-headed dog. It had a body perhaps fifteen feet across, covered with thin, filthy brown fur. However, its three heads seemed to be devoid of any fur. They were a light pink in color, and disproportionately large when compared to the rest of its body. Each head had sickly yellow eyes, with large fangs being bared between the fleshy jaws. It was a Cerebrus.

Zerato narrowed his eyes. "_I should've known… An agent of Hell is almost certain to make use of the very embodiments of evil_."

"Next I shall play Pot of Greed." Another one of the cards hovering around the serpent flipped around to depict the grinning pot.

The deck glowed purple again, and _four_ more cards were ejected off the top, joining the serpent's hand.

Zerato raised an eyebrow. "I should've expected someone who has spent their entire existence locked away from reality not to understand the rules of the game, but-…"

"You are quite the simpleton, Archangel," retorted Lilith. "Perhaps that is why the Council is still sending you on fool's errands."

This drew nothing but a tightening of Zerato's jaws.

"Allow me to explain. When Eternal Sin – Gluttony is face-up on the field, the number of cards that I draw through a card effect is doubled. However, I must pay five hundred life-points per each extra card that I draw. It does seem a fair trade-off to me."

The powers of the Shadow Game came into play as the darkness around Lilith pulsated. Her serpentine body, however, seemed quite unaffected as her life-points dropped.

(Haou: 8000, Lilith: 7000, Zerato: 8000)

"Options, options…" she murmured.

Zerato closed his eyes. "_That voice is getting to me already_…"

"Two cards are set facedown. Then, I turn the board over to you, Archangel."

Zerato snapped the top card off his deck, and allowed himself a brief analysis of his opponent's moves.

"_The Horseman seems to be building up slowly. I don't know the effect of the Evil Hero he added to his hand, but with only three hundred attack points it must certainly be useful enough for him to choose it over so many other powerful Hero monsters he must possess. The serpent, on the other hand, has built a solid defense._"

He gazed at his hand. Should he play conservatively, like Haou, or put up an extravagant wall, as Lilith had done?

He narrowed his eyes. "_I need to defeat these two and get out of here as fast as I can. Therefore, I think I'll go all out_."

"I activate Painful Choice," he said evenly, sliding the rare and powerful magic card into his magic/trap card slot.

"In the process your foe is allowed to determine your destiny," deemed Haou. "You are unworthy of the position you hold."

Zerato's patience was almost God-like, but it was not wearing thin. Somehow keeping his mouth closed, he fanned out his deck in front of him and selected five cards. Then, he held them up for Lilith to look at.

They were Ehren, Lightsworn Monk (1600/1000), Garoth, Lightsworn Soldier (1850/1300), Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress (1700/200), Ryko, Lightsowrn Hunter (200/100), and Jenis, Lightsworn Mender (300/2100).

The snake stared at them impassively.

Zerato tried to contain a smug grin. Whatever the demon picked, both her and Haou were going to be in big trouble.

"Why don't you add the Monk to your hand?" echoed the languid, hissing voice.

Zerato did exactly that, sliding eighty percent of the cards into his graveyard, while replacing Painful Choice in his hand with the fifth.

"Now, since I have four Lightsworn monsters in my graveyard, I may special summon my greatest monster."

Lilith said nothing, but Haou, however, looked slightly dumbstruck.

"Already?"

"Come forth, Judgment Dragon (3000/2600)!"

There was a swirl of white energy. Lightning struck Zerato's field on five different places, and the bolts coalesced on the barren soil. They formed a massive sphere of light, which expanded even more and began to grow tendrils, and shrink in some places. It was taking the shape of a large dragon. Soon, the light cleared, leaving on the field one of the most beautiful, yet terrible, creatures that had ever been seen.

It was gray in color, and certain aspects made it resemble a chimera more than a dragon. It was completely covered in feathery scales up to its chest, which stuck out like spikes. A fringe of long feathers, like those of a peacock, extended down from the top of its neck. Its eyes were a deep crimson, while massive, eagle-like wings spread out from its back. Despite its reptilian origins, its limbs did not have scales, and looked like that of an elephant, while marked with three, large, red claws.

"Now, say good-bye to all your cards," snarled Zerato. "By paying one thousand life-points, Judgment Dragon destroys every other card in play. Divine Lightsworn Cannon!"

(Haou: 8000, Lilith: 7000, Zerato: 7000)

The dragon let out a screech and opened its jaws, a glint of blazing energy visible within them.

Just as it seemed ready to unleash it all, a black chain darted out of nowhere and curled itself around the wyvern's jaws, clamping them shut over the energy ball. A few other chains materialized as well, twisting around the dragon's legs, arms, and wings, completely restricting its movement in the process.

"What the-…" began Zerato, but then he saw that one of Lilith's facedown cards had been flipped face-up.

"Fiendish Chain," he muttered.

A continuous trap card that prevented one Effect monster from utilizing its effect, or attacking. Not good, the apex of his Lightsworn strategy had been shut down in one move.

Haou, who had been wearing a rather intense expression on his face until then, seemed to relax a little.

"Do continue, Archangel," whispered Lilith. "I'm sure that's not the end of what you have in store for myself and the Supreme King here."

Zerato shrugged off the taunts.

"Indeed. I now choose to use my normal summon to call upon Jain, Lightsworn Paladin (1800/1200) in attack mode."

A tall, noble-looking knight appeared on the angel's field. He was dressed in beautiful white armor, which was crafted by the finest smiths in the world, covered with amazingly intricate designs, which were made by setting molten gold into channels in the armor. He had an extra plate against each thigh, with no helmet.

"Equal in strength to Elemental Hero Stratos," conjectured Haou.

Zerato slid another card into his magic/trap card zone.

"I then activate Shining Loyalty. If I have four or more Lightsworn monsters in my graveyard and one or more Lightsworn monsters face-up on the field, I may first draw a card. Then, I can destroy one spell or trap card on the field."

Adding another card to his hand, Zerato then pointed at the brown-backed card behind Elemental Hero Stratos. It exploded into millions of pixels, but not before revealing itself as Sakuretsu Armor.

Zerato allowed himself a small smile at this minor victory.

"Now, I enter my battle phase. Jain, attack his Stratos!"

The knight held his shining blade aloft and took off down the field. With a battle cry he slammed his sword into the shoulder of his target, cleaving it apart from top to bottom. The two halves of the corpse floated around in mid-air for a moment before shattering.

(Haou: 7700, Lilith: 7000, Zerato: 7000)

Haou's eye seemed to twitch slightly. "Explain."

"It's rather simple," chuckled Zerato. "When it attacks another monster, Jain, Lightsworn Paladin receives a boost of three hundred attack points. This put it well above your Stratos."

Haou scowled but said nothing.

"Next comes my Main Phase Two. I set a card, and then enter my End Phase. At this point, Jain's effect forces me to mill the top two cards off my deck."

Zerato did exactly that, before nodding toward the Supreme King in an indication for him to take his turn.

Haou snapped the top card off his deck, and took a bare glance of it before pulling another one from his hand.

Haou drew calmly. "Evil Hero Hell Brat (300/600), special summon." A medium-sized, dark, black, and brown beast rose onto the field, laughing with a smirking face. It had long, thick horns on the top of its head that shot out to its sides; it had a dark, metallic armor on its arms and legs, as well as gloves on its hands. "When the opponent controls a monster, and I don't, Hell Brat can be specially summoned."

"Come now, Supreme King," cackled Lilith. "Bringing a _child _to a battle such as this?"

Haou ignored her. "Then, I sacrifice it. Evil Hero Malicious Edge (2600/1800), come."

Hell Brat disappeared from the field, making room for a very tall, but thin, blade-winged fiend with a demonic mask over his face, and nearly skin-tight, dark-blue armor all over his body. Spikes were littered as designs, attached by accessory rings to the arms and kneecaps of his armor; it reached all the way to his hands, which contained deployed, knife-like claws at the ends. A dark-blue belt was around his waist, with a golden buckle on the front.

"When the opponent controls a monster, Malicious Edge can be summoned with one tribute."

He then pointed at the large cerebrus on Lilith's field.

"Battle phase. Attack."

The black demon let out a hiss and charged across the field, its claws opening as it went. It leapt into the air and landed on the beast's back, scything a long cut through its back. Blood and other bodily fluids erupted out, but the evil version of Elemental Hero Bladedge was able to leap off in time as the mangled corpse exploded.

Zerato threw the Supreme King a quick, furtive look.

"_My Jain was in attack mode. He could have dealt me eight hundred points of damage if he so desired. Is he deciding to focus on eliminating that heathen first and then allowing the two of us to settle things? That would be seriously advantageous, but I can't trust the intentions of a Horseman for a second_."

Realizing that the King's face would reveal nothing he decided to give up and look back at his own hand. He was indeed well-placed at the moment, especially if he drew into something that allowed him to eliminate Fiendish Chain.

Still, it would be advisable to wait and see how Lilith responded before formulating a plan.

"Turn end."

Lilith hissed and another card from her deck joined the six already floating in front of her.

"You men and your weapons… I shall go about this in a far more civilized manner. Eternal Sin – Sloth (0/2200), come and serve me."

Appearing in front of the serpent was a large, gray ogre. It must have been about six feet tall and about six feet wide. Its skin looked rough and covered with bumps, almost like a badly tarred road. A single brown belt held a loin cloth in front of it. Nothing even seemed to register with the beast as it looked sleepily from Malicious Edge, to the constrained Judgment Dragon, to Jain, before collapsing on its behind with a thud and letting out a snore.

Zerato raised an eyebrow.

Lilith giggled again. "He doesn't look like much, and to tell you the truth, he is even less. However, I do gain the rather useful effect of his allowing me to send one card from my field to my graveyard. In return, my opponent, rather, opponents in this case, must skip one phase of my choice during their next turn. I send one of my facedown cards to the grave, and choose battle phase for the both of you."

Zerato scowled, and Haou's fists tightened slightly.

Lilith continued in her playful tone.

"And since the card I sent was Repayment of Losses, I gain an additional draw. Isn't this just delicious?"

Getting no response, Lilith merely hummed again and added another card to the ones hovering around her.

"I will set one more card facedown and end my turn."

Zerato drew, and frowned.

He still hadn't a way to destroy Fiendish Chain. With his Judgment Dragon entrapped, he effectively had zero offensive field presence. His facedown would serve as some protection, but didn't make up for his large drop-off in card advantage. He had put all in his eggs in the basket of his Judgment Dragon, and was now paying the price.

"I end my turn," he groaned, but not loudly. Even letting out a small whiff that he was getting paranoid about his situation would bring Lilith and Haou upon him like sharks to blood. Well, hopefully _just_ Lilith, if he was indeed right about Haou's intentions.

The Second Horseman drew passively.

"For the Greater Good, normal spell, activate. By reducing the level of a demon-type monster on my field, I am allowed to add a demon-type monster from my deck to my hand with a level equal to the reduction in the level of the original monster. I reduce Malicious Edge's level to six."

As Haou looked through his deck, Zerato narrowed his eyes.

"_A level one demon? How many useful ones are there?_"

Nevertheless, Haou soon chose one and added it to his hand.

"Next, Metamorphosis."

The Archangel's eyes widened. "_So that's what he was playing at…!_"

The armored demon began to melt away into black sludge and nothingness. Dark thunder strokes began to spread down in a tripod-like fashion, as a dark, round, bulky figure began to rise from the remains below. It threw its arms out in a V-shape, as black lightning flowed throughout its dark-gray-painted, metallic body. Part of its upper-body was exposed, its armor only reaching down to above the abdomen area, which was covered with dark-violet cloth. Red bulbs were implanted on the tops of the gray-topped, violet-bottomed gloves on its hands. Four yellow, wing-like streaks shot out from its shoulders, two on each side. The visor of the monster's helmet was light-blue, and had two yellow-painted lightning bolts coming out the top.

"Evil Hero Lightning Golem (2400/1500), come."

"You truly deserve your title, _Haou_," whispered the snake, cocking her head.

He ignored her, and pointed at the Sloth.

"Lightning Golem's effect. Once per turn, a monster on the field is destroyed."

Thunder and lightning energies immediatley started to drain from the rest of the body, forming as a black-yellow sphere in the right palm of the monster. It reached back and tossed the energy ball in the direction of the sleepy giant, who only just opened his eyes in terror before he was electrocuted.

Zerato watched, somewhat sickened by the sight of the hellish creature screaming in agony as he was reduced to a pile of cinders, but not to a large degree. He had seen worse. Much, much worse.

"Spell card, activate: Gold Sarcophagus. One card within my deck is removed from play. After two standby phases, it is added to my hand."

"_What is he planning_?" wondered Zerato, as the Horseman located the card in his deck and slipped it into a conclave in his armor.

"Turn end."

Even as he spoke, the top card slid off Lilith's deck and hovered toward her.

"Eternal Sin – Rage (2000/800) in attack mode," she echoed in a melancholy tone.

The beast appearing on her field was probably her most intimidating one yet. It was a big, no, huge demon with skin that seemed to be as brittle as the bark of a tree. In fact, its entire structure resembled that of a figure made of multiple trees put together. One made up its arms, with the branches extending out as fingers. Another was thicker and shorter, representing its head, with the branches as hair. There was one odd thing about it, however, aside from the fact that it was made of wood. It seemed to be literally _on fire_ underneath it all.

Every breath resulted in a puff of flames and smoke exiting its huge nostrils, leading to Zerato shaking his head in dissent.

"Eternal Sin – Rage, has a similar effect to Evil Hero – Lightning Golem. Once per turn, I may destroy one monster in play. However, I am not permitted to enter my battle phase if this is the case."

Zerato nearly went white. "_She will destroy Judgment Dragon and leave me nearly wide open…!_"

"Evil Hero – Lightning Golem itself is my target."

Zerato's eyes bulged as the fiery demon turned to face the electric beast and roared in fury. Sickly yellow flames erupted from its maw and slowly licked their way all the way over to Haou's field. They were just about to reach Haou's monster, when he reacted.

"Quick play spell, Forbidden Chalice, activate. The attack points of one monster are increased by four hundred; its effects are negated until the end phase."

As he spoke, Rage (2400/800) suddenly began to glow brightly, and the flames stopped coming. There even seemed to be no fire simmering under the surface.

Zerato breathed out.

This was obviously an impasse now. He doubted that despite her large resources, Lilith would force her Eternal Sin – Rage to commit suicide by attacking an equally powerful Evil Hero – Lightning Golem, and thereby leave her wide open to whatever the Archangel decided to cook up the following turn.

Indeed, he was right.

"I end my turn," she rasped. It seemed, for the first time, Lilith was beginning to become irritated.

Zerato drew.

He pursed his lips upon looking at his new card. He had a very big choice to make now, one that would possibly affect the course of the duel.

Going down that particular road would entail tributing his Judgment Dragon. It was by far the most powerful Lightsworn monster he possessed, and when given free reign, a nightmare for opposition considering its devastating effect and unearthly statistics. But at this point, he was banking on destroying Fiendish Chain in order to free it, and that simply was not happening.

He grunted in frustration, and decided.

"I tribute Judgment Dragon to Gragonith, Lightsworn Dragon (2000/1600)."

The captured dragon began to shine, and then disappeared. There was an echoing roar throughout the Garden of Eden, and a shining speck was seen in the sky, thousands of feet above them. It hurtled towards the ground at over a hundred miles an hour, finally crashing to a halt on Zerato's field with a loud roar.

It was a large dragon, perhaps a rival in size for the legendary Chaos Emperor Dragon. It was snow white, and had pure, metallic armor, again with gold filigree roped all over them, on its shoulders, thighs, back and chest. Two, almost god-like, angelic wings spread out, pure and feathery in appearance. A long main of golden hair tumbled down its head, coming to a rest at the bottom of its back. Its otherwise dainty and angelic appearance was swatted away by the gnarled, large claws on all limbs. Its eyes glinted white underneath a helmet, and a large horn stuck out from its head. It looked more like a monstrous, flying unicorn than anything else.

"_The signs of a true amateur: tributing for a monster with two thousand base attack points? I cannot imagine this new dragon being able to do nearly as much damage as the one he just tributed," _thought Haou silently, regarding the giant wyvern with disgust.

"I'm sure that the both of you are probably inwardly mocking me for that," chuckled Zerato. "But never fear, every move I make has a specific reason behind it. To begin with, Gragonith gains three hundred attack points for every Lightsworn monster in my graveyard. At this point, I have five, meaning Gargonith's base two thousand is increased to a formidable thirty-five hundred."

The armored dragon began to shine golden, and let out a throaty roar as its attack points began to increase (3500/1800).

"Now, Gragonith attacks Lightning Golem," declared Zerato.

The huge, feathered dragon gave a strange, almost croon like roar. It was so pure, so devoid of any outside influence, it would've sent a shiver down the spine of any other duelist. It opened its mouth, and a blaze of celestial flames washed over the rocky demon. When they stopped, only a burn mark was left in its place and Haou's life-points were plummeting.

(Haou: 6600, Lilith: 7000, Zerato: 7000)

"That will end my turn. But before you proceed, Horseman, I mill the top three cards off my deck by Gragonith's effect."

Haou waited impatiently for the Archangel to send the pull the top three cards off his deck and slide them into his graveyard, and then drew fast.

"Dark Calling, activate. By removing from play fusion materials in my hand, graveyard, or on my field, I special summon one Evil Hero fusion monster. I remove Elemental Hero Stratos and Evil Hero Hell Brat. Come, Evil Hero Jetstream Razor (2000/2000)."

The translucent images of the blue armored warrior and the flaming brown demon materialized in front of Haou.

They began to then meld together into a black vortex, from which emerged a towering blue-skinned demon in heavy crimson armor. It had translucent orange wings and held a red blade in its right hand. The body of the fusion was extremely muscular and well-built. Its features were angular, like that of an elf, with an array of razor sharp teeth lining its jaws. Every time it took a step, the ground underneath it began to smolder.

"Activate spell card, I – Invincible Villain. I may select one Evil Hero in play, it cannot be removed from the field by one means of my choice. I select battle."

Zerato raised his eyebrows when he noticed that the Jetstream Razor card was placed horizontally on Haou's Duel Disk. It was extremely unlike the Supreme King to play defensively at all.

"Jetstream Razor may attack while in defense mode."

Lilith scoffed, but nonetheless, Haou pointed at Rage.

"Blackwater Inferno," he echoed blankly.

The fusion flared its wings out and slammed its crimson blade into the ground. At this, a wave of black and red fire erupted from the ground, and flared through the ground until it slammed into the opposing demon, which, though made of fire itself, let out a disturbing screech of agony before it was shattered into millions of tiny pixels.

"One monster is set in defense mode. The turn is ended."

Once again, Lilith's hand size grew to seven as she considered her option.

Finally, upon deciding, she hissed, "Eternal Sin – Envy (1700/1200), in attack mode."

The demon that appeared on her field was somewhat different from the others. Instead of a violent, large creature, the new arrival was a woman with blue skin, dressed in black armor which was seemingly constructed of bones. She had frizzy, wild black hair and crimson eyes.

Lilith stared at Haou.

"Envy's effect activates. Upon her summoning, by discarding one card from my hand, you are forced to do the same."

One of the floating cards surrounding her vanished.

For the first time in the duel, he allowed himself a small display of emotion, and smirked very slightly as he flipped his lone card around.

Broww, Hunstman of Dark World (1400/800).

An angry hiss erupted from her throat.

"When Broww is discarded from my hand by an opponent's card effect, I draw two cards."

Lilith seemed to be mentally fuming at the fact that she had just allowed Haou to replenish his resources, but nonetheless proceed with her turn.

"I believe the time has now come to show you my real power," she murmured.

Zerato narrowed his eyes. One of the cards in Lilith's hand was glowing with a bright crimson fire.

What was more, there was a very familiar smell in the air. It was the foul and pungent odor of pure sulfur.

_Brimstone_.

Zerato suddenly gasped. "No…!"

"_Yes,_ Archangel, _yes_!" howled Lilith. Her voice was becoming more and more terrible by the second. It echoed loudly throughout the Garden. Even the various demons and other vile creatures that existed within it began to cower.

"Field spell activate: HELL!"

Everything exploded. For a moment, Zerato and Haou were both very sure that a black silhouette of a female winged angel had appeared in Lilith's place, with its arms raised high above its head. Jets of flame rocketed up from the ground, sending gobs of molten rock spewing through the air. The flames shot across the field and began to burn down the remains of vegetation that existed across the island.

The bloody lake behind them began to rumble as waves began to rise and crash higher and higher. The very ground beneath their feet began to tremble.

"Stop this you wench!" roared Zerato. "Do you want to kill us all?"

The snake's eyes indicated that the words of any outsider were dead to her right now. They had transformed from their animal-like yellow to a bright crimson instead. It was as if orbs of fire were burning within Lilith's eyes.

He looked around despairingly. Haou was somehow keeping his footing, but an increasing look of trepidation and fury was rising in his eyes.

The blood in the lake began to boil hotter and hotter. It was beginning to evaporate. Screeches of agony could be heard all around them, presumably from various Succubi who still inhabited the depths. They were being roasted alive.

The lake was the least of their worries, however. Along the shoreline, rocks were beginning to collapse as dark air swirled wildly. Someway off, a volcano was rising out of the ground. Fire seemed to be everywhere. There was no ground anymore, only flames and boiling pools of lava. It was as if the embodiment of Chaos had descended over them completely.

"What is going on here?" bellowed the Archangel in desperation.

He glanced over at Haou again, who was looking at the shore with a hard look. Zerato followed his gaze back, and then he realized what was happening.

Erupting from the ground were the walls of a coliseum. Creeping up and down the walls with maniacal, bizarre grins were demons of all kinds. Incubi, Succubi, and so many more. They seemed to be watching the confrontation that was taking place on what was now a raised platform in the middle of the dry lake with sadistic glee.

Then it hit Zerato.

They were now trapped. The card that Lilith played was not just merely a card, it was a portal to the depths of the underworld itself. Those demons were all very real. Even if he beat Lilith _and_ Haou, he would have to deal with the army of crazed heathens before he could get out with the Seal.

Somehow, he continued to keep his cool. He was so very glad he had come alone. No other duelist in that group, not even Yami or Ryu, would have been able to hold him or herself together when faced with this kind of situation.

A look of pure hatred and disgust entered his eyes.

This was evil in its most primal and despicable form.

He would crush it: or die trying.

When Lilith spoke, her voice was now very different. Gone was the low, languid hiss.

In its place was a terrible, demonic roar that seemed to resonate throughout the skies every time it uttered a word.

"Only fools venture where angels fear to tread," the nightmare voice echoed. "Archangel Zerato and Supreme King Haou, consider this to be your final resting place."

Zerato tried his best to block out the words. Lilith was now in her birth-place. This was her home, and housed every one of her kind. Her power and influence had probably been quadrupled since that field spell had been activated.

It was hard enough for him to resist, as an angel. However, if Haou was having a difficult time doing it, he did not show it.

Instead he merely stood stock straight with his blank expression, gazing around at the horrific scenes around him.

"Now, let me please my children," growled Lilith. "I activate the quick-play magic card, Eighth Circle of Hell – Malebolge."

The blue-skinned woman on her field let out a shrill scream, which was greeted by a selection of ragged applause from the watching demons.

"For every Eternal Sin – Envy, that I have in play or in my graveyard, the Malebolge allows me to either deal you a thousand points of damage, destroy one of your spells or traps, or a monster. Since I have one right now, I will have Envy rid this place of that pathetic divine creature," Lilith snarled, her head snapping toward Gragonith.

The blue-skinned female demon produced a knife and then charged across the field with a gleeful hiss. With a single slash, she had cut off the angelic dragon's head, causing blood to spurt out like a fountain. Zerato had to force himself not to look away as Envy continued to attack the corpse with increasing ferocity and intensity.

Finally, after it had been cut to ribbons, the remains of Gragonith fell to the still bloody lake floor far below them, and was immediately pounced upon by a pack of demons that began to gorge upon it.

"Don't look so glum, Archangel," cackled Lilith. "This is only the beginning! Now, Envy can attack you directly!"

The demon took another leap forward, and before Zerato could react, she had inflicted a long cut on his shoulder with her dagger.

Before she was able to do more damage, he had managed to regain his composure and unleash a small blast of white energy which sent her tumbling back to Lilith's field.

(Haou: 6600, Lilith: 7000, Zerato: 5300)

"Look at you, Archangel. Unable to resist even one of the weakest of the Sins."

Once again, Zerato focused on blocking the words out as best they could. He had experienced far worse taunts in his day and had responded with nothing but a pleasant smile. But for some reason, Lilith seemed to be literally closing in on him. It was as if her words, her very presence was everywhere around him, leaving him bare and exposed.

He shivered involuntarily and spared another glance at Haou.

If the Horseman was completely unaffected by the demon, he himself was truly not human.

Zerato returned his gaze to Lilith's field. Hovering a few feet above Envy was the magic card that Lilith had played earlier in the turn: Eighth Circle of Hell – Malebolge.

"I will spare your having to embarrass yourself again, Archangel," cackled Lilith. "When the field spell Hell is active, any quick-play spell with "Circle of Hell" in its name is not sent to the graveyard. Instead it takes a place under Circle of Hell."

Zerato looked suspiciously at her. "And what do your accumulating quick-play spells do?"

"That is something I shall leave you to wonder about," came the taunting reply. "Now take your turn, Archangel."

Zerato snapped the top card off his deck, his panic increasing.

He had no monsters in his hand which he could summon. This was not good at all.

"I activate Trade-In. By discarding one level eight monster, I may draw two cards."

Even as he did so, he could feel the stares on him from all around the coliseum. Haou, Lilith, the spectating demons… They _knew_ he was in trouble.

He almost gnashed his teeth upon looking at his draws. Great cards under other circumstances, but right now?

"I end my turn," he muttered feebly.

It was Haou's turn next, and it seemed Lilith was not prone to banter while her opponent's were playing. Instead she kept a dark _smile_, yes, a smile, on her wafer-thin visage. Zerato had no idea how this was possible: he preferred not to look.

The Supreme King drew, but didn't even bother to look at it immediately. Instead, he quickly slid the card out of his armor that he had placed there two turns ago.

Zerato was taken aback. He had almost forgotten.

"Two standby phases have passed. The removed card is added to the hand. Flip summon, D-Boyz (100/1000)."

In the sixteen short turns that had passed since the duel had commenced, a number of bizarre creatures had already made appearances. From the horrific demons of Lilith and Haou, to Zerato's divine beings of light. However, Haou's newest monster was by far the strangest looking, most out of place, and almost _funny_ one that Zerato had seen not only during this duel, but in his entire _life_.

Appearing next to the Jetstream Razor was a trio of _punks_. Not just any punks, they were the types who practically lived off hip hop. Their skin was a pale blue, but most of it was covered in ripped jeans, hoodies, and basketball shoes. Each one of them seemed to be nodding his head and making random head gestures to his own brand of music.

Were it not for the gravity of his current situation, Zerato might have even laughed. Even Lilith was unsure of what to say.

Haou seemed oblivious to their incredulity.

"When D-Boyz is flip summoned, I may pay one thousand life-points to summon another copy of it from my deck. I pay two thousand to summon both remaining ones."

(Haou: 4600, Lilith: 7000, Zerato: 5300)

Appearing next to three delinquents were six more. Each one was dressed in a similar manner, and also seemed to be listening to a pair of invisible head-phones as they continued to bob their heads up and down and tap their feet on the floor (100/1000) (100/1000).

Haou allowed a rare smirk to grace his face.

"Triple sacrifice."

Zerato's eyes shot open as the nine punks vanished immediately. He felt like punching himself. How the hell could he have not realized it?

"Three demon-type monsters are sent to the graveyard. Come, Raviel, Lord of Phantasms (4000/4000)."

The ground began to crack as the blue-headed beast started to ascend from it, with mighty and large gargoyle-like wings that spread out behind it. The wings were blue at the tops, striping down, with large streaks of dark-gray shades on the rest of them. A similar tone was run down the upper-body, upper-legs, and arms of the monster, attached to which towering, giant, sharp-clawed hands. The lower legs of the beast were armored with blue plates, like the rest of the spots the dark skin had not covered. The body was ripped with muscle, its abs made well-known to the crowd around it, as it towered up. Under its triangular-shaped head mask, its eyes glowed a blood-thirsty red. Starting from the front-bottom of its body, a thick, scaled, blue tail ran behind it.

The demons in the coliseum began to cower. This was not one of their brethren. Raviel represented pure Chaos, a force far more primordial than the Sins they were born of.

The blue titan raised its massive arms and let out a deep roar, one which seemed to shake the black sky and flying embers around them.

Zerato somehow managed to calm himself down. From the way Haou had been dueling, he seemed intent on dealing with Lilith first. Surely a Legendary Demon would be enough to turn the tide on the serpent, even with her destructive field spell.

"Raviel's effect activates. By sacrificing one monster to, he gains attack points equal to that monster's original attack strength."

Even as he spoke, the behemoth reached down and grabbed the flaming fused Hero, who let out a squeal of agony before he vanished into nothingness (5600/4000).

Haou then turned to face Zerato. For some reason, the Archangel didn't like the look on his supposed 'helper's' face at all.

"Direct attack. Ultimate Judgment Fist."

Even as Zerato swore out loud, Raviel let out another deep roar. Its fist exploded into blue fire, and it took a massive step forward. Swinging its arm back, it then let lose completely in the direction of the completely defenseless Archangel.

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**Shorter than usual, but I wanted to end it there.**

**Please review. I don't want to sound like I'm blackmailing you guys but the more reviews that come in, the more motivation I get to actually write.**

**See ya guys soon!**


	47. Desicive Strategies

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE: Decisive Strategies

**Ok, look, I don't really have an excuse.**

**The response over the last few chapters has been absolutely feeble at best. I feel like people are losing interest in this story.**

**Conversely, it is rather hard for me to dredge up motivation to write when it seems like nobody is reading.**

**I don't want to sound like this is an ultimatum or something, but if the story continues to seem like its dying I might have to rethink its future. I'm going to continue to update, but please see it from my point of view. If no one is reading this, it's hard for me to write.**

Joey's foot was flat against the accelerator. Literally.

He was coaxing every erg of energy out of the vehicle's engine to boost them further ahead.

He could hear Odion, Ishizu, and Zeruge's cries urging him to go faster, and he felt like swearing angrily at them in reply. How much more could he do?

Keeping one eye on the empty road ahead of him, he cocked his head back.

The towering green behemoth was still thundering down the street maybe thirty feet behind them. Every time one of its feet slammed into the ground, it sent shock waves through the ground.

"It's going to catch up to us," wailed Marik, pressing his hands against his head in despair.

Joey would have aimed a kick between the Egyptian's legs if he was not occupied.

Zeruge, however, seemed in agreement.

"Slow down somewhat," he muttered, clenching his fist.

Everyone looked at him with gaping stares. The roar and stamps of their pursuer seemed to fade into the background.

"You're not seriously..-?" Odion choked, but then he saw the look in Zeruge's eye and realized what the answer was.

Ishizu was normally a calm woman, but she looked very ready to go into hysterics.

"You cannot! You'll get slaughtered! You're absolutely exhausted!"

Without realizing it, she was pounding her fist against Zeruge's chest. Tears of frustration were beginning to well up in her eyes.

Zeruge caught her fist and held her gaze momentarily.

"I know. That's why I am going to need your help."

She broke off in the middle of her rant.

"_My _help?"

The demon gestured toward the veil that was covering the top of her head. He was asking for permission to lift it.

She nodded, bewildered.

He did so, and then touched the golden torque on her head.

"My Millennium Necklace?" she asked, confused. "How would it help you?"

"The Council…" he began. "The Council is privy to secrets of your culture that sometimes even you are not. Each Millennium Item is imbued with a secret well of energy that can be accessed by its holder in times of need. This well can be replenished as and when necessary by absorbing energy from its surroundings. We are not sure quite how much energy is accessible, but nonetheless it is a large amount."

Ishizu looked very surprised. In all of her study of ancient Egyptian culture, the Items were always mainly tools to make use of their holder's own power. Never had she come across the mention of any stored energy.

Despite the circumstances, her mind strayed somewhat and an involuntary shiver went down her back as she got a glance of her brother.

How deadly would Yami Marik have been if he had a massive source of power by his side at all times?

"You want to use this energy?"

Zeruge nodded.

Ishizu hesitated for a moment, but then slowly lifted the Necklace of her head and placed it softly in Zeruge's outstretched palm.

He clenched it for a moment.

"You will get it back."

With that utterance, he swiftly moved to the door which was hanging partially open, creaking in the wind as the bus whizzed along at well over seventy miles an hour.

Zeruge opened it fully, and as everyone watched, stepped down right to the edge. Holding the Necklace in his left hand, he stretched out and placed his right on the top of the moving vehicle. With a grunt he levered his body right out into the open air. For a moment he was left hanging, exposed, but with an additional burst of strength he tugged himself up onto the roof.

He lay on the top for a moment, the cold air rushing over him as he breathed heavily.

Then, he rolled over and slowly stood up, making sure to keep his footing.

It was then that he was able to witness the massive beast in all its horrific splendor. It was easily over ten stories in height as well as breadth. Even if it lay down on its back, it would be impossible for one to see over it. Zeruge was not sure how much of the monstrosity's massive size was contributed to it by the hulking crimson set of armor that it wore, and that worried him. If that armor was in anyway fortified, he was not sure that even the Necklace would provide him with enough energy to finish the job.

Its head was shaped like that of a hammer-head shark. It looked like an anvil, with the top flattened and spread out in both directions. Cruel black eyes peered out from under a twisted metal flap as it raised two massive clawed hands and roared, while continuing to pound forward.

Zeruge met its eye momentarily, and he felt as if he was staring into the heart of evil.

He then looked down at the Necklace momentarily.

"_This is it_…."

He began to tense up his muscles, drawing out every last reserve of energy that he had available in his exhausted body.

The bus continued to rumble forward, and Zeruge slowly slid the necklace up his arm. His rippling biceps were so huge that the ornament held tight to them as he drew his arms back.

A miniscule red dot began to glow within each palm.

The monster's curiosity was piqued. Opening its mouth, it let out a small sphere of green energy that would normally have melted Zeruge into nothingness. However, he let out an audible grunt and the Necklace glowed.

The globule of energy bounced off a translucent golden energy shield that materialized around him.

The monster snarled in frustration, and spat out two more attacks.

Zeruge roared in reply and the shield expanded, protecting the entire bus as the green flames shot off into the Hudson River instead, causing a mini whirlpool.

The monster, powerful as it was, was still a dumb creature. It turned to look at the disturbance, and that was the opening that Zeruge needed.

With a truly inhuman roar, which sounded as if he was prepared to bring ruination upon humanity, the demon threw his hands out forward and two gigantic crimson and gold waves of energy erupted. They surged noiselessly toward the disgusting beast, which only just turned in time to meet them head on.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Belial had been absolutely furious after the final pulse from his port-side gun had turned out to have harmed no one.

He would have pulled rank and slaughtered the entire crew in charge of that particular assault, but he was too exhausted.

He had retreated to his private chambers and was lying motionless in a healing tank. It contained a large amount of certain chemicals the Legion had gathered from all over the galaxy, which when put together helped stimulate growth of skin cells. It was obviously restricted for use only by Belial and his highest ranking commanders.

Even as he breathed into the mouth-piece heavily, his eyes closed, random mental images of a life far forgotten washing over his mind even as the liquid washed over his wounds, he felt a sudden mental jerk that made him sit up straight as if someone had poked him in the back.

He ripped the mask off and sat still for a moment.

There was something _huge_ coming up. He couldn't put his finger on it, but a source of power was brewing that bordered on unnatural.

It wasn't really the magnitude of the power he was feeling. It was certainly greater than the Pharaoh but less than that man who called himself the Librarian. It was its nature: he had never felt something that seemed so dark suddenly transform itself into something so naturally dark and shadowy to a force of purity… Something so _primordial_.

Despite himself, he felt an involuntary shiver go down his spine.

He knew the Pharaoh, the Demon Lords, and the one who called himself the Librarian, were all gone from the vicinity. Could it be a Horseman? Probably not. These were very strange times, he knew that any stray force could have sprung out of nowhere.

He pressed a button on the wall next to him that connected him to one of the watch commanders on duty at the time.

"Have three units in the east of the city head to the river and report the occurrences they witness. No intervention is to be made," he uttered in the snarling, gruff, raspy choke that characterized the Legion mother tongue.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Haou looked on triumphantly as Raviel, Lord of the Phantasms, powered up to over five thousand attack points, continued to power its massive fist toward Zerato, who simply stood stock still as the rush of impending doom neared him.

Lilith's cackles of glee could not be heard over the roar of the demon, but for some reason Zerato's voice pierced it completely.

"I remove Necro Gardna (600/1300) from my graveyard to negate your attack."

Haou's eyes bulged as suddenly a black skinned, red armored demon materialized in front Zerato. It had long, dirty white hair tumbling down its shoulders, along with black, heavy gauntlets covering his hands and arms.

With a low growl, the undead creature exploded in mid air, preventing Raviel from advancing further.

Zerato continued to fix Haou with a venomous and disgusted look.

The Supreme King did not react, and simply continued to meet his opponent's gaze.

Inwardly, Zerato was mentally berating himself over and over again.

"_How could I have been so _stupid _as to trust the intentions of a Horseman of Apocalypse?_"

Despite the dialogue inside his head, he continued to pay careful attention to Haou's body language.

"Card set. Turn end."

Lilith's deck glowed again and the top card hovered off her deck, expanding and then moving into a vertical position in front of her.

"Eternal Sin – Envy, is switched to defense mode."

Haou allowed a slight triumphant smirk to cross his face in acknowledgment of the defensive measures being taken.

Lilith ignored him, however.

"Then, one card is set. I end my turn. Come, Archangel, take your final move."

Zerato could hear the rising roar of the demonic crowd taunting him.

"_Weak._"

"_Failure_."

"_Pawn_."

He continued to block it all out.

"_Sticks and stones can break my bones but their words will never hurt me_."

As a servant of the Infinity Council, there was nothing that the demons could say to him that he had not heard a hundred times before.

He slid a card into his magic and trap card zone.

"I activate the spell card Illuminating Reinforcements. I may now special summon in defense mode as many Lightsworn monsters from my graveyard, who's defense points are equal or less than the number of cards I hold multiplied by hundred, as possible. However, they cannot attack and are destroyed at the end of the turn.

"I hold four cards, meaning I may now call upon Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress (1700/200) as well as Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter (200/100)."

Appearing on Zerato's field was a slender, raven-haired woman dressed in a bright white Egyptian robe. As with the other Lightsworn monsters, she had gold embedded in her clothes and held a three foot long gold staff with a green diamond embedded on the top of it.

Next to it was a wolf, similar to the Lightsworn Beast, but different in a number of small ways. For one, this creature was not at all humanoid, but a complete wolf. He still had armor plates with inset gold patterns on his shoulders, and a golden diamond fixed into his skull above his cold eyes. His teeth were bared.

"Then, I normal summon Frequency Magician (800/400)," continued the Archangel.

A short man dressed in a purple robe appeared on his field. He had a long cape stretching out behind him, along with two strange looking gauntlets on each hand with intricate weavings etched on them. On his head he had an almost comical helmet which, from top to bottom, was far larger than his head itself.

"When a normal summon is conducted by the opponent while Raviel is in play, one Phantasm Token (1000/1000) is special summoned," interrupted Haou.

A miniature version of the large blue creature appeared onto the field with its arms crossed in defense.

"Frequency Magician is a level two tuner monster. I tune it with the level two Ryko and the level four Lyla," continued Zerato, as if the interruption had not even occurred.

The purple mage vanished into an orb of light, as did the other two creatures on his field. The trio began to align into a vertical triangle, with strings of light connecting them in mid air. The triangle began to then expand, and from within the shining depths of it a form larger than any of the previous three monsters began to emerge.

The form was that of a beautiful woman, clad in a flowing white dress. She had long, aqua colored hair that tumbled down to her shoulders, with piercing golden eyes. She was extremely lithe, and one might have confused her serene beauty with that of Lady Life herself. A golden halo hovered around her head, and she gazed into the horror around with her with an eerily calm smile.

"This is my level eight Synchro monster, Felicia, Lightsworn Prophet (2600/2100)."

The sight of a creature of such purity seemed to further anger Lilith. Her eyes began to flare out even more, and the demons in the coliseum began crying for blood.

Haou, on the other hand, and Raviel, were both undaunted.

"Then, I activate the spell card Feather of the Phoenix. By discarding one card from my hand, I may place one card from my graveyard on the top of my deck."

"_An inefficient and risky card_," analyzed Haou. "_However, the Archangel has shown great tactical ability until this point. There is a greater purpose behind his action_."

"Once during my Main Phase, Felicia's effect allows me to guess whether the top card on my deck is a monster, spell or trap. If I guess correctly, two effects are activated. First, I may draw the card, although I cannot play or set it until two stand-by phases have passed since activation. Also, I may pick one card on the field of the same type as my guess and send it to the graveyard."

"_So that his intention…. By manipulating the past, he controls the future_."

"I guess monster," uttered Zerato, with a significant sarcastic note in his voice when he said the word 'guess'.

He then drew his top card and flipped it around for Lilith and Haou to see.

The giant, feathered visage of Judgment Dragon (3000/2600) was unmistakable.

Zerato allowed a triumphant smirk to grace his features and pointed out Raviel.

"Felicia's effect activates. Lightstrike Prophecy!"

The thin lady raised both her hands into the air, and began to sing.

As she did, the clouds began to part above her, and a column of white light shone down upon her. Her voice was at first soft, calm and melodious, but as she grew brighter her voice continued to grow even more terrible.

With a final shriek, she unleashed a white orb of lightning which hurtled toward Haou's field.

Just as it was about the slam into the towering blue demon, the smaller version suddenly leapt up and threw itself in the path of the blast.

Felicia's song was drowned out by the awful screech of agony the Phantasm Token gave out as it evaporated before their very eyes.

Zerato immediately turned his eyes toward Haou and looked at him suspiciously.

A pink card was standing erect on the Supreme King's field now, and it was one that any duelist worth his salt would recognize: Shift.

"So you had a backup plan to protect Raviel all along, in case it came to that," growled Zerato, shaking his head.

Haou did not reply.

The Archangel looked over his hand one more time, and then shrugged and pointed toward the blue-skinned woman on Lilith's field.

"Felicia, rid us of that heathen."

Envy seemed to realize what was going on, and began to desperately scamper away. However, she was nowhere near fast enough to avoid the incoming white blast, whose aim was true this time. Bones clinked to the ground in front of Lilith, the prophet having spared nothing.

"I then set one card and end my turn."

Haou snapped the top card off his deck, making it four in his hand.

"Raviel's attack against Felicia. Ultimate Judgment Fist."

The blue titan let out a massive roar and curled all the fingers of its right hand into a spiny fist. It then thundered forward, and as it gained steam its fist began to glow with purplish-black energy. Just as it seemed ready to thrust forward and destroy the Synchro, Zerato reacted.

"I activate an old, but effective trap card! Shadow Spell!"

Chains raged forth from his Continuous Trap Card, wrapping themselves around the massive Raviel's fist, preventing him from continuing forward.

"This card prevents the attack of your monster, and reduces its attack power by 700 (4000/4000 — 3300/4000)!"

Haou scowled deeply. He was getting annoyed with the duel.

He slammed two cards facedown. "Two cards are set, turn end."

It was Lilith's turn next.

Her slow, languid voice hung over the air as she spoke on.

"Activate continuous spell, Premature Burial. At the cost of eight hundred life-points, one monster may be special summoned from the graveyard. Return to me, Eternal Sin – Gluttony (0/2000)."

Materializing in front of it was the humongous, somewhat disgusting, three-headed dog. It had a body perhaps fifteen feet across, covered with thin, filthy brown fur. However, its three heads seemed to be devoid of any fur. They were a light pink in color, and disproportionately large when compared to the rest of its body. Each head had sickly yellow eyes, with large fangs being bared between the fleshy jaws.

The re-appearance of the Cerebrus draw ragged cheers from the spectating demons.

(Haou: 4600, Lilith: 6200, Zerato: 5300)

"I would not get too re-attached to him if I were you as he serves as an immediate tribute for Fallen Angel – Samyaza the Proud (2100/1300)."

The triple-headed beast slowly began to evaporate, and a shining orange nexus appeared in the sky above them. It slowly descended and one could see that it was a towering blonde woman, dressed in a brownish-crimson cloak that billowed out behind her as she came lower and lower. Her eyes were a piercing orange and two massive wings spread out behind her, almost like an eagle. Her skin was a shockingly pale white.

Zerato's mouth curled in disgust at the newest arrival, but he said nothing, even as the demons populating the coliseum broke out into full fledged applause.

"When Samyaza is successfully tribute-summoned, one monster with the word 'Sin' in its name is added from my deck to my hand," hissed Lilith.

Her deck hovered upward and then fanned itself out in front of her. One of the many cards glowed a dim blue and then floated over to her hand. The deck then reshuffled itself in mid-air and settled back down near the ground.

"I set one card and end my turn."

Zerato drew, and spoke confidently.

"Activate spell card, Infinite Rest. This destroys all monsters which are being targeted by trap cards that are still on the field."

Haou's genius mind instantly made a note that this was an alternate version to the rarely seen Eternal Rest, which destroyed all monsters equipped with equip spells.

That aside, he had a counter ready.

"Chain, Call of the Haunted. Evil Hero Malicious Edge (2600/1800) is revived."

Appearing instantly on his field next to the trapped Raviel, who was suddenly beginning to wheeze and roar in exertion, was the very tall, but thin, blade-winged fiend with a demonic mask over his face, and nearly skin-tight, dark-blue armor all over his body. Spikes were littered as designs, attached by accessory rings to the arms and kneecaps of his armor; it reached all the way to his hands, which contained deployed, knife-like claws at the ends. A dark-blue belt was around his waist, with a golden buckle on the front.

"That's not going to make a difference," warned Zerato, as Raviel's skin began to turn a bright red. It struggled against its bonds but to little avail.

"This, however, shall. Quick play spell card, Super Fusion, activate. Fuse Raviel, Lord of the Phantasms with Evil Hero Malicious Edge. Come, Evil Hero Malicious Devil (3500/2100)."

Raviel suddenly broke free of his chains and his skin returned to normal. The sky above them began to turn a shade of deep blue, in contrast to the hellish red that it had taken on when Lilith activated her Hell field spell.

Neither the demoness nor Zerato knew quite what to make of this new development.

"Super… Fusion," repeated Zerato.

A very small sarcastic smirk appeared on Haou's face.

"I would be disappointed that neither a member of the Infinity Council nor a she-demon would have been aware of this legend."

"Do enlighten us, little King," hissed Lilith.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Flashback_

_Deep within the Dark World that Haou rules over with an iron fist, villages are being pillaged and ransacked by his army._

_Men and women were slaughtered indiscriminately, however, the soldiers were ensuring to leave the children alive._

_It was difficult to understand what was occurring. At first, many of the distraught children were just happy to be left alive._

_Then, however, they were rounded up in droves and were being transported to dungeons where they were left for days with scarce provisions._

_Soon, they were being visited by sinister individuals who never spoke a word to them. At first, the children were just observed. Then, at nights, when the guards were not keeping watch on them, they began to confide in each other about strange feelings that occurred within their minds when those individuals were observing them._

_It felt as if their thoughts and emotions were being probed._

_The dark powers of the Supreme King and his followers were the stuff that their mothers scared them with when they refused to sleep. Few would have believed that it was actually true._

_Most of them broke down then and there. A few older ones remained defiant, and planned valiantly to escape._

_In the end, out of the two hundred and fifty odd children that had been captured, two hundred and forty-five were let go. _

_They were just pushed out back into the dark forest and left to it._

_Of the five children who remained, two were vehement and furious. Two had all but resigned themselves to their fate, and spent most of the day curled up in a ball, sobbing. One maintained a calm dignity far beyond her years, but ever so often even her demeanor seemed to let up into distress._

_Finally, one of the Supreme King's henchmen fetched them and took them across some treacherous terrain to the palace of his master._

_He then forced them into a large, dark empty hall. The heavy wooden door slammed behind them, and they were left again._

_This time, however, they were not alone._

_A deep, cold voice resonated through the darkness._

"_Anger."_

_The five looked around in wild confusion. Standing on a balcony some distance above them was none other than the Supreme King Haou himself. In one hand, he held a blank card._

_He extended a finger toward one of the more outspoken prisoners._

_The young teenager scarcely had a moment to speak before he began to twitch violently._

_The screams of the others were drowned out by Haou's next words._

"_Hatred."_

_The other defiant one joined him in throes of pain._

"_Anguish. Sadness."_

_All four except the calmer girl had now erupted into blue flames. The card in Haou's hand was glowing intensely._

_The girl looked up and met his gaze._

_She wanted to speak out bravely, to show courage one would not expect of anyone in this sort of position. Instead, as she spoke, the worlds tumbled out without resembling any sort of language. She was stammering ,"Supreme King, there are people out there who will not let what you have done go unpun-…"_

"_Doubt."_

_And then, the girl too erupted into a wild ball of energy. The five nexuses swirled into one, which began to thrash around. Haou lifted the card higher, and began to chant in an arcane tongue which even the Devil himself would not dare speak._

_The energy that had once been the five children lurched upward. It went higher, and kept on going before it suddenly slammed into the card Haou was holding._

_His arm shook slightly as the card quivered, literally exploding with energy._

_When it settled down, Haou turned it around and gave a faint smile as he a name appeared on it._

_Super Fusion._

_End Flashback_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Zerato's knuckles were white, and trembling.

"You… You sacrificed five _children_ for this card."

Haou scoffed.

"Those infantile individuals should be honored to be a part of this legend. Super Fusion is the mightiest card in Duel Monsters, as it is built on an amalgamation of the five strongest negative emotions. Now, with this symbol of the Supreme King, I shall destroy you. Super Fusion may be a quick-play spell card, but it is unique in that it has a Spell Speed higher than any card in Duel Monsters. It can be activated at any point and cannot be Chained to."

A storm materialized on Haou's field, and began to twirl in all directions. Zerato watched in dumbstruck trepidation as Raviel and Malicious Edge slammed into one another in the center of the storm, and a foreboding, towering form appeared in their place.

"_A Spell Speed 4? Apocalypse and his servants are testing the limits of Shadow Games. This is going to be far harder than I anticipated_."

Malicious Edge soon reappeared, but now had much longer and sharper claws than before; black hair had also now formed at the back of its head, shooting out down and behind it. It also had large black wings extending out from its back, and an eerie type of red aura emitting from the same spot.

"Evil Hero – Malicious Devil (3500/2100), is a fusion of Malicious Edge along with one level seven or higher demon type monster."

"_Thank _you for that explanation, Horseman, but I will not need to know its fusion materials to effectively utilize its power," cackled Lilith.

Both the Horseman and Archangel turned to face her.

One of the large brown cards surrounding her suddenly flipped around to show a simple black orb. In the background of the card art were depictions of all the various sins; a seductive looking woman, a man greedily shoving food down his gullet while holding a bag of money, and another soaked in blood while screaming out loud with an axe aloft in his hands.

"Original Sin (0/0) activates from my hand," she intoned.

"Original Sin," repeated Zerato.

"When a monster is normal summoned or special summoned, I may equip Original Sin to that monster from my hand. While its owner draws three cards, I retain control of that monster until it, or Original Sin is destroyed!"

Haou swore angrily as a blue-skinned demoness materialized behind Malicious Devil. She began trailing her hand up and down his shoulder, distracting him for enough time so a black globule erupted out of Lilith's field and wrapped itself around the Evil Hero's head. The woman backed off and began cackling as the fusion thrashed around for a moment before suddenly glowing crimson and then hovered over to Lilith's field.

The black sludge was still tightly wrapped around its face, but the demoness was now leaning on its shoulder, whispering orders continuously into its ear.

With a disgusted look on his face, Haou added three cards to his hand.

Zerato was rather bewildered. Never had so many opposing maneuvers been executed on _his_ move. Obviously, however, it would be smarter not to show that.

Lilith had the clear field advantage now. Samyaza was weaker than Felicia, but attacking it would leave him open to life-point damage from Malicious Devil.

He did, however, have quite an advantage waiting in the wings. He was rather shocked that both Lilith and Haou would go through such pains to commit such massive resources to the field when they both knew that Judgment Dragon (3000/2600) waiting in the wings.

He stared out into space momentarily, analyzing the situation.

"_Regarding Lilith, she is definitely competent enough to realize that I had added an ace from my graveyard to my hand, with the means to summon it. If she went through the effort of summoning setting up her field to this extent, she probably has a counter to it. Haou, though, _definitely_ has a counter to it. I'm not sure if either of them would run Solemn Judgment or Solemn Warning, since their aggressive play style needs life-points to fall back on. More conventional trap cards might be in use, such as Bottomless Trap Hole."_

He shook his head in frustration.

"_If I do summon Judgment Dragon and it's destroyed, I will be left with only Felicia to combat Malicious Devil next turn. If I don't summon it, I'll _still _have only Felicia, along with the added weight of a possible counter Haou or Lilith has lying hanging over my head._"

Finally, he made his choice.

"I have four different Lightsworn monsters in my graveyard. Therefore I can immediately special summon Judgment Dragon (3000/2600) from my hand to the field!"

As he moved his hand to slam the legendary card onto the field, there was a swirl of white energy, and appearing on Zerato's field was the dragon that was gray in color. It was completely covered in feathery scales up to its chest, which stuck out like spikes. A fringe of long feathers, like those of a peacock, extended down from the top of its neck. Its eyes were a deep crimson, while massive, eagle-like wings spread out from its back. Despite its reptilian origins, its limbs did not have scales, and looked like that of an elephant, while marked with three, large, red claws.

He paused a moment, almost waiting for a trap card to be activated in response. He received no interruption. Haou looked on stonily, while Lilith rubbed her serpentine body against the scorching ground idly.

The light coming off from the dragon was causing those in the crowd of the coliseum to shriek and cower.

Zerato smirked. Maybe he had been over thinking things.

"Your strategy is insufficient," droned Haou. He flipped one of the cards in his hand around to reveal the artwork of a small female fairy who was dressed in a white shirt and tight black pants. Her features were Japanese, with bluish-green hair tumbling down the sides of her shoulders. Barely translucent wings fluttered out behind it.

Zerato swore. "_Effect Veiler (0/0)…_"

Haou slid the card into his graveyard, and the fairy appeared in mid-air above his Judgment Dragon. The wyvern glowed purple momentarily.

Zerato clenched his fist in frustration. Now he couldn't use Judgment Dragon's effect, meaning Malicious Devil would be able to destroy it next turn.

"I switch Felicia to defense mode and end my tu-…"

"Not so fast, Archangel," cackled Lilith. "Malicious Devil's effect states that during your turn, all monsters are switched to attack mode during the battle phase and _must_ attack it."

Zerato gasped as the Judgment Dragon let out a massive roar and stood up on its haunches, wings flaring out behind it.

The sound of Lilith's laughter was drowned out as it unleashed a massive column of pure white energy from within its maw. The Evil Hero fusion seemed busy picking its nails, but in comedic fashion it looked up to see the oncoming blast and then propelled itself into the air to avoid it.

It then unleashed a barrage of dark needles from its right hand, which sliced through the noxious air of the Garden and slammed into the unfortunate Judgment Dragon, which let out a mournful cry before exploding into nothingness.

Meanwhile, Felicia seemed enraged by the death of her comrade.

As she began to sing the clouds began to part above her, and a column of white light shone down upon her. Her voice was at first soft, calm and melodious, but as she grew brighter her voice continued to grow even more terrible.

With a final shriek, she unleashed a white orb of lightning which hurtled toward the Devil. The Evil Hero merely caught the blast in one hand and fired it back in the Synchro monster's direction with absurd ease.

The robed angel barely got a moment to realize what had happened before the blast struck her, atomizing her at that very second.

(Haou: 4600, Lilith: 6200, Zerato: 3900)

Zerato's features were the image of frustration.

"I set one monster facedown in defense mode and end my turn."

Haou snapped the top card off his deck, bringing his hand size to a total of five.

"Normal spell, activate: Hero Shuffle. I may choose up to three normal monsters with 'Hero' in their name and place them on the top of my deck. However, they cannot be added to my hand this turn and I must skip my battle phase."

Even as the Supreme King located the cards of his choice, Zerato found himself wondering why he would bother using a card like that.

He then noticed a maliciously impressed look in Lilith's eyes, and reprimanded himself. "_You can't continue to be behind the curve like this…_"

"Then, normal summon, Elemental Hero Bubbleman (800/1200)."

In a spray of bubbles, a man in a blue costume outfit with a long white cape, light blue boots, gloves, shoulder pads, and a helmet that covered all but his mouth. On his right wrist was a small gun attached that looked like the end of a water hose, and on his back was a set of water tanks.

"As Bubbleman is the only card present on my field, I am allowed to draw two more cards."

Looking over his new options, Haou then slid another card into his spell and trap card zone.

"Enchanted Fitting Room, activate. Eight hundred life-points are paid, any level three or lower normal monsters out of the top four cards on my deck are special summoned."

Zerato mentally slapped himself. "_So _that_ was his plan…!_"

He slid the top four cards off his deck and fanned them out. Two were spell and traps that Zerato did not recognize, but the others were the very famous Elemental Heroes Avian (1000/1000) and Burstinatrix (1200/800).

"Come."

(Haou: 3800, Lilith: 6200, Zerato: 3900)

First appeared a man covered with green feathers from head to foot. His hands, however, were visible. He had large white wings flaring out behind him.

A female creature with pale white skin in a red body suit that covered most of her body except part of her arms appeared. She had red gloves that came up to her elbows, but the fingers of the gloves were cut off revealing her skin instead. She had long black hair that fanned out with a bit of white at the ends. On her head was a golden flared out helmet, and her face was partially covered with a red mask that didn't cover her cheeks or mouth.

"Come now, Supreme King, you can't possibly be expecting those so called 'Heroes' to be holding a candle to the powers at work in this duel?" hissed Lilith. "It's like bringing a toothpick to a sword battle!"

Haou fixed her with a blank look.

"Strategy is something that a being such as yourself that has depended on power for so long can be expected to understand. Dark Fusion, activate."

Once the two had appeared onto the field, the man in light blue leapt up to join the two and the three together began to swirl. A swirl of dark energy filled the area, blinding everyone. The light finally began to dim and revealed a new figure where three once stood. The new figure had green hair and a black visor that covered his face except for his mouth and cheeks. Its skin and armor were dark-blue. It has lightning bolt designs coming down its legs from below its knees, and holds a strange type of sphere in its hand. The sphere is made of a combination of water, lightning, and wind energies.

"This is Evil Hero Black Thunder (2900/2800)," intoned Haou.

Lilith seemed unnerved at her miscalculation. Even though she was considered the mother of most demons, these new heathens that Haou kept churning out were intimidating, to say the least.

Black Thunder and Malicious Devil stared coolly at each other as a deathly silence fell upon the coliseum. The flames and lava had collapsed and were not making as much noise as they were previously, but Zerato could tell this was just the calm before the storm.

The two titans would soon clash.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Un… Unbelievable," muttered Joey for the eleventh time.

The quintet was sitting (in Zeruge's case lying flat on his back, half unconscious), in a small alcove in a bit of forested area on the other side of the Hudson River.

He continued to look warily at Zeruge.

"Joseph, calm down-…" began Ishizu weakly.

"He… He killed that freaking monster like he just sprang out of Dragon Ball freaking Z," deadpanned the blonde. "Hey, I mean card games coming to life, aliens walking among us, souls being stolen… That's one thing. But I've never, _ever_ seen something like that."

He trailed off, and silence fell again.

After Zeruge had succeeded in causing the Legion's bio-weapon to literally explode, the shockwave had thrown the bus onto its side and sent huge chunks of armor and tissue in all directions, along with green blood.

It had taken the four within the bus at least half an hour to carefully climb out, and find Zeruge lying unconscious in the midst of the debris. Clutched in one hand was a huge chunk of the Orichalcos stone, perhaps three feet by three feet.

Realizing they didn't have much time, Joey and Marik somehow dragged Zeruge to his feet and slung an arm over each of their shoulders. Ishizu and Odion, obviously weaker, managed to carry the stone between themselves. At first they were tentative about carrying the root of all their problems _with_ themselves, but then realized that Zeruge knew a lot more about it than they did, and there _had_ to be a reason for his deciding that finding the stone would be the last thing to do before he blacked out.

Somehow, they made it over the George Washington Bridge on foot, and holed up in the first somewhat covered area they could find. Until now, the Legion troopers hadn't started making their way across the bridge. That made sense, considering New York had plenty to pillage as it was.

It would have conventionally made sense to go deeper into New Jersey, but the last thing they wanted to do was run into law enforcement or members of the armed forces, who were obviously in full-time panic mode and would have made it far more difficult to plan their next move.

Marik let out an audible groan.

Joey, Ishizu and Odion turned to look at him, concerned.

"What's the matter?"

Marik had gotten a hold of a few blades of grass and then ripped them out the ground in sheer frustration.

"The world has practically gone crazy, and there is _nothing_, absolutely _nothing_, we can do about it."

The other three remained silent. Obviously Zeruge was going to be a major player in events to come, but at this point the entire situation felt bigger than each of them, even though they were all veterans of numerous ridiculous situations.

Joey had already dealt with this inferiority complex about not being up to these challenges by himself, but had obviously gotten past that. However, he decided to keep the experience private. Either everyone would start looking at him funny if he claimed that he was visited by a goddess while in a coma, or it would make Marik feel even worse.

"Brother…" began Ishizu quietly.

"Don't start," deadpanned Marik. "Even if by some miracle the world is saved, we're just going to be sitting in some safe place somewhere and twiddling our thumbs, praying that Yami, Zeruge and the Council are able to fix things..! We can't make a difference!"

"What if I told you that at least _you_ could?" interrupted his sister.

The former Rare Hunter turned around and gave her an incredulous look.

"What are you talking about?"

The beautiful Egyptian lady shook her head. "I should have told you about this earlier… But I was unsure if you were mentally prepared to accept it."

She groaned and rubbed her forehead. "Damnit, maybe I'm making a mistake by telling you even now-…"

"Just _say _it."

She took a deep breath.

"It's… It's to do with your heritage as a Tombkeeper."

Marik kept a straight face, and Ishizu took it as a sign to continue.

"Every patriarch of the Tombkeeper bloodline has access to… a certain room, located in the same abbey as the tombs of the dead Pharaohs. That room houses the tombs of past Tombkeepers. The legend that has been passed down has it that each patriarch has access to a secret that would grant him a power that would be on equal terms with the High Priests. However, to access it, he must pass a test set down by the very first Tombkeeper to see if he is or is not fit to acquire that particular gift.."

"What kind of test?"

Ishizu shook her head. "No one in the family knew. The last Tombkeeper to attempt the test went into the tomb of our ancestors, and never returned."

Marik shivered involuntarily, and silence fell again.

Joey spoke up. "Look, if we don't have a plan yet, how about we join the others in Florida somehow and then-…"

"No," replied Marik suddenly.

He looked up. "I'm going to see what my forefathers cooked up."

Ishizu's eyes bulged. "I shouldn't have brought this up…! Marik, no one has _ever_ emerged from there..!"

He interrupted her harshly.

"Sister, you cannot understand what _he_ put me through."

Everyone knew that he was referring to Yami Marik, whom no one desired to reference by name.

"Whether or not I live through the test, I need to at least _try_ to exist as myself for once. My entire life I've spent either _being_ the problem, or standing by while someone else fixes it. I need to participate in the fixing process by myself, or at least try to. This is the best chance I will ever have, and if I don't, I really don't think I'd ever be able to look in the mirror without feeling absolute disgust."

When Ishizu next spoke, she seemed to be choking back tears.

"Brother, I'm sorry-…"

"No, sister," Marik said softly. "I _am_ sorry. And I intend to make this right."

He then embraced her, and they stood silent for a moment.

A groan was heard suddenly in the breaking dawn. Zeruge seemed to be waking up.

Marik smiled faintly and let go of his sister.

"Wake up, Mr. Mitsunashi. We're going to Egypt.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**I got my flow back towards the end :D Duels have been hard for me lately, non-dueling scenes, be it talking or battles have been coming easy. So my apologies if the dueling action is less intense or frequent for a bit.**

**Anyway, please do review, it's the one thing that keeps the writing going.**


	48. Pride Cometh Before A Fall

CHAPTER FORTY-SIX: Pride Cometh Before A Fall

**Holy shit.**

**I've been gone a while and goddamn I did not expect this kind of reaction.**

**I am well and truly touched at the response you kind readers have given me. Really, it's overwhelming.**

**As a present, here's an extra long chapter. It's thirty pages, nearly fifteen thousand words. The longest chapter since October 2009. The last two were kinda short, this one is nearly as long as those two combined. Hope this makes up.**

**Special thanks to my friend Master of the Library, he mapped out most of the duel for me in this one. He did a great job, as you will soon see.**

**Reaver72: Appreciate the kind words, sir. Hope you enjoy this.**

**GearfriedTheSynchro: Thanks a lot, man. It's done, finally, hope you enjoy. Yes, they are. I have his permission.**

**Clevercookies: Actually, my friend Metal Overlord 2.0 is completely responsible for most of the Mordor deck. He did a great job.**

**RenaKounelaki: Maybe ;)**

**Sanokal: Thanks a lot man, I really appreciate your kind words. They, among others, helped me get this done.**

The pair of duelists stood strong against the high winds that whistled by them.

They really were the oddest pair of 'card game buddies', as Max mentally put it to himself. A slightly crazed, hyperactive private detective going up against a green-skinned reptilian extraterrestrial?

Where did these situations come from?

Suddenly, the trooper retrieved another object from the same place, a kind of sphere. It split into two half spheres, which suddenly hovered into the air. Without warning, one of the half spheres flew out towards Max, morphing itself into a kind of wristband as it went. He swore as it slammed onto his wrist, firmly attaching itself in place. The other band, meanwhile, was firmly attached to the creature's wrist.

His mind momentarily flashed back to the old Battle City DVDs he had watched.

Marik Ishtar and his Rare Hunters used to engage in the vile practices of causing physical harm to a duelist for every life-point lost. He did not know what the Legion was intending, but it couldn't be too far off.

"_Well, I'll just have to make sure I don't lose any life-points then_."

(Trooper: 8000, Max: 8000)

"As the challenger, you shall play second."

Max rolled his eyes and fired off his holo projectors, which neatly settled on the very ends of the camper. He drew his first six cards, and was suddenly barely able to contain his expression of glee. Thankfully, members of the Legion did not seem very adept at recognizing the various human emotions.

"Normal summon, Legion Warrior (1800/1400), offensive position."

An almost mutant-like, silvery creature outfitted with black armor materialized in the constantly changing degree of space between t. It was roughly as big as a large rhinoceros, with disproportionately large hands and feet, each about as big as a desk. Its eyes were like a pair of deep, hollow black voids. A thorny frill framed its head, with green stones embedded in its chest cavity and each shoulder. Its claws had spinning laser edged teeth like futuristic chainsaws.

"A spell card is activated, Double Summon. One additional reinforcement may be called upon. Legion Surveillance Craft (1000/600), defensive position."

A long, thin fighter ship appeared next to the monstrosity, made of advanced alien machinery. It had a pair of gun turrets sticking out from the back end, with a green stone nestled between them. It had large, dome-like structures on each wing, and was surrounded by a semi-invisible energy field.

"The turn is ended."

Max could barely contain his excitement, even as dust stung his eyes and he heard distant screams, roars and explosions from other battles.

"I-… _whoops_."

He ducked just in time to avoid a strangely low branch. He peered up just in time to see that same branch slamming into his opponent about fifteen feet behind him. The length of wood simply splintered against his glowing green armor.

Mentally muttering about his style being cramped, Max proceeded with his opening move.

"I activate Trap Booster! By discarding one card from my hand, I can activate trap cards from my hand until the end phase!"

The Trooper did not respond, so Max continued.

"Then, I normal summon the strongest level four monster in the game: Giant Kozaky (2500/2400)!"

A portion of the ground behind him suddenly collapsed to reveal a drill attached to a chrome, light-violet arm; similar, cuff-like arms, one grappling a large mallet, soon joined it. The white, dome-shaped body of the machine resembled a laboratory jacket. A pink tie was painted on its front. Several cardboard patches were on the front and sides. The block-like head of the design had grey sides and a white center. Misshapen, glass panels served as eyes.

"A suicidal move indicative of the ability of the Legion to instill irrational fear-…" droned the Trooper automatically as the creature began to vibrate almost instantaneously upon its appearance.

"Gee, you catch on quick, don't you, iguana-boy?" muttered Max through raised eyebrows. "Obviously, you are correct. Since 'Kozaky' is not in play, Giant Kozaky is destroyed instantly and I would be dealt damage equal to his rather large attack score."

As his sentence finished, the suited machine exploded and consumed the field in smoke and flames.

"However," came Max's voice above the explosion. "Remember Trap Booster? That ensures I can chain Barrel from Behind the Door from my hand, dealing _you_ all those hundreds of points of damage _instead_. So, how _do_ you like that boyo?"

(Trooper: 5500, Max: 8000)

Even as the smoke began to clear, he could see sparks of green electricity buzzing around his opponent's wrist. A small groan was audible.

"Then I activate this normal magic card: Last Will. When a monster on my field is destroyed, I'm allowed to special summon another one from my deck, but only if its attack score is fifteen hundred or less. That's a moot point for me, because I'm getting out none other than the man himself, Kozaky (400/400)!"

A purple skinned, human like creature in an opened white lab coat with black slacks, with a pink tie around his neck, glasses, and lower neck length black hair appeared just a few feet ahead of Max. The creature had small purple spikes sticking out of his coat on his back and elbows and pointed ears.

"Next up is Monster Reborn, which allows me to once again special summon Giant Kozaky (2500/2400) from my graveyard!"

Reappearing right next to the demonic scientist was the massive beast, drilling its way out of the ground and balancing against the edge of the camper.

"This time, he's going to stick around for a bit longer since his buddy is in play. That means your Legion Warrior is going to feel his total destructive force: Giant Kozaky, Cybernetic Phantom Fist!"

The white-coated scientist beckoned to his partner, who leaned down. Kozaky whispered something in his ear, and received a nod in reply.

With a growl, the titan rushed across the field and delivered a tremendous punch to the green-skinned beast. At first, it seemed like it had no effect. Then, however, the armor cracked and the Warrior exploded into green shards.

Once again a grimace was brought to the trooper's mouth as the green electricity appeared.

(Trooper: 4800, Max: 8000)

To Max's shock, a second monster appeared on the Shocktrooper's field, identical to the first, except that it was larger and more muscular (2600/1400).

"When Legion Warrior is killed, key information concerning the enemy is relayed to a reinforcement that is instantly called upon. A second copy is special summoned, whose offensive statistic is increased to one hundred points greater than that of the original murderer."

He then robotically drew, increasing his hand size to four.

"When special circumstances lead to additional reinforcements from the Legion mother ship, Legion Surveillance Craft permits a marginal increase in resources."

Max rolled his eyes. This lizard's strange speech patterns were beginning to annoy him.

"All right, if you want to draw, so can I. I activate the continuous trap Appropriate from my hand! Whenever you draw outside of your draw phase, I can draw twice. So load up on the cards all you want iguana-boy, it just makes things easier for me!"

Even as he drew two more cards, Max came to realize it was still his battle phase.

"_Is it realistic to try and First Turn Kill this guy_?" he wondered.

With a shrug, he then lifted slid one of his cards into the spell and trap card zone.

"I activate the quick-play spell card, Kozaky United! In doing so I can increase Kozaky's attack points by the combined total of all the other Kozaky monsters in play until the end of the turn. Since there's only Giant Kozaky, that means he's up to nearly three thousand!"

The white-coated man began to glow and a maniacal grin appeared on his face (2900/400).

"Now, attack his Legion Warrior!"

Kozaky shoved a hand into his pocket and somehow produced a massive bazooka, one which he could barely balance on his shoulder. With a ridiculous grin on his face, he pulled the trigger and unleashed a sizzling missile which slammed into its target and left only a pile of ashes in its wake.

(Trooper: 4500, Max: 8000)

Even as the second Warrior disappeared, a larger, more freakish looking one appeared in its place (3000/1400).

The trooper drew once, Max, twice. As he looked at his new cards, he could barely contain his excitement.

"I move to my second Main Phase, and here's an oldie, but a goodie: Mystic Box! This lets me perform a magic trick with you."

He received no response from the trooper, but regardless, a grey box with gold trim, three sections with each having a blue question mark in the middle and a small patch of red surrounding it, appeared onto the field. The door to the box soon enough opened, revealing an empty box within.

"Now, one of my monsters enters the box. I choose Giant Kozaky."

Nodding, the large, mechanical digger stepped into the box, and the door closed.

"Then I need a volunteer from your field: how does your big bad Legion Warrior sound?"

A larger version of the black box encapsulated the howling and struggling green armored beast.

"Now for a little magic trick: your monster is destroyed, but as compensation, you get mine!"

The two boxes glowed momentarily, and a bunch of swords materialized in mid-air, slicing through the black material of the box on the trooper's field. The thrashing within immediately ceased, and green fluid began to leak out.

The boxes glowed again, and then opened. The one on _Max's _field revealed the decapitated remains of the Warrior, while a somewhat all right looking Giant Kozaky waddled out of the one on the trooper's field; somewhat because it was vibrating again and seemed ready to blow up rather soon.

"By giving you control of one of _my_ monsters, I can destroy one of yours!"

His grin broadened.

"And since you don't happen to have Kozaky in play, Giant Kozaky goes boom-boom and _you_ lose the life-points!"

The metallic monster once again exploded and showered shrapnel and debris all over the Trooper's field. He was brought down onto one knee as powerful waves of electricity coursed through his body.

(Trooper: 2000, Max: 8000)

Max paused and bit his lip as he observed the suffering that his opponent was forced to go through.

"Hey…" he called out tentatively. "Look, this doesn't have to end badly."

As it struggled to bring its writhing under control, the trooper cocked its head upward to meet his gaze.

"We can call it a tie," managed Max. "Go back in and tell your boys that we agreed to go our separate ways-…"

His words were interrupted by the harshest of crackling hisses.

"_The Legion would never submit to a lowly weakling such as yourself_."

Max paused as the venom continued to spew out.

"_Humans are inferior, hence it defies logic for them not to serve the Legion. Hence it defies logic for the Legion not to stop until complete subjugation has been achieved-.._"

"You're getting on my nerves," said Max frankly, and flipped around a card in his hand.

"I activate the trap Give and Take, which allows me to special summon a monster from my graveyard to your field, and in turn increase the level of one of my monsters by that of the summoned monster. The second part doesn't matter, because we both know which monster I'm giving you."

Scarcely had he finished speaking did the huge metallic visage of Giant Kozaky appear on the trooper's field for the final time. Again, it stayed for all of five seconds before it exploded.

The explosion this time was larger than all the previous ones put together; in fact Max was surprised it didn't take out part of the vehicle that the trooper was standing on. The electricity from the band continued to wrack its body. It let out one final shriek before its flesh began to literally wither away into nothingness.

All that was left was a lingering trace of a green gas, which seemed to get absorbed by the green stone which was originally set in the beast's chest: as it were, the stone seemed immune to destruction by the electricity. Within seconds, the creature was completely incinerated. The band which seemed responsible for its destruction clanked to the ground, along with the stone.

(Trooper: 0, Max: 8000)

Max paused momentarily, a bewildered look on his face.

Suddenly, a hatch opened on the top of the truck. A gnarled green hand sprung up and groped around, before dragging the band and glowing stone in.

Max was snapped out of his stupor by the sound of the blades beginning to whirr even faster. He began to take nervous steps back when the trap door behind him flipped open and David popped his head out.

"Get in," he hollered. "I saw your duel from a camera, they're not going to stop just because you beat him! We'll have to outrun them."

Max was only too glad to obey as he scampered, a term used in the loosest sense since one could not 'scamper' in gravity boots, back to where his partner was leaning out and grappled his way down the ladder.

The moment his feet touched the ground he was serenaded by shouts of "Stylishly done, mate!" (Bakura), "Are you insane? You could've gotten yourself killed!" (Aaron), and "You lunatic take the goddamn wheel I'm tired of manning this hunk of junk!" (Rikuo).

Poor Max somehow made his way through the back-slaps and punches toward the driver's seat, where a fuming Rikuo seemed only too happy to leap off the controls and let the MADness agent collapse in his seat.

"So, what's the plan, boss-man?" he mumbled to the Wolf Demon General. He had no idea if Rikuo would reply verbally or by carving his insides into a cannibal's banquet.

"Just drive, let me think-…"

He stopped talking at that instant because they all heard the unmistakable sound of air hissing past a projectile as it left a launcher.

Everyone turned around at that very instant, to see through the window at the back that a gray jeep had drawn halfway level with both them and their pursuers.

In the driver's seat was Diablo, behind him was James, with a _massive_ grenade launcher mounted on his shoulder. He had just pulled the trigger and unleashed a combusting shell upward, at one of the attack craft that had been on their tail.

The effect was incredible. Even as it just about completely left the launcher the grenade began to ignite. By the time it slammed into the underside of the aircraft it had pretty much consumed the entire thing in flames. It hovered around momentarily in the air for some time, teetering this way and then that. Without warning, it then began to spiral downward.

Max swerved sharply to avoid the wreckage, which landed conveniently right behind them, blocking off the pursuing vehicle. It seemed too large to make a fast move around the burning debris. Diablo and James, however, were able to.

The redhead continued to take potshots at the pursuant fighters, disrupting their formations and sending their lasers all over the place.

"That was…. lucky," muttered Deondre loud enough for everyone to hear before Max swung the wheel wildly to his right to avoid more than half a tree that collapsed across the road due to one of the green lasers that cut across the road.

Before everyone had even gotten to their feet, Rikuo had more or less taken charge. It was almost a de facto event, since with Eizan dead he was the only one with the experience and the ability to back up his authority to handle such a messed up tactical situation.

"Get us to Eppley Airfield," he grunted to Max. "Hopefully the fighters will be too busy using those two morons for target practice to notice us."

David made his way over.

"Great plan, chief," he mumbled. "So if we don't get burned up on the ground, then we just take our chances and hope they don't blow us out of the sky?"

The Demon Lord's fury began to spark once again. "If you can think of something better-…"

Aaron intervened, wading forward.

"How about _this_?" he snapped, and flicked a lever on the wall adjacent to the steering wheel and other controls. A small hatch opened in the wall, revealing a crimson button which had the word 'stealth' emblazoned on it.

He pushed his palm down on it, and instantly, the entire camper went dark. Metal sheets fell across each and every window, including the windscreen and every light went out.

Max yelped and screeched to a halt.

"What the _hell_ did you just do?" he howled.

Aaron ignored him, instead busily punching a few keys into a keyboard which also seemed to be inside the hatch.

By the time he was done, the car was humming again, and a screen had slid up out of the dashboard. On it was what _seemed_ to be the road ahead, but in different color tones. It was mostly black and green.

"To answer your question, just a few adjustments here and there," said Aaron finally, in a conversational tone as he folded up the keyboard and put it back in the hatch.

"A few adjustments that you neglected to tell us about?" deadpanned David.

"Hey, this was just a couple of weeks ago. Remember when you two had gone over to the Murmansk police headquarters to help them investigate that mass check forgery affair? I had the camper to myself for a few days, and I knew a guy who'd been experimenting with electrical engines. I had him fiddle around a bit, convert this baby into a hybridized vehicle, and then just for the heck of it I added a night vision monitor. Never thought we'd ever really need it, but since we're not running on fuel and there's not a single light on the camper right now, we're practically invisible both to the naked eye as well as to thermal radars."

He had somehow managed the entire statement in a single breath.

Max whistled. "Nicely done, I must say."

Rikuo interrupted. "Just shut it with your tech talk and get us to the damn airport!"

"Yessir, _charge d'affaires_," mumbled Max sarcastically before flooring the accelerator.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The trio of duelists stood momentarily motionless and stared each other down. Lilith and Haou had Evil Hero Malicious Devil (3500/2100) and Samyaza the Proud (2100/1300), and Evil Hero Black Thunder (2900/2800) on their fields respectively, while Zerato had merely a set monster and facedown card in his spell/trap zone.

"You have forgotten something, little King," hissed Lilith finally.

The Second Horseman turned his gaze from the two Evil Heroes to the snake's animalistic yellow eyes.

"What might that be?"

"You have put a lot of resources into summoning your own Evil Hero fusion but the fact remains that Malicious Devil is not only stronger but I also have the power of Hell backing it! So do your worst, but you will not overcome me."

"A truly accomplished general knows which battles to fight and which to avoid," replied Haou stoically. He flipped one of the cards in his hand around.

"Quick-play spell, De-Fusion, activate."

Lilith let out a raspy hiss of shock as the towering demon on her field vanished into a ball of black energy. The ball split into two smaller ones, and both drifted over to Haou's field. One continued to become smaller and smaller and eventually disappeared into his graveyard slot, while the other began to expand and change color into a very tall, but thin, blade-winged fiend with a demonic mask over his face, and nearly skin-tight, dark-blue armor all over his body. Spikes were littered as designs, attached by accessory rings to the arms and kneecaps of his armor; it reached all the way to his hands, which contained deployed, knife-like claws at the ends. A dark-blue belt was around his waist, with a golden buckle on the front.

"By the effect of De-Fusion, Malicious Devil is return to the Extra Deck, and its fusion materials are summoned to their owners' fields. Raviel may not be special summoned by effects other than its own, hence only Malicious Edge (2600/1800) is called upon."

Zerato watched on, slightly impressed. He had not expected Haou to turn the tables so quickly.

"Now, battle phase. Malicious Edge targets Samyaza the Proud."

The massively clawed creature let out a snarl and tore across the field. The blonde demoness let out a squeal of terror, but before she could react, Haou's strongest non-fusion Evil Hero had already buried the entire set of claws on his right hand into her torso. She turned a pale white and coughed up some black blood. With a look of nonchalant disgust, he withdrew his hand. She looked down at the wound, which was practically a waterfall of blood, in terror. Then, she exploded into pixels.

(Haou: 3800, Lilith: 5700, Zerato: 3900)

"Now, Black Thunder initiates a direct attack against your life-points."

The green haired man turned to look at Lilith. Crimson eyes could be seen glowing through his black visor. The sphere glowing in his hand began to expand, and he then began to draw it back. Looking almost like a Major League Baseball pitcher, he then released it in Lilith's direction at a terrific velocity. Just as it seemed to reach the snake, a card next to her flipped up.

"Seventh Circle of Hell – Pit of the Killers, activate!" she snapped.

Popping up out of the small smattering of ground around her were endlessly deep holes of lava. Within them were screaming individuals who were being whipped by demons at the same time as lava cascaded over them.

Black Thunder paused in front of the holes, seemingly put off at the prospect of having to come within such close proximity of such disgusting creatures.

"What have you done?" demanded Haou.

"Rather simple, Little King," hissed Lilith. "This quick play spell may only be activated during my battle phase. Monsters on any player's field may only attack those placed on a slot directly opposite to them. And if Eternal Sin – Rage is in my graveyard, which it is, no monster may declare direct attacks."

It took Haou a split second to calm himself sufficiently to speak.

"Your cowardice is all that can be expected. If you possessed power that was even a fraction of mine, you would realize that running and hiding is not a strategy that is sufficient to be victorious in a battle."

"These preachy intonations of yours are beginning to annoy me," snarled back Lilith. "I will make you suffer greatly for your patronizing attitude. Move on!"

Haou glared at her. "Very well, my actions shall speak for themselves. Main phase two. I activate Spell Sanctuary, now each of us may add one spell card from our decks to our hands."

Zerato narrowed his eyes. "_What devilry is he trying to pull this time…_"

Nonetheless, he was compelled to slide his deck out of its slot and locate his desired spell card. Haou did the same. Lilith's massive deck shifted to a vertical position and the multitude of cards fanned themselves out around her. One of them glowed and added itself to her hand.

"My choice is immediately activated: Immortal Class. Two monsters are tributed, one level seven or higher target is special summoned from the graveyard. If that monster is a Legendary Demon, its summoning conditions are ignored. Malicious and Black Thunder are tributed, Raviel is once again special summoned from my graveyard."

Zerato swore out loud, and Lilith let out a shrill shriek of anger as the both the demons dematerialized instantly. The ones in the seats began to cower again as a black rip appeared in the air and the gargantuan form of the Phantasm Lord appeared once more. Its towering blue body cast a shadow over the entire field, obscuring the forms of Zerato's facedown cards (4000/4000).

"Two cards are set, this turn is ended."

The top card slid off Lilith's deck and hovered over to her.

"You made a fatal mistake by allowing me to search my own deck, Horseman," she hissed. "Activate, One for One. By discarding one card, I am allowed to special summon a level one monster from my deck. I send Eternal Sin – Hubris (2500/0) from my hand to my graveyard in order to summon a second copy of Original Sin (0/0)."

Appearing on her field was a simple black orb. In the background were fleeting images of all the various sins; a seductive looking woman, a man greedily shoving food down his gullet while holding a bag of money, and another soaked in blood while screaming out loud with an axe aloft in his hands.

"_This wench is playing right into my hands_," thought Haou maliciously.

"Quick-play spell, chain, Demise of the Land. When the opponent special summons a monster, I activate one field spell from my deck."

He quickly slid a card out of his deck and then tapped his Duel Disk, opening the field spell slot. He placed the card in it and then shut it.

Even as he did this, the area around them began to crumble. Zerato cursed and was just able to dodge a massive block of debris that nearly crashed right next to him. The demons in the stands were frantically trying to escape, but to no avail. They were literally being crushed alive by falling rocks, which upon crashing let lose a large wave of dust which began to obscure the fiery skies.

Haou continued to watch on stonily as their surroundings began to go from a furious shade of red to a deep, evil black.

The rocks seemed to be falling in a pattern, not flying off in different directions but one on top the other, resulting in the construction of towers in the place of the coliseum. Appearing near the top of the tall buildings were the dark silhouettes of various demonic warriors, their crimson eyes shining shiftily in the darkness.

"Dark Metropolis, activate. Hell is destroyed."

"Just you wait, Horseman, this is not going to last long," Lilith crowed in reply, interrupting her opponent.

"I tribute Original Sin in order to summon Fallen Angel – Izuael the Guard (2200/1500)."

Vanishing from the field was the small black orb, and appearing in its place was a demon a bit different from the ones Lilith had resorted to playing earlier through the duel. It was a tall, muscular humanoid figure, with crimson and black tattoos all over its body. The upper half of its torso, namely the shoulders and head, were covered in leather mail. Its head resembled that of a ram, with two horns twisting outward on either side.

"Raviel's effect allows the special summon of a Phantasm Token (1000/1000) when you perform a normal summon," intoned Haou, which Lilith basically ignored, as the miniature version of the Legendary Demon materialized.

"When tributed, Izuael allows me to add one field spell with 'Hell' in its name from my deck to my hand."

Haou cocked an eyebrow. "You will play another copy? How-…"

"No!" shrieked Lilith, as a card exploded out of her deck and spun around, giving off a different kind of darkness to the one of the Dark Metropolis.

The evil of Haou's field spell seemed to be one of thieves, villains who committed crimes for personal gain and nothing more.

This new darkness was absolutely unspeakable. It seemed to be something that even the most powerful beings possible preferred not to speak of. The temperature began to plummet, and the buildings began to freeze over.

"NINTH CIRCLE OF HELL - ICE TOMB OF THE TRAITORS!"

Zerato looked down in shock as the ground beneath him began to crack. Instead of flames erupting like with Lilith's first field spell, he could see the blood of the lake of the Succubi. It began to freeze over and turn a sinister dark color, until once could no longer see their reflection in it.

The buildings crashed down, and rubble began to pile up asymmetrically, taking the shape of cliffs hanging over the field.

The ground all around them was turning to ice. The main event, however, took place on Lilith's field. A massive crack opened in the ground in front of her, but nothing came out yet. There was a pulsating thud, however, and a sense of impending dread began to fall over the field.

Zerato's chest was seizing up.

"_Dear God, please, no_…."

Even Haou seemed a bit surprised by this turn of events. Even though he didn't visibly show any fear, he did at least look disconcerted by the circumstances.

Lilith's voice had changed into a harsh drawl.

"Mind Control, activate. Raviel, Lord of the Phantasms is taken."

Haou swore angrily as two yellow hands appeared in the darkness above Raviel, grabbing its shoulders and shoving it over to Lilith's field, where it stood next to Izuael.

"Then, Fiend's Sanctuary."

Glass-like, chrome wings spread out, bringing the rise of a long, thick bird with a human face. Its skin was reflective and silver; rather than arms, tentacle-like attachments were all around the magnificent creature. It was a Metal Fiend Token (0/0), which would leave the field unless Lilith paid a thousand life-points later on.

Zerato, however, had an uneasy feeling that it would not come to that.

"Now, gentlemen, allow me to introduce you to your maker. I tribute all three demon-type monsters."

Raviel, Izuael, and the Metal Fiend Token all vanished.

For a moment, nothing happened. It was, however, the calm before the storm.

The crack in Lilith's field began to expand. For a moment, it split wide but then collapsed on itself. Zerato felt a temporary burst of hope but then each side was shoved back all the way. The tips of two spiny horns made their way to the surface, and a resounding groan was heard echoing through the field.

The snake was almost balancing itself on the tip of its tail, moving its head from side to side in sheer excitement.

"Come, my love, come, join me soon…!"

Another massive groan was heard and suddenly the crack quadrupled in size, and a massive thing erupted out.

It took a moment for Haou and Zerato to realize that the 'thing' was just a head. Its skin was the color of ash, with a dull tint of copper. On the top of his head was a crown of sorts, seemingly made of a searing gold, with a trio of short spikes. Two massive horns, like those of an ox, curled their way out of the side of his head. Runes of an unspeakable language were inscribed over its skin.

Its eyes, however, well, were not present. In their place were merely glowing orbs of fire, which began to leak wisps in either directions once exposed to the freezing wind.

The face turned to look at Zerato and Haou, and let out a blank roar again. The gap expanded again, and the upper half of its body seemed to follow.

Its skin was reptilian in nature, black with more runes inscribed. Its muscles were very well defined. Every detail seemed visible since the creature's horns were probably grazing a point well over fifty feet off the ground. Blood leaked from a dozen wounds, and an armlet in the shape of a hissing serpent was wrapped around its right arm.

It lacked wings, but at one point it clearly had not, for two massive bumps on its back were indicative of appendages that had clearly existed at one point and probably been chopped off.

The creature shifted in the now hole, unable to bring its legs out with it.

It then settled to look at the Supreme King and angel. Both felt a growing sense of unease.

"The Beast…" mumbled Zerato.

"Dark Heaven Lord – Lucifer Morningstar (4000/4000)," echoed Lilith, almost _lovingly_.

"What _have you done_?" whispered a mortified Zerato.

"I have merely been a good wife, ensuring my dear husband has the opportunity to rise out of his prison so we can take back what is rightfully ours."

Zerato caught Haou's eye. The two held the stare for a moment, and then dropped it.

"_There is no way I can still trust him after that stunt he pulled with Raviel_…" thought the Archangel unhappily. "_I will have no choice but to deal with this insane creature myself. She is digging up things that should remain buried for an eternity, in doing so, she leaves me no choice but to do the same_."

A resounding roar shattered his soliloquy. He turned to see the red orbs that were supposed to be Lucifer's eyes glowing even brighter. His hands began to twitch, and his jaws moved as if they were not his own.

"Soon you two will be left alone at the hands of these horrors," murmured Lilith. "After this triumph, we shall be able to leave this terrible place and take our rightful places in Paradise, King and Queen of all existence!"

"Bah!" snarled Haou, speaking up for the first time. "You are utterly insane. A mere card holds not the key to-…"

"SILENCE KNAVE!" she screeched. "YOU SHALL NOT SPEAK."

Haou's own aura began to expand. Although it did not match that of Lilith and Lucifer, the truth remained that Haou was still a very powerful being and his presence could counteract that of just about any entity in existence.

"Proceed, so that I will have the opportunity to send back this false hellion from whence it came."

"You shall regret such impudence," she spat. "Lucifer's effect activates. Once per turn, I declare the name of an angel or demon type monster. If it exists in either graveyard or hand, it shall be special summoned to my field without its own effects. I call Raviel, Lord of the Phantasms (4000/4000)."

There was another ear-splitting crack, and the ground next to Lucifer split. His massive bulk turned to one side, and he reached down and pulled the struggling, heaving form of the blue Phantasm Lord out of the ice.

It was a sight to behold. Raviel itself was normally always the biggest, most powerful and most frightening monster in play whenever summoned. Right now, standing next to Lucifer, one could be excused for mistaken it as a large blue bat.

Haou said nothing.

"Now, Raviel will commence your end. The Phantasm Token is targeted; Ultimate Judgment Fist."

The blue giant took a massive step forward and aimed a low blow at its offspring. The token almost never knew what hit it, and exploded almost instantly. Haou had, however, summoned it in defense mode. Therefore he lost no life-points.

Considering, however, that he had no other monsters in play, he seemed about to.

He reacted fast. "Trap card, activate, Hero Signal. When a monster is destroyed in battle on my field, I special summon a level four or lower Elemental Hero from my deck."

Forming onto the field instantly, a warrior made of what looked like crystal that was mostly light blue with green on his chest, hips, and head. On the warrior's back was a pair of crystal wings.

"Elemental Hero Prisma (1700/1100)," observed Zerato.

"Another bug to be squashed!" fumed Lilith. "Very well. Lucifer my love, feast on his flesh!"

The Beast cocked its head up, and a deathly silence fell upon the field. Shifting again against the restraining forces on its legs, it held its hands around the front of its chest slightly apart. A sphere of black energy began to glow between them and soon expanded. With a hellish cry, Lucifer drew his right hand back and then threw the sphere at the shining warrior.

Haou's reaction time was next to zero, as he smiled faintly and flipped the one card in his hand around. It depicted an angelic woman dressed in a long flowing gown, with large wings flaring out behind her.

Zerato's breath caught. "Honest (1100/1900)? Where did you get that?"

Haou ignored him.

"Honest is discarded during the battle phase. A light attribute monster gains attack points equal to that of the monster it does battle with until the turn's end."

Suddenly, the Hero looked back up at the incoming blast, fire in his eyes (5700/1100).

"Counter."

Just as Lucifer's black sphere was about to slam into him, Prisma's aura burst outward, and reflected the blast right back toward Lucifer.

"You shall not take my love away from me…!" screeched Lilith. "I activate Lucifer's effect, tributing a monster he summoned to protect him from destruction!"

Just as the titanic Devil's blast slammed right back into him, he reached out with a flailing arm and dragged a straining, roaring Raviel in the way of it.

The impact was tremendous, and Raviel's destruction was truly a sight to behold. The massive blue demon was hovering in the air, enclosed completely by the truly evil fire, roaring in such agony that the very foundations of the garden were shaken to their core.

Finally, the flames died down, and a massive skeleton collapsed on the ground in front of Lucifer.

Regardless, Lilith was hissing with exertion, for life-point damage was still done.

(Haou: 3800, Lilith: 4000, Zerato: 3900)

"Very well, Supreme King, you are delaying your end by but a few more turns. I activate my facedown continuous trap, Deal with the Devil. When Lucifer is in play, I may remove one Eternal Sin monster from my graveyard to activate an effect."

The card behind her flipped up to reveal a tall shady looking angel whispering into a confused man's ear.

"I remove Eternal Sin – Gluttony, to draw two cards."

Haou merely grunted as Lucifer glowed. The demonic cerebrus (0/2000) that Lilith had played earlier rematerialized on her field. Before anything could happen, the Beast swept it up in one swift motion and somehow stuffed it down its own gullet.

She looked at her hand once again.

"I set both, and end this turn."

Zerato exhaled and drew. This was not a good situation to be in.

"I play Short Term Gain. By removing a Synchro monster in my graveyard from play, and paying life-points equal to its level multiplied by one hundred, I can draw two cards. I remove Felicia, Lightsworn Prophet."

He grimaced as his life points dipped, but nonetheless snapped the top two cards off his deck.

(Haou: 3800, Lilith: 4000, Zerato: 3100)

"I did not want to tread into this, but you have left me no choice, demon."

"Stop being so self-righteous and just give Lucifer a fight!" hissed back Lilith. "It's what he wants!"

"Well then, he's going to get one," murmured Zerato, sliding a card into his spell and trap zone. "I activate Monster Reborn, special summoning from my graveyard the monster I discarded earlier to Trade-In: Darklord Superbia (2900/2400)!"

Appearing on the field was a hovering, almost robotic figure. This was because its entire upper body was covered by sheets of black armor that seemed to be perfectly smooth all over. Two tiny hands, like those of a Tyrannosaurus rex, stuck out of its front, disproportionate in size to the rest of the body. A banshee like head was visible just outside a narrow enclave near the top of it, covered in a red helmet with large, extra sharp bared teeth.

Its lower half did not consist of any legs, but instead a sort of bizarre metallic skirt which looked like a wheel of spikes in every direction. Two large white wings flared out in both directions, attached to the top of its shoulders.

"When Superbia is special summoned from the graveyard, I am allowed to special summon one other angel type monster. I choose a monster that had been milled earlier by my Judgment Dragon's effect…"

He took a breath, and closed his eyes.

"_Darklord Zerato _(2800/2300)."

Superbia let out a shriek, and the ice next to her began to glow.

Appearing out of it was a gray skinned muscular warrior wearing a red loin cloth and guards on his calves and arms up to his elbows. On the creature's back were a pair of red skinned wings that formed a collar around his neck, and on his head was a red helmet with black horns coming out the sides of it. In his left hand was a powerful sword with jagged edges on the backside of the blade.

He looked a lot like the duelist who had just summoned him, but far more sinister.

Lilith let out a dark laugh.

"So… Archangel. I must say I never thought you had it in yourself."

Zerato ignored it, but the words still came, pricking holes in his otherwise impenetrable armor.

"You've delved into the darkness yourself now. So much for the upholder of all that is right, the Council's golden boy. Where is he now?"

"Your pathetic, twisted mind games will not work on me," growled Zerato. "I am merely doing what is necessary to carry out the task that the Council has given me, and nothing you say or do can convince me otherwise."

"You can keep telling yourself that, Zerato," hissed back Lilith, refraining from referring to him by his title (Archangel) for the first time. "The fact that you have brought yourself down to this level, perverting your own angelic powers into a dark manifestation, makes it all too clear. You're on the same track as us. One day you will be cast out too, just another Lucif-…"

"SILENCE DEMON!" Zerato roared, his aura expanding, his eyes glowing with rage.

Lilith began to cackle out loudly.

Zerato's breath was coming in quick, short bursts, fury evident all over his eyes.

Haou continued to watch, a somewhat interested look on his face, his mind carrying out a brief analysis.

"_This has now become a battle of dark angels. It is evident that the Archangel was reluctant to make use of the darker side of his deck. The conjecture is that he has a history regarding it, and it something that he is certainly sensitive about. For an angel to resort to outward displays of anger, it is certainly not something he would want brought back to the surface_. _I wonder if it is a story that is known only to angel-kind, for if that were not the case, Apocalypse would surely have gleaned some knowledge of it and used it against the Council_."

"I am going to bury you," snarled Zerato, picking a card out of his hand and holding it up.

"I activate Darklord Zerato's effect. At the cost of discarding one dark attribute monster from my hand, I can destroy all monsters controlled by my opponent."

He flipped it around. "I discard my final Necro Gardna (600/1300). Crimson Oblivion!"

Releasing a loud yell, the gray skinned warrior spread both red wings so they were facing the white hero on Haou's field and the towering behemoth on Lilith's. Both wings glowed with a dark red aura for a moment before suddenly thousands of needles came flying out of its wings. There were so very many of them that they simply kept coming, obscuring the vision of all three duelists and peppering the fields of Haou and Lilith.

Their vision remained obscured for some time, until finally the needles began to crumble into dust.

On Haou's field, Prisma lay dead, many needles sticking out of various parts of its body, blood leaking painfully.

Shockingly, Lucifer was unharmed. The embodiment of evil simply remained still in its place, a look of fury building on its face.

Obviously, the Beast did not appreciate being attacked.

Still, Zerato demanded at once, "What is this? Why has your heathen gone unharmed?"

"Merely another one of his abilities," hissed back Lilith. "Lucifer, being the prime of the original Angels, and now the lord of Hell, cannot be affected by the monster effects of any angel or demon types that have a level less than that of his. Since he is a level ten, you're going to have to dig very deep to find something that works."

She broke off into an insane cackle again.

Zerato frowned. She was right, he presently had access to no one single monster that fit that bill. He'd have to destroy Lucifer through other means, if that was the case.

He then turned his attention to Haou.

"_Payback time for what you did to me earlier_…"

"Superbia, attack his life-points directly!" he hissed.

The hovering, dark angel let out a shriek and then shot off across the field, seeming ready to slam right into the Horseman and then skewer him to death.

"Negate Attack," responded Haou coldly. His facedown card flipped up, and the familiar spinning vortex seemed enough of a deterrent for Superbia to return to her master's field.

"Also, I am sure that you remember the catch to Darklord Zerato's power. On the turn that you activate its effect, it is destroyed," he added smugly.

Zerato ignored him. "I move to Main Phase Two. Superbia and Zerato are tributed. I normal summon Darklord Asmodeus (3000/2500)."

The two dark angels vanished, and were replaced by an even more sinister looking one.

Asmodeus wore a white robe, but from the chest up was covered with a dark armor which had dual shades of black as well as purple. Its arms were again white until the elbow, from where a gauntlet was visible until his wrist. He had two massive purple wings flaring out behind him, and a purple monkey mask which revealed only an oddly sharp nose and two glinting black eyes. His hair was wild and black, and a scepter was visible in his right hand.

"Upon his summoning, Asmodeus allows me to send one angel type monster from my deck to my graveyard. I choose Athena (2600/800)."

Haou and Lilith both seemed barely interested as he located the necessary card in his deck and slid it into his graveyard. Lucifer growled with impatience.

"I set one card facedown and end my turn."

Haou drew.

"I play Pot of Greed."

Quickly drawing two cards, he held up another spell. "Then, Pot of Avarice. Evil Hero Jetstream Razor (2000/2000), Malicious Devil (3500/2100) , Lightning Golem (2400/1500), Black Thunder (2900/2800) and Malicious Edge (2600/1800) are all returned back to my deck. Two further cards are drawn."

"_Why would he not return Raviel… Leaving it in the graveyard gives Lucifer an easy target to summon,_" wondered Zerato.

"Dark Calling, activate. Fusion materials for an Evil Hero are banished from my graveyard. Begone, Elemental Heroes Clayman (800/2000), Sparkman (1600/1400), and Burstinatrix (1200/800). Come, Evil Hero Magma Crasher (2500/2100)."

The trio of normal E-Heroes materialized onto his field in spectral forms and then slammed into each other.

The entities combined, forming a tall, cyclone-like creature that had dark-red armored arms, and dark-blue-armored legs. Golden spikes stuck out the backs of the elbows. The head of the monster resembled that of a volcano, and had ominous, unattached, glowing golden eyes embedded near the center of it. The main body was the formation of a combination of fire, rock and visible wind, twisting together in a ring-like pattern.

"Twenty five hundred?" began Lilith mockingly, but the Supreme King cut her off again.

"Magma Crasher is unique from other Evil Heroes in that it can _only_ be special summoned by the effect of Dark Calling. By returning a banished fusion material to my graveyard, it allows me to target and destroy one monster on the field."

"You are not only reckless, so called Supreme King, but also idiotic!" cackled Lilith. "Did you not hear that Lucifer is immune to the effects of angels and demons of a lower level than him?"

"Not quite," shot back Haou, sliding another card into his spell/trap zone. "Code Change is activated. If there is one card in play with an effect which relates to a particular monster type, I may change that type to any that I desire until the end of the turn."

He slid the removed from play Burstinatrix back into his graveyard, and the tall fusion's eyes glowed even brighter, finally expelling out a huge wave of flames in the direction of the titan of darkness on Lilith's field.

"I change Lucifer's immunity from demon type monsters to _warrior_ types. The Supreme King's will shall be served."

The flames continued to wash over it for a moment and then finally dissipated. However, there was no visible damage.

Before Haou could angrily demand an explanation, Lilith replied rather smugly as a pink card flipped up in front of her.

"I activate Class System. Until the end phase, if a particular monster has a lower level than mine, it cannot target it by an effect or attacks."

Haou frowned, processing this bit of information, making a conjecture which he then stored away, discarding it, modifying his plan and moving on.

"Clayman is returned to my graveyard, Darklord Asmodeus is targeted."

The Magma Crasher flared up again and belched out an avalanche of lava and rock which spewed all over the ice and seemed to bury the dark angel on Zerato's field within seconds. The Archangel scowled in disgust as soon it was reduced to nothing but ash.

"Now, Magma Crasher declares a direct att-…"

Haou stopped short as he noticed that out of the mess of lava and ash were materializing two smaller versions of the monster he had just destroyed. Both looked identical to Darklord Asmodeus, but were about sixty percent smaller in all proportions, and neither held scepters.

"What is this?" snapped Haou.

"Quite simple," replied Zerato. "When Darklord Asmodeus is destroyed, I can special summon one Asmo Token (1800/1300) and one Deus Token (1200/1200). I've called upon the both of them in defense mode."

Haou gritted his teeth. "Sparkman is removed, the Asmo Token is targeted."

Another explosion of flames and searing rock exploded toward Zerato's field and covered one of the two tokens. Once it began to disappear, the miniature version of Asmodeus, although burned and injured, was still standing.

Contenting himself with Haou's rising level of irritation, Zerato revealed, "The Asmo Token cannot be destroyed by card effects."

Haou seemed to immediately move on; it was not in his nature to dwell on failed maneuvers, he was already planning his next one.

"De-Fusion, activate. Burstinatrix, Sparkman and Clayman are special summoned in defense mode."

Magma Crasher materialized into a large sphere of light, which further split up into another three. These took the shapes of the flaming lady in a red jumpsuit, the white armored hero, and the large rock-like beast (1200/800) (1600/1400) (800/2000).

He held up the last card in his hand.

"Hero Gift. For every normal Elemental Hero monster in play, I draw one card."

"_He is truly a masterful strategist…_" thought Zerato grimly as Haou replenished his hand. "_He knows how to plan an attack without overextending, or, if he has to, then always has a back up to re-expand his options_."

"Dark Fusion, activate. Sparkman and Clayman fuse."

Dark thunder strokes began to spread down in a tripod-like fashion, as a dark, round, bulky figure began to rise from the insidious darkness below. It threw its arms out in a V-shape, as black lightning flowed throughout its dark-gray-painted, metallic body. Part of its upper-body was exposed, its armor only reaching down to above the abdomen area, which was covered with dark-violet cloth. Red bulbs were implanted on the tops of the gray-topped, violet-bottomed gloves on its hands. Four yellow, wing-like streaks shot out from its shoulders, two on each side. The visor of the monster's helmet was light-blue, and had two yellow-painted lightning bolts coming out the top.

"Come once more, Evil Hero Lightning Golem (2400/1500)."

Lilith hissed in shock, as she realized what Haou was planning to do.

"Lightning Golem is a demon type, and thanks to Code Change, Lucifer is not immune to its effects until the end of this turn."

Thunder and lightning energies immediatley started to drain from the rest of the body, forming as a black-yellow sphere in the right palm of the monster. It reached back and tossed the energy ball in the direction of Lucifer.

The gray skinned horror widened its eyes in shock and reached out with one hand, in an attempt to block it. It was in vain though, as the sphere continued on and burned through the accursed flesh. Lucifer let out a truly horrifying cross between a wail and a scream, one which would've made the hair stand up on the back of any human being. The energy continued on until it exited the other end and slammed into the ice behind him, leaving a large gaping hole in both Lucifer's stomach as well as the ice.

The corpse of the Devil soon began to tremble, and then crashed down on the ground, black blood spewing out and its arms flailed in all directions.

For some reason, Lilith seemed relatively calm. Zerato would have expected her to flip out completely at the destruction of Lucifer.

"Lightning Golem attacks directly."

The fused Evil Hero charged up another ball of lightning which it then flung directly toward Lilith. It smashed into the snake with such force that she was thrown up in the air momentarily, writhing wildly as she was electrocuted at thousands of volts of energy.

(Haou: 3800, Lilith: 1600, Zerato: 3100)

Before Haou could continue, he then noticed that appearing on Lilith's field were four human figures. They were much smaller than the other monsters on the field, and in truth, were barely recognizable as humans. Their skin was colored almost purple due to the freezing cold, and injuries were visible all over their bodies. However, every one of them retained a sense of malice and arrogance on their faces.

"Whenever I sustain direct damage…" panted Lilith, just regaining her breath. "Ice Tomb of the Traitors allows me to summon four Treachery Tokens in defense mode. Each Token has statistics equal to one fourth the damage I took (600/600) (x4)."

Haou grimaced. "_An even greater amount of time until I can end her_…."

"Two cards are set. Turn end."

Lilith hissed, and in reply the top card off her deck slid off and joined the lone one hovering in front of her.

"Card of Sanctity is activated."

Zerato's cold concentration almost gave way to a laugh of scorn as well as relief.

"_How foolish is she… With a veritable wall of monsters ready, why would she ever decide to allow her opponents to expand their options so easily? She can't possibly already be planning to go on the offensive again_."

Nonetheless, both him as well as Haou gladly filled their hands.

Lilith spoke in a strained voice. "You may consider me foolish, Archangel, but you'll have an eternity to rethink that when I end this duel. I activate Monster Reincarnation, discarding one monster from my graveyard to my hand."

Zerato's breath caught. "_No…!_"

Lilith broke into her insane bout of cackles once more.

"I tribute three Treachery Tokens; so rise up once again, Dark Heaven Lord – Lucifer Morningstar (4000/4000)!"

Three of the wretched men began to panic, looking around frantically. However, they were not fast enough. The hulking, giant massive form of Lucifer began to stir. It seemed as if black magic was slowly healing the wound in its chest. Suddenly, its head cocked up, those terrible flaming eyes blazing for all those to see. It snatched the damned souls up and opened its mouth.

Zerato couldn't stop himself from looking away as an audible scream followed by a _crunch_ echoed through the field.

"Now, I shall bring back an old friend!" sang Lilith's voice, a terrible symphony above the roars, screeching wind and other sounds of battle. "By Lucifer's will, Raviel, Lord of the Phantasms (4000/4000) shall rise up again!"

Haou's graveyard glowed, and once again, Lucifer stuck a massive hand into the ground and bodily ripped the roaring and trashing Phantasm Lord from the ground.

"_Back where we started_," groaned Zerato to himself.

"That's not all," continued Lilith. "I play Lullaby of Obedience. At the cost of one thousand life-points, I may declare the name of a level eight or higher monster. If it exists in either of your decks, you must add it to your hand."

(Haou: 3800, Lilith: 600, Zerato: 3100)

"_What could be worth those life-points at this stage_…"

"I call Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder."

A dark look crossed Haou's face. Nonetheless, he was forced to retrieve the requisite card and add it to his hand.

"What are you planning, wench-…"

"You will know that all too soon, little King," she hissed back in glee. "The effect of Ninth Circle of Hell – Ice Tomb of the Traitors allows me to tribute a Treachery Token in order to utilize Lucifer's effect once more during this turn. So, join your rightful brothers-in-arms, Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder (4000/4000)!"

Even as a despairing Zerato called out, "No…!", another blazing thunderstorm formed overhead, raining down violently on the other side of Lucifer, with the blade-like gold claws of the monster lowering alongside the sharp, white clawed feet, golden tail and golden legs. Draping its wide, dark-brown, bat-like wings over the sides of its body, colored similarly as the legs, it moved its claws from the skeleton-like center body and revealed the open ribs that connected to the plated and thin arms. It had a type of open helmet on its head, worn in a V-shape, with two blue orbs embedded at the top sides. The body's back was protected with long, sharp spikes, with two extra extensions above the shoulders, leading to two pointed, white nails. The monster commanded for its thunder, as it flowed into its body.

The Archangel wrapped his hand into a fist, despair and frustration coming onto his features. "_Three monsters with four thousand attack points_…!"

"Now do you understand the true power of Hell?" shrieked Lilith over the roars of Lucifer, Hamon and Raviel.

Haou meanwhile, had a look of great anger creeping into his features. For the first time he looked out of his depth.

"Fall first, Archangel! Hamon, attack the Asmo Token!"

Lifting its head and roaring loudly, the dull yellow creature opened its jaws, releasing a powerful stream of yellow lightning straight for the miniature Darklord on Zerato's field. The moment the attack hit, the weaker creature let out a mournful wail of agony and then vanished into nothingness.

"Raviel, destroy the Deus Token," she hissed on.

The blue phantom emperor took a couple of gigantic steps forward and threw a massive bunch, one which completely obscured Zerato's only remaining monster. The fist remained pressed against the ground for a few moments, but even as it arose, the Deus Token still remained alive, somehow, injured but intact.

"My Deus Token cannot be destroyed by battle," muttered Zerato, though at this stage he knew it was a small victory.

Lilith scoffed. "Hide behind your pathetic excuses for demons all you want, Archangel. Until then I'll treat the Supreme King to some true pain. Lucifer, KILL HIS LIGHTNING GOLEM!"

The Devil let out a dark laugh, and a black sphere began to form in its right hand. With a shrug, it tossed the energy ball toward Haou's fused Evil Hero. The Supreme King swore, but it was lost in the general explosion as the darkness impacted the creature of rock, sending shrapnel in all directions, scratching the surface of the ice they stood on.

(Haou: 2200, Lilith: 600, Zerato: 3100)

"This duel is going to end very fast," hissed Lilith. "I suggest you both make prayers to whatever Gods you believe in, because soon you will no longer have any faith left."

Zerato's knuckles were white, sweat pouring down his brow.

"I set one card facedown and end. Take your final moves."

Zerato drew and he grimaced.

The card he had just drawn would probably help destroy one of Lilith's titans, but in doing so he would be sacrificing an opportunity to make a decent defensive play and bide some time.

On the other hand, he could take a risk and maybe hope that Haou would have enough options in his hand to turn the duel further.

He mentally berated himself at once. "_Don't trust him for a second…. He's a Horseman_."

Still, even if he played defense, he could only see himself holding out so long. Especially against such an un-Godly powerful trinity of hellish monsters.

He felt like smacking himself.

Finally, he decided.

"I tribute my Deus Token in order to special summon Darklord Desire (3000/2500)."

A sinister angel appeared on Zerato's field. It was clad in black armor with gold filigree inset along its arms and legs. Each of its arms were like the massive pincers of a scorpion, and two blood red wings flared out behind it.

"Once per turn, I can reduce Desire's attack points by one thousand, and destroy a monster in exchange."

He pointed at Lucifer. "And since Desire is a level ten, your heathen's immunities will not protect it!"

Lilith's eyes flared as crimson energy began to build up in Desire's claws.

"I will not allow you to take my husband from me again! Magical Trick Mirror, activate!"

The infamous trap card flipped up in front of Lilith.

Zerato and Haou were both taken aback.

"_Which of our spells could she possibly want to copy…_?"

"_**I choose Super Fusion**_."

Both Haou and Zerato stopped right there. Haou in particular was a little too shocked to say anything, unsure if he heard right.

"Super… Fusion…?"

"Yes, Supreme King," hissed Lilith, almost sweetly. "Is it not the infamous quick-play spell that allows me to fuse any monsters on the field by merely discarding a card from my hand?"

A swirling storm of black and yellow energy materialized behind Raviel and Hamon, slowly drawing in the world around it like a vacuum, distorting the nebula's clouds and stars. Lightning surged at the center of the rotating core, flattening the Phantasm and Thunder Lords' bodies as they neared.

The frightening vortex then moved onto claiming the one remaining monster on Lilith's field, but unlike the others Lucifer had a higher resistance; the Beast angled its hands at the storm, pitting its own might against the lightning. But even with its physical prowess, Lucifer could not hope to fend off the raging winds.

"Impossible…" murmured Zerato, rubbing his temples, bowing his head. _"How has it come to this_?"

"Now, regain your former glory, and take back what is rightfully yours!" shrieked Lilith.

From within the storm, a new figure was materializing. Marble steps were materializing at the mouth of the vortex, and the figure was stepping down them.

Slowly, very slowly, it came into view.

The fusion was absolutely nothing like its materials. It was a tall, almost regal looking man, with long white hair flowing down the sides of its head down to its shoulders. It was clad in heavy white-gold armor on the upper part of its body, and had a long red robe flowing down below its waist. A long red scarf hung around its neck.

Most impressive, however, were not one, not two, but the _three_ pairs of wings which flared out behind its back. Each one was more majestic than that of the finest bird of prey one would ever see. They seemed to be radiating a ridiculously bright light, one which seemed to be melting the ice around it and increasing the temperature to a bearable level. Everything about the creature was so… _holy_.

Zerato knew better, however.

He knew far, far better.

"Archangel Lucifer (0/4000) returns to the world of the living," whispered Lilith. It seemed as if she was ready to burst into tears.

Zerato's head was ready to explode. Seeing the Devil himself in his element of darkness was bad enough. But, being confronted by the one who split the angels apart, was responsible for the deaths of so many of them, turned a group of others to the darkness, Zerato's own brother-… His train of thought snapped then.

"You… You _slime_…" he uttered.

Lucifer gave him a condescending look of utter superiority.

Somehow, Lilith found her voice again.

"When summoned, Archangel Lucifer allows me to special summon two demon or angel type monsters from either graveyard. I choose Raviel, Lord of the Phantasms, and Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder (4000/4000) (x2)."

Two towers of flames simply shot out of the sky, on either side of Lucifer. After a minute or so, they began to dissipate.

The first creature to arise was a large dull yellow creature with massive thin skinned wings, thin arms with large clawed tips on it's hands, red glowing eyes, two large horns and a chin like horn on it's head, a long powerful tail, and sharp claws and fangs. The creature roared loudly, sending out several shockwaves.

Rising up from the ground was a thick purple fog, which seemed to be forming a cloud. Through the cloud came two massive blue wings with thin see-through skin, large blue horns at the top, and powerful sharp talon like claws attached to purple hands came out of the darkness. Slowly, the cloud diminished, and the rest of the creature came into view.

"_That can't be it. If Archangel Lucifer is actually a more powerful version of the original Lucifer card she used, then it can't just allow her to keep special summoning more monsters, it surely-_…"

"Archangel Lucifer gains the combined attack points of every monster on my field," continued Lilith, almost as if she read Zerato's mind.

Haou remained silent through all this, even as the robed man raised up his hands, energy flowing toward him from the two roaring demons (8000/4000).

"That is not all. Recall, my continuous trap card, Deal with the Devil. During my opponent's turn, I may send it to the graveyard and banish all Eternal Sin monsters that are already there in order to use Lucifer's effect during my opponent's turn!"

A malicious smile spread across her prized monster's face.

"Come to me, Athena (2600/800)."

Zerato's graveyard glowed, and appearing as a veritable dwarf in comparison to the other monsters on Lilith's field was a woman dressed in a flowing white robe. She had a silver crown-like helmet fixed on her head, and flowing silver bangs of hair. She had a pearl white shield on her left arm, and held a long sword in the other.

Meanwhile, the Archangel Lucifer (10600/4000) was almost trembling with power.

"It's over nine thousand!" observed Haou to himself.

"Now do you see our true might? Do you see the reason we were cast out of Heaven? It was because my husband's power was _feared_!" crowed Lilith.

Zerato's head was bowed, his hair covering his eyes.

Haou looked at him suspiciously. "_Has this fool given up?_"

Zerato finally looked up, and for the first time since Lilith had played her first Lucifer card, that natural angel's calmness returned to his face.

An easy smile was almost present.

"Pride cometh before a fall."

Lilith cackled. "The fool has lost his mind; he is mad with fear!"

Zerato shook his head. "This was the lesson humanity was to learn from Lucifer's expulsion from Heaven. Pride is the worst sin that one can commit, and one will always pay for it. Really, one would think his own _wife_ would learn from that."

"Stop with your nonsensical prattling!" snapped Lilith.

Zerato shrugged. "Very well, I'll show you. By choosing to resummon Athena from my graveyard, you've won me the duel."

"I will believe such drivel when I see solid proof!"

"If you insist," retorted Zerato. "Just know that your own showboating cost you this duel."

He flipped one of the cards in his hand around. "I activate Double Spell. By discarding one card from my hand, I can target one spell card in my opponent's graveyard, and use it as my own. I choose Monster Reincarnation, which I activate immediately."

He discarded another card from his hand and pulled a card out of his graveyard. He flashed it to Lilith.

"Now, behold, the pride of the Lightsworns: Judgment Dragon (3000/2600)!"

Appearing on Zerato's field was the towering wyvern. Completely covered in feathery scales up to its chest, which stuck out like spikes, it had a fringe of long feathers, like those of a peacock, extended down from the top of its neck. Its eyes were a deep crimson, while massive, eagle-like wings spread out from its back. Despite its reptilian origins, its limbs did not have scales, and looked like that of an elephant, while marked with three, large, red claws.

"A valiant effort," cackled Lilith. "However, Archangel Lucifer not only retains the abilities of his previous version but also builds upon them. He cannot be affected by the effects of any light attribute, dark attribute, demon, angel or zombie type monster of a level that is lower than is."

As if to accentuate her point, Lucifer shook his head in that same, infuriatingly condescending manner.

"Perhaps if you spent less time ranting and more time allowing me to continue, you'd see what I had in store for you," retorted Zerato, holding up another card.

"A quick-play spell card, Instant Replay. At the cost of a thousand life-points, the effect of Instant Replay becomes that of any one normal spell I used during this turn. I choose Double Spell, meaning I can discard one card to take another one of either of your spells."

(Haou: 2200, Lilith: 600, Zerato: 2100)

He smirked scornfully at Lilith.

"I think I'll take a page out of your book."

For a moment, the she-demon could not comprehend what Zerato was implying. When it hit her, she nearly had a seizure.

"_No.._!"

"_Yes_. I will take Super Fusion from your graveyard, Supreme King."

This drew no reaction from Haou, but Lilith's eyes had widened in absolute fear.

"I discard one card to fuse Judgment Dragon, Darklord Desire, and my Athena which you stole!"

The entire area was beginning to shake as he spoke. The feathered dragon began to glow, and let out a tremendous roar as storm clouds gathered above it. The white goddess on Lilith's field allowed herself a smile of relief before she dematerialized into a sphere of energy, which then floated upward until it vanished into the cloud. Desire did the same, and soon only the Judgment Dragon was left, continuing to roar as its body began to twist and shake violently.

A huge spotlight fell upon it from the opening in the clouds, completely obscuring it from the view of all three duelists.

Loud, distant trumpets were heard.

Lucifer looked very shocked. He turned around and looked accusingly at the snake, as if to say, "Do something!"

There was nothing that could be done, however. The trumpets grew louder and louder, and the winds picked up all over the field. The huge column of light on Zerato's field began to thin, especially tapering down toward the middle. It was taking a humanoid shape.

As the light cleared, one could further make out the image of Zerato's newest creature.

It was a man, on the face of it, but no one who had ever stepped foot on Earth could mistake this being for a regular human. Unlike Lucifer, who seemed highly laid-back and comfortable, the image of a string-puller instead of a fighter, Zerato's fusion seemed like the ultimate hero. His body was very toned and well-built, muscles rippling everywhere. He wore a bronze chain-mail piece of torso armor, which left his arms bare. Also like Lucifer, he had a robe flowing from the waist down, this time a light gray in color.

A black belt held it in place, hanging from which was a crimson scabbard. The being had spiky blonde hair that blew backward wildly in the wind, and three sets of wings which had him hovering a few feet off the ground. While Lucifer's wings looked like something you would see on a well-kept pet bird that never ventured out of its cage, the new angel's were wild and huge. Its eyes were a fiery blue, looking at Lucifer with unspeakable hatred.

"No…" mumbled Lilith, almost slithering backward in horror.

"It's time for you and your husband to meet the being that sent him out of Heaven," whispered Zerato.

A flaming sword materialized out of thin air in the fusion's right hand. The handle was long and made of a bright gold, while the blade itself had no metal: it was just tongues of flames that had taken the shape of a sword.

"Archangel Michael, Lord of Reckoning (0/0)."

Lucifer (8000/4000) was beginning to tremble with rage as he gazed upon Michael.

Of all the shocks of this long and convoluted battle, the biggest came as the would-be Devil spoke. "_Hello, brother_."

The most powerful Archangel met his stare.

"_You are no brother of mine_."

Lucifer's fists clenched and he began to tremble. "_You cast me out of Heaven. You tore my wings off. I have waited eons for this opportunity_."

"_I merely did my duty_," replied Michael coldly. "_You stood against our Father, you turned so many of my brothers and sisters against themselves. I have no regrets over what I did, and will do so a thousand times over if I was so commanded_."

He looked expectantly at Zerato, who nodded.

"When he's summoned, Michael will destroy all dark attribute, demon type and zombie type monsters in play! Since Michael is a level twelve monster, Lucifer will not be protected this time!"

Michael swung his sword upward, and let out a cry of rage. From the storm clouds above, a bolt of lightning struck it. Somehow, Michael coaxed even more energy into the blade, which resulted in the lightning being reflected outward in all directions. Haou's field was spared, as he had no other monster but Burstinatrix.

However, three bolts formed and lanced directly toward Raviel, Hamon and Lucifer.

"I activate Lucifer's effect!" panicked Lilith. "Raviel is tributed to protect him!"

The blue giant let out a roar, knowing his fate was sealed. Nonetheless, he vanished into a sphere of blue energy which then spread itself over Lucifer into a large force field. The lightning bounced off and caused an explosion somewhere else on the ground. Nonetheless, Hamon was electrocuted instantaneously, letting out a shrill screech before it exploded into millions of pixels. (Lucifer: 0/4000)

Zerato shook his head. "Then, I am allowed to special summon as many angel type monsters from my graveyard as those demons or dark attributes that were destroyed. Come forth, Darklord Superbia (2900/2400)!"

The mechanical looking hovering fallen angel appeared next to Zerato's field, its darkness in sharp contrast to Michael's holy appearance.

"Since Superbia was special summoned from the graveyard, I can special summon another angel from there as well. I choose Athena (2600/800)!"

The shining goddess, wielding her customary shield and sword appeared as well; Zerato's army of angel growing by the second.

"I activate Athena's ability. By sending one angel type monster from my field to the graveyard, I can special summon one from my graveyard! So I'll send Superbia, but resummon it straight away. This allows me to make us of its effect again, meaning Darklord Zerato (2800/2300) will be joining us!"

Superbia vanished, but then Athena glowed, and it appeared again. Next to it was the gray skinned warrior, his jagged blade raised above his head and a cool, determined look on his features.

"Since Athena deals you six hundred points of damage every time an angel type monster is special summoned, you're finished!" cried the Archangel.

The white robed woman raised her shield, which caught some of the blinding light and reflected it straight in Lilith's direction.

"Not so fast," hissed the demon. "I discard Harlot of Hell – Succubus (1500/1700), which reduces any effect damage done to me down to zero but instead deals it to my opponent, or, in this case, my opponents!"

Suddenly, the light from Athena's shield seemed to be bend, and somehow was redirected to slam into both Haou as well as Zerato.

(Haou: 1000, Lilith: 600, Zerato: 900)

The Archangel shrugged it off. "That's no matter. This duel is finished anyway. I discard Darklord Edeh Arae (2300/2000) from my hand to use Zerato's effect. All monsters other than mine are destroyed! Crimson Oblivion!"

The dark angel raised its blade, and red energy was expelled outward.

"You fool, Lucifer is a level ten, immune to your pathetic imitation's cheap parlor tricks!" screeched Lilith in a strangled voice.

It was true, the energy bounced of Lucifer, and instead all convalesced around Burstinatrix, strangling her before she exploded.

"I knew that," retorted Zerato. "I just needed a clear field. Now, it's time to end this! Athena, attack Lucifer and END THIS!"

The angelic woman seemed all too glad. She let out a cry of righteous anger, and her sword began to glow. She then charged across the field, watched emotionally by the other monsters and duelists.

Lucifer took a step back in trepidation, looking desperately at Lilith.

"You're finished, Archangel!" shrieked Lilith. "Once per duel, I can discard my hand to use Lucifer's effect during either duelist's battle phase! So I send all these worthless cards to the graveyard to special summon Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder (4000/400) in defense mode!"

That infuriating grin of arrogance came back to Lucifer's face as the clouds began to part above him again, and the by now familiar golden form began to start pushing its way through.

"When in defense mode, all attacks on my field are redirected toward Hamon! The difference between its defense points and Athena's attack points is sixteen hundred, and since you have only nine hundred life-points left, this duel is finished!"

Haou stopped short in absolute shock. The moment Zerato had played Super Fusion, the thought that Lilith could still win had not even entered his mind.

Lilith's wild cackles were cut short by a loud explosion. She turned around in surprise to see that Michael was standing coolly in the middle of Zerato's field with his sword extended in the direction of the gap in the clouds, flames issuing forth toward it. The fire continued to spew forth, drawing shrieks of pain from the as-of-yet not having arrived Hamon. For a moment, this exchange of power continued, until it had completely stopped and the gap closed.

The demon looked at Zerato, unable to find words.

"Archangel Michael allows me to negate the summon of a dark attribute or demon type monster at any point during the duel."

Lilith looked away. "That means…"

Zerato nodded. "Lucifer is destroyed. The duel is over."

Everyone turned their attention back to Athena and Lucifer. The goddess swung her sword once, a strong, determined blow. It caught him on the stomach. She encountered some resistance, but continued to follow through with the swing, pressing harder until her sword came free on the other end.

Lucifer looked down at his waist, which was slowly coming away from his legs.

He looked back at Michael, a pleading look on his eyes. He got no reply.

Then, he vanished. His body simply evaporated into thousands of tiny pearls of light, which disappeared into the sky.

(Haou: 1000, Lilith: 0, Zerato: 900)

Lilith remained where she was for a minute. Then, slowly, very slowly, she looked up.

"This… This cannot be."

She did not get time to utter another word.

The light in the area was beginning to disappear. First, their surroundings were beginning to revert back to the icy underworld lake. It didn't stop there; they were soon back in the coliseum of Hell, although this time it was empty, as no demons were present in the stands. Finally, everything disappeared completely, and they were now where they started: that same lowly island in the middle of the blood lake in the Garden of Eden. Only this time, there was no blood in the lake.

They were literally standing on a raised platform of ground, with tens of Succubi corpses spread over the lake bed around them.

Lilith looked around one more time, and seemed ready to speak again. However, the atmosphere was growing darker again. The darkness was seemingly concentrated around the snake, and kept on contracting toward her.

Without warning, it seemed as if she was engulfed in a massive, pure black sphere. A distant shriek of horror was heard before the darkness within seemed to crush her, and the ball disappeared.

Silence reigned momentarily.

The quiet was broken by a single phrase.

"You're wrong."

It was Haou. Zerato turned to look at him.

"Excuse me?"

"It is not over."

Zerato let out a sigh of frustration.

"Just leave, Supreme King. More than enough blood has been spilt today."

Haou's expression remained stony.

"Finish your turn, or I will take mine immediately."

The Archangel rubbed his temples in pain.

"Very well, you're signing your own warrant. Darklord Zerato, attack his life-points directly."

His dark counterpart nodded to him, and raised its sword. With a low grunt, it set off across the field toward Haou, drawing its blade back.

"Raigeki Break. Uria, Lord of Searing Flames is discarded, a monster is destroyed. I choose Archangel Michael, Lord of Reckoning."

Zerato's eyes suddenly shot wide open as the powerful angel on his field suddenly dropped his sword and began shaking violently. Crimson energy shocked his body, and he let out a slow groan of pain before he finally exploded. It didn't end there: the energy continued to spread, one by one bringing Zerato's army of angels to their knees and causing them to explode one by one.

"I thought as much. When your Archangel Michael is destroyed, it takes all monsters on your field with it."

Zerato said nothing. He looked too shocked to respond.

"If that is all, then-…"

"No," managed the Archangel. "I set one card. End."

Haou shrugged. "Nonetheless, your fate is sealed, Archangel. I activate Fake Hero. One Elemental Hero is special summoned from my hand; it cannot attack. Come, Elemental Hero Avian (1000/100)."

The familiar green feathered man materialized in front the Supreme King.

"It is tributed. Come, Dark Summons God (0/0)."

Materializing onto the field was a strange looking creature that had large red wings with grey in them, a red kilt wrapped around it's waist that stretched to the ground, a mostly dull black looking skin, long arms, a strange head with a pair of horns that stretched up and down, and a pair of thick shoulder pads.

Zerato raised his head up in minor curiosity.

"Dark Summons God is tributed. Raviel, Lord of the Phantasms (4000/4000), Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder (4000/4000) and Uria, Lord of Searing Flames (0/0) are special summoned from my graveyard, ignoring summoning conditions. However, they cannot attack."

Slowly, the dull black creature disintegrated, but immediately upon his disappearance, the ground began shaking, the sky darkened with lightning flashing brilliantly, and a tower of flames came shooting out of the ground.

The first creature to arise was the large dull yellow creature with massive thin skinned wings, thin arms with large clawed tips on its hands, red glowing eyes, two large horns and a chin like horn on its head, a long powerful tail, and sharp claws and fangs. Next to it was the towering blue creature, with its long claws and sinister black eyes, that had already appeared in the duel so many times.

The final creature soon began to appear from within the tower of flames. Out of the flames came a set of large red wings that had thin skin covering them that appeared to be attached to arms. Slowly, a red snake like body with a grey underbelly appeared from the flames that had many scales. The head of the monster had many spikes, and it had a massive set of sharp teeth. It let out a loud roar, making the ground shake from the power of it.

Zerato simply looked on, not saying a word.

"As they cannot attack, I shall resort to another method. Spell card, activate. Death by Dimensional Fusion. Uria, Hamon and Raviel are removed from play."

All three large creatures on Haou's field instantly vanished from the field while lightning began to stir within the sky, striking the field in front of him. Towers of flames instantly began rising around the lightning strikes, while a thick purple fog formed as well.

Slowly, rising from the fog with lightning striking it was a set of yellow nearly see through wings like the large dull yellow creature had had, a set of blue and yellow horns, large red shoulder pads with spikes sticking out, an arm that had the red dragon like creature on it, the other arm corresponding to the large blue and purple creatures, and the rest of the body appeared to be a blend of the three creatures combined into one. Once fully upon the field, the new creature let out a horrendous roar, shaking the entire island.

"Come, Armitael the Chaos Phantom (0/0)."

Zerato continued to say nothing.

"During my main phase one, Armitael gains ten thousand attack points."

The horrendous creature let out a loud roar as it glowed with dark energy (10000/0).

"Direct attack, Henseiha…!"

A lavender and black orb began to form at the base of the being. With an Earth-shattering cry, it let lose the energy, which headed directly for Zerato.

"Trap card, activate. Magic Cylinder."

A pair of hovering cylinders materialized in front of him. "The requisite damage is done to you."

The orb was sucked into one cylinder, and then disappeared. Armitael roared in trepidation as the other cylinder began to glow brightly, seeming ready to fire the orb right back at it.

Haou closed his eyes for a moment, and then opened them again.

"I have won this duel because I believe in neither Heaven nor Hell. The only thing that is absolute in this existence is my power."

Zerato said nothing.

Haou tapped a button on his Duel Disk, and a trap card flipped up.

Trap Jammer.

Zerato nodded, closed his eyes, and spread his arms out as the energy broke out of the cylinder and washed over him.

(Haou: 1000, Lilith: 0, Zerato: 0)

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Phewwwwwwwwww.**

**I have nothing else to say.**

**I'll try and update as soon as possible, Craig's kickass duel outline helped me get back into it.**

**Till then, don't stop reviewing!**


	49. The Hunted

CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN: The Hunted

**Ah, summer, at long last!**

**Hopefully this will result in more regular updates XD I've come to the decision that I want to finish this story by the end of 2012. I have no guarantee that I'll be able to spend the requisite amount of time during college on these chapters, and I certainly don't want to let the story go on hiatus again. I'm not sure how many chapters are left, but I'll update as fast as possible. Reviews always help, obviously XD**

**By the way, the story has now surpassed 1000 pages on Word! This is a monumental occasion, and I could never have envisioned it when I began the fic. Seriously, 1000 pages? It wouldn't have been anywhere near possible without my loyal friends and reviewers, most notably Mei1105 (Tash), Metal Overlord 2.0 (Max), and Master of the Library (Craig). Thank you, everyone, very much.**

**GearfriedTheSynchro: Thanks for the review, man. I used to duel, barely do so anymore for lack of time. Also, I really detest the new ban list (killed my plants stone dead), so if ever, I use traditional.**

**Clevercookies: Thanks a lot, appreciate the praise man. Credit for the duel goes to Master of the Library. He drew up the blueprint, I just constructed it.**

**Reaver72: So I am not alone in my world of anime nerdism XD Over 9000 is a classic, can never use it too much.**

**Sanokal: Yeah, Lilith was getting on my nerves too. I think I made her a little too much like how you would imagine the Devil's wife to be.**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: Ah, I missed these XD. Hit me up on MSN or Facebook soon man, we should talk.**

Zeruge rubbed his eyes and groaned.

"No, no, no… No, Mr. Ishtar. My orders were to escort to where the garrison at Florida and the garrison _only_."

He just received a blank stare from the youngest Ishtar at these words.

"Mr. Mitsunashi… I do not know the story of your life, but, please, humor this question. If you made one of the biggest mistakes in human history, only to somehow chance upon an opportunity to atone for it, wouldn't you take it, whatever the cost?"

Joey did not enter the conversation. He was no fan of Marik Ishtar at all, and knew that he would be sorely tempted to say something stupid.

Zeruge sighed. He had an obvious answer, but did not want to say it.

"Give me this chance," pressed Marik. "It is the decent thing to do. If you do not want to come, take Ishizu and Odion to Florida, I shall proceed alo-…"

"Stop with such foolish talk," advised Zeruge shortly. "You and I both know that is not an option."

"Then do the right thing, and come with me," pressed Marik.

Silence reigned for a minute. Finally, the demon broke it.

"How do you plan to even get there? Cairo is nine thousand kilometers away. That is an eleven hour journey by plane. I'm not too optimistic that Mr. Wheeler's driving skills would be sufficient to pilot an aircraft capable of travelling that distance, and finding a pilot and even a _plane_ is not going to be easy-…"

Ishizu cut him off cautiously. "There is another way."

All eyes turned to her.

"Elaborate."

She seemed nervous, unwilling to continue.

"Please, sister," uttered Marik softly. "You have done a lot for me over the last twenty-two years, but helping me accomplish this would be the biggest good deed you have ever performed."

She remained silent for another minute.

Finally, she murmured, "Legend has it that there is a network of pathways that exist beyond this plane of existence that allow Tombkeepers to traverse across the world in a fraction of the time."

Marik looked confused.

"What do you mean, sister?"

"I'm not too sure of it myself. It is just a myth, a story that I read about in some very obscure texts. Apparently if a Pharaoh died while he was away in a foreign country, he needed to be embalmed and mummified as soon as possible according to the Egyptian religion. So the patriarch of the Tombkeeper family at the time requested the use of the Millennium Items to create access to another dimension, one which exists on the fringes of ours. The Items were used to generate small rips between the dimensions in a number of places across the world, which could be accessed to enter and leave the alternate dimension and therefore travel across the world very quickly."

"If this actually existed then why would the Pharaohs not use it themselves?" questioned Zeruge.

"The texts say that the Tombkeeper at the time was wary of the potential of such power. He did not reveal it to the Pharaohs, as he felt that unlimited reach across the world would lead to potentially limitless influence for the rulers, who were already quite mad with power. In any case, I'm not even sure this all really exists, it's all just part of a scripture."

"How can you find out?" pressed Marik.

"Well, if I was able to look at a map of the world today, and I had access to some instruments, I might be able to pin-point the co-ordinates of where the portals were _supposed_ to be. If there is one on the Eastern seaboard I suppose we could go there and have a look."

Zeruge groaned inwardly. So another few hours to be invested in figuring out where to go, and then possibly another day getting there, all in what might end being just a wild-goose chase. If it wasn't, they got to travel to the world's most unstable continent with one of his charges ending up in some kind of life-risking ordeal in a hope to redeem himself in his own mind.

"All right, I suppose we could try and find a portal at the very least."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Haou looked on for another moment. For some reason, he received no pleasure from this magnificent victory. Even the sight of the cloud of smoke enveloping Zerato's field while Armitael began to dematerialize did not give him any gratification in the least. It was odd, considering he had played the role of a decoy to perfection throughout the duel, allowing Lilith and Zerato to hound each other before a victor emerged, whom he promptly took down. Even this sumptuous strategic victory did nothing for him.

These abstract thoughts were dismissed by his mind as the smoke began to clear.

To Haou's eternal surprise, there was a figure in it that was _still standing_.

He waited for another moment, as it was slowly revealed that the Archangel Zerato was teetering in the middle of the smoke cloud, gasping for breath. His armor was basically gone, and his body was covered with wounds. Yet, he was still alive.

"The Garden…" he gasped, "is based on a very different magic, one that has existed since the dawn of Time. Penalty Games cannot be enforced here."

Haou shrugged nonchalantly. "If the Shadow Game did not kill you, I am quite sure that I can…"

A black sphere began to form in his hand, and he took a threatening step toward Zerato.

Almost immediately, the ground beneath the Archangel began to give way.

"_If you want to kill me, your first order of business will be to catch me,"_ thought Zerato.

That was a fair point. He was, after all, an angel, mused Haou. He knew the secrets of the Garden reasonably well, or he would not have made it this far.

Before he could get caught in a mental debate about the merits of chasing the angel all over the place to finish him, he suddenly noticed _that_ Tree again.

A short, bark-like laugh escaped his lips. In the midst of all the raging battles, what he had come for had completely slipped his mind.

Before Zerato could react, the King took a few short strides and made his way over to the Tree of Knowledge.

It was barely recognizable. Its leaves were wilting. Not one of them retained the color that had made them glimmer so. The branches were bending downwards, and apples were rotting and falling out slowly. The tree was dying.

Not a surprise, considering its gardener was long gone.

The two continued to watch on momentarily as the tree literally fell apart before their eyes. It was disarming to watch. After about five minutes, only one lonely branch remained, with one apple hanging off the tip.

If one looked closer, it was certainly not an apple.

Haou allowed a triumphant, scornful smile to grace his dark features as he reached up to pluck the third Seal of Immortality off what _had_ been the Tree of Knowledge.

It looked pretty much like the other two. It was just a tennis-ball sized glass sphere, with a black background inside and wisps of flames. The Necropolis Seal had blue flames, and Mandarin's had crimson ones. This Seal instead had red wisps inside of it.

Zerato froze.

The Seal of Immortality against pure energy. It was sitting _right_ in the hand of a Horseman of Apocalypse and there was nothing, _nothing_ he could do about it, even in the best of circumstances he was a mite compared to Haou in terms of magical combat, right now he had might as well have not existed.

"You lose," hissed Haou, and then the Seal glowed a bright red. With that, he vanished into thin air.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rikuo didn't like flying. He especially didn't like flying when a certified lunatic (in his opinion), like Max, was at the controls.

Thankfully, the MADness agent was nowhere near as reckless a pilot as he was a driver. He seemed to be content to leave the 'big tub', as he called it, on autopilot, and hum through various video game sound tracks playing on his iPod.

The two Demon Lords, Bakura, Sarah, Aaron and David were seated in the main cabin, some on two of the sofas and others on cushy wooden chairs.

No one spoke, because there was nothing to be said.

Rikuo decided to break it.

"Well, I think we need to figure out what the hell is going on," he grunted.

He got no reply. Only Bakura and Deondre seemed to be paying attention.

"So we try and get a Seal of Immortality. One of our agents flips out on us, runs away, and when we find him he kills the guy who's been guiding us all along."

Sarah twitched involuntarily, and Bakura gave the Wolf General a harsh look, which was largely ignored.

"So, I ask myself, there has got to be something going on here that none of us know about. Question is, what?"

He then turned to Aaron and David. "I want some answers."

Aaron largely seemed to speak for MADness. He held up his hands defensively.

"Look, Mr. Amero. We're merely private detectives. We had never even _met_ Mr. Nakamura prior to last night. Avalon used us as freelancers for any business he needed done. Had we known this thing was so messed up…"

He grimly shook his head.

The plane lapsed back into silence, except for Max's enthusiastic humming from the cockpit.

Sarah broke it.

"I think… I think there's something we all need to see."

All eyes turned to her. It was the first time she had uttered a single word since Eizan's death.

"Before he…" she stopped, almost struggling to complete the sentence. "Before he… _died_, Chairman Nakamura gave me a DVD to watch. When I asked him what is was, and when I should look at it, he told me I'd know when the time was right."

She fished inside the satchel which was hanging off her left shoulder. Her hand brushed against the Seal of Immortality, which was wrapped in a leather cover inside, causing her to flinch. Nonetheless, she finally found the disc that the late Chairman had given it to her, and held it up for everyone to see.

"He did not specify whether or not it was for my eyes only, but to be honest I'm not up to watching it alone even if it is…"

"Play it," suggested Bakura gently.

Sarah nodded weakly and went over to the laptop sitting on a table in the middle of the room. With trembling hands, she slid the disc into the CD drive and then tapped a few keys to activate the projector which sat on the same table. A hanging screen lit up with first the image of the laptop's wallpaper, and then changed to an empty room, which was probably the video on the DVD.

She sat back slowly, and everyone fell silent again.

The picture shook a bit, as someone had probably been adjusting the camera.

Then, the screen was filled with the unmistakable visage of none other than Eizan Nakamura.

He had a somber expression on his face, highlighted by a sad little smile.

"Sarah, hello."

At the sound of his voice, now obviously one she would never hear again in the flesh, Sarah nearly burst into tears right then. Somehow, she kept herself together and forced herself to look into the dead man's gentle eyes.

"I am going to assume that if you are watching this video, I have passed on. Whether it was due to natural causes, or I fell to some… unsavory character or the other, well, that was the will of The One Above Us All. It may seem cruel, but please, Sarah, do not mourn me. Hopefully, I am in a better place right now. My only regret is that I will be unable to help you, Jason and the others see this through."

He fell silent for another minute, and then spoke again.

"Yes, Jason. I assume there is a lot on your mind as well as the others, about him. I will be brief but thorough, and take you through what happened from day one. What I feel is irrelevant will be omitted, but I hope to arm you with all possible knowledge to deal with what I fear is going to be a very dangerous threat."

Rikuo looked up for the first time.

"As you already know, Jason suffered from a dual personality disorder from a very young age. The story everyone has heard is that the second personality, who calls himself 'Quinn', developed due to his grief at the death of his parents. The truth is a bit more morbid, and is one that is only fully known to myself and possibly Reflect."

Sarah shifted uneasily. What did Reflect of all people have to do with this?

"Like I said, I will try and be as brief as possible, but still retain the important facts. Jason's father, Alan Becker, was an old and dear friend of mine. He _did_ help me in the founding of Eagle, that part of the story was true, but his involvement goes back further than that. He was one of the most accomplished chemists in the world, and was in the employ of the DEA. In the year 1984, he was approached by none other than Dartz, who valued the idea of his expertise in the use of Orichalcos stones."

Everyone was taken aback at that.

"Between Alan and Dartz, the rudiments of the organization known today as Paradias was formed. In the beginning, Alan was quite gung-ho about the idea of helping bring a utopia to the planet. However, as the years passed, he became aware of the true intentions of Dartz's vision and was horrified. He secretly came to me, and we established Eagle together to combat Paradias. His cover at Paradias was still maintained, and due to the steady stream of intelligence we had been receiving from him, we began achieving some significant victories. In the beginning it was just the odd thing, an arrest here, a shell corporation shut down there.

"After some time though, it had turned into a full out intelligence war across the United States, and later, the world. By that point, Alan was married to his long-time girlfriend Rose, who had given birth to a healthy young boy named Jason. I was named Jason's godfather."

Eizan quivered slightly at that. He looked more like a child caught in wrongdoing right now than an old man.

"Everything seemed to be running smoothly; Paradias was on the back foot. Then, Alan confessed a terrible truth to me. During his experiments with the Orichalcos stones, he decided he needed a living subject. He made use of the only acceptable human one… himself."

Rikuo swore out loud, and Bakura looked incredulously at the screen, their minds whirring. Sarah drew a hand to her mouth in shock.

"He was faced with a problem that he did not anticipate. While superheating the Orichalcos stone and injecting himself with the liquid afforded him increased strength, speed and intelligence, it was akin to a narcotic drug. He could not do without the stone, and unless he was afforded the requisite fixes, he would soon die. He came to me because Dartz's stockpile was running low, and hence he had restricted the amount of the stones Alan could use for his 'experiments'. He was frank and confessional, and his plan was to steal the entire stockpile of stones, fake his own death, and continue to work in secret with me against Paradias. The only reason he had even founded Eagle was to attempt to kill Dartz so that the entire stockpile of stones could be his.

"Needless to say, I was even more shocked than I'm sure you are right now. You must understand that Alan and I were brothers in everything but blood. It was an unspeakable betrayal, one that I will not be able to accept even on my final day. Still, that bond was not without reason. I decided that if I could help save my friend's life, I would. I went with him to the location of Paradias' stockpile, but Dartz had a welcome committee there waiting for us, led by Reflect. I don't know how he had figured out the betrayal, but he had. Before we reached, Alan made me promise that if things went wrong I would kill him. This was because he didn't want to live a life of slavery and die a death of pain. I did not blame him, and had no choice but to agree.

"When he realized that his betrayal had been gleaned by Dartz, Alan decided there was only one way out. He destroyed the electrical system, and in the process signaled me to shoot him and get out. I _did _fire, but Reflect did so as well at the same time. It was dark, and I heard a body hit the floor, but-…"

He trailed off, and closed his eyes, a sorrowful look on his face. What he wanted to get across was understood.

Yet, he opened his eyes and continued.

"I never found out who's bullet eventually killed him, and it has gnawed away at me for nineteen long years. Did I keep my promise to my friend, and kill him to prevent a life of misery and a death of suffering? Or did I take away the father of a two year old child?"

He remained silent again, and for the first time, Sarah could tell that his words were piercing the other viewers. Even Rikuo had a confused, irritated look on his face. She guessed that was his way of trying not to express sympathy.

"In any case, I had to tell Rose about it. The grief was too much for her to handle. It killed her, Sarah, leaving Jason two years old and without a parent. It was difficult for a child that age to spend even a few hours apart from his parents. To explain the concept of death to them, well, it's impossible. It slowly ate away at the poor child. However, that was _not_ what caused his multiple personality disorder, at least not completely."

He stopped at this, almost as if the video of Eizan Nakamura knew that this would draw everyone's attention. It did.

"The truth was, Sarah… The truth was that Alan had commenced with the experiments on himself _before_ he and Rose had conceived Jason."

Rikuo's eyes began to widen. "Holy mother of-…"

Even in a screen, the voice of the dead man echoed more pain and regret than it could possibly have in person.

"Jason was born with the properties of the Orichalcos stone in his body. He did not need to have access to a regular fix, like his father did, as the very first cell that composed him was partially composed of the pure Orichalcos energy. Due to this, practically all his blood, and every organ was made up of the very substance that resulted in his father's death. Now, if exposure to a small injection, even on a regular basis, had such an effect on his father, can you imagine what being _made_ of the stuff did to Jason?"

There was a dull _thud_, causing everyone to start. Sarah had slammed her hand onto the projector, stopping the video.

She had collapsed onto one knee, her other hand obscuring her eyes, from which tears were continually pouring out.

No one knew what to say for a moment. Bakura uneasily got up, and put a gentle arm around her.

"Sarah, don't cry, it's all right-…"

"SHUT UP!" she shrieked. "Do you have any idea what he had been through? ANY IDEA? And you called him a FREAK!"

She collapsed down again, unable to control the tears of anger, disgust and frustration.

Bakura backed off momentarily. There was really nothing any of them could say. He looked accusingly at Rikuo, for it had been him who had been so highly vocal against Jason and Eizan after Quinn had appeared. He held his hands up and grimaced, as if to say, "Now is not the time."

Sarah continued to cry softly for another few minutes, and then the sobs died down into whimpers of denial. Still no one said a word to her.

Wordlessly, she pulled herself up and clicked the video back on.

"I know this must be hard for you to accept, or even understand, and I am very sorry for that," continued Eizan's image gently.

"The unnatural composition of his nervous system, as well as the miserable circumstances of losing both his parents led to the development of the additional personality. The problem, however, did not end there. For some reason, whenever the additional personality was in control, the, uh…. _symptoms_ of the Orichalcos began to surface."

"Wait," said Rikuo slowly. "So that means…"

In the video, it was almost as if Eizan knew what conclusions they would arrive at. "It was a nightmare. The capabilities of Jason's body were far, far above what his father exhibited. If left free, he would very easily have lost control of his powers and killed hundreds of thousands of innocents. Hence, I had no choice but to keep him in a secure facility, heavily medicated to keep Quinn from surfacing as well as to keep the Orichalcos component of his being under control. By the time he turned twelve, it seemed he would be able to live a somewhat normal life."

He pressed his hands against his eyes for a moment.

"However, a few days ago I noticed certain… precipitating events that would possibly lead to the re-opening of a matter that I had pushed to the back of my mind a very long time ago. This was namely the appearance of what everyone has been calling the Jade Star. The truth is that the Star is actually the mother-ship of a highly advanced alien race called the Legion. The Legion was responsible for originally sending the Orichalcos stone to Earth, and causing Dartz's obsession with it.

"The stone has a very curious property. It behaves almost like a living being; at least that is how Alan explained it to me. When an active stone approaches a latent Orichalcos component, it results in the excitement of the latter. It is almost like two animals that attract each other during the mating season. I was unsure of whether or not the Jade Star would actually approach Earth, but by the time I realized that _would _be the case, which was about a half hour before I put this video together for you, it will be too late. It is almost a guarantee that Jason's Orichalcos traits will manifest, and as a result of the changes in his body, Quinn has a good chance of taking control. Yes, it is impossible to completely eradicate another personality. It can merely be suppressed. Remember, only Quinn can control the body when the Orichalcos component begins getting excited. The truth is Jason might not have had a _choice_, lest his body be ripped

apart due to his lack of control over the stones."

Rikuo seemed to be seething.

"I am very sorry, Sarah," continued Eizan's voice deadly. "Sorry for not revealing all this to you a long time ago. However, I did not see it fit to burden you with this information if you did not need to know it. It is a lot for you to grasp, and you probably have a lot of questions. I can assume that if I am dead, it was because Quinn surfaced and killed me. I suppose I could have had Jason put under restraints, but that would not have worked out well since once Quinn surfaced, no amount of drugs could prevent him from doing as he pleased. It would only have resulted in the deaths of many innocent doctors and other people. By bringing him out here, I hoped that the damage caused by Quinn could be minimal, at least in the beginning.

"I also have, unfortunately, a warning. Please, ensure that your path does not cross with Quinn's. He is the worst individual I have ever seen in my life, and believe me, I have seen many. Pass this warning on to the others who are working with you. They may not take the word of a dead man seriously, but if you have seen what he is capable of, then you will know what I mean.

"Heed the advice of the Council and continue gathering the Seals of Immortality for their destruction. Remember, at the end of it all, defeating Apocalypse is the primary objective right now. Everyone else is mortal, and their threats will fade in time. One day, our children will wake up to a world free of people such as Reflect and Quinn. Unless Apocalypse is stopped, our children will not wake up at all.

"I entrust you, personally, to carry this out. Yes, Sarah, I am appointing you my successor. If I am dead, you are now the acting Chairperson of the Board of Directors of Eagle. Everything that Eagle does shall now go through you. I hope, no, I know, you will make the right decisions. You are the only person I know with a good enough heart and the necessary experience with these kind of affairs who would only do what is right for humanity as a whole."

Sarah's mouth fell open at this. Out of _everything_ that the video had contained, _her_ being _HEAD OF EAGLE_, well, it was incomprehensible.

"Finally, if there is anyone else watching this with Sarah, I must implore you to help her do what is right. We may have had differences, but truly, it has been an honor. I hope, that in death, I will be remembered as the foolish old man who tried to do what he felt was right, and not the foolish old man who kept making mistakes."

Finally, the emotion began to show in his voice.

"Good luck, my friends. And good hunting."

With that, the screen went blank.

There was absolute silence. Rikuo looked down at his hand. It was shaking.

He uttered, "Bastards gonna pay. These bloody bastards are gonna pay for this."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Zeruge looked uneasily over his shoulder to see the two younger Ishtar siblings crouched over a map, a caliper in Ishizu's left hand and a pencil in the other.

"How long will you be?" he called. This position was not easily defensible. They were standing practically right in the front of an abandoned book store, a few blocks from the bridge on the New Jersey side.

"And… Just… About… Done!" finished Ishizu emphatically, dropping both instruments and raising the map.

She placed her finger on a point just to the west of New York.

"There is apparently a portal in Newark, New Jersey. It is about a half hour's ride by car from where we are right now."

Zeruge still looked doubtful. "It will be risky. The Legion is everywhere."

"We could stick to the back roads," pleaded Marik. "It'll take a little more time, but we are almost guaranteed safe passage. Even if the Legion has reached New Jersey, they're likely to have encountered at least _some_ resistance. We will be able to reach Newark, if we don't find anything there then I swear, we will go right to the garrison."

Zeruge turned to look at Joey.

The duelist shrugged. His near-death experience had sensitized him enough to the thought of leaving behind things you really felt you had to do.

"I don't mind at least going to check if this portal does exist. Hey, it could be pretty useful at some point or 'nother. Getting across the world like that," he snapped his fingers for effect, "yeah, I could see us needing it."

Zeruge didn't argue any more. He knew that once a guy like Marik decided he wanted to do something, there was no stopping him.

"All right. We need to find a vehicle."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"**I want my army prepared for battle within the next three days**," ordered Apocalypse, staring out blankly from his position seated on his throne, while Blight stood cautiously by his side, hearing him out.

"Certainly, my lord," replied the First Horseman. "Where shall the primary contingent be deployed?"

"**Spread the strength of the force across the most important strategic points. The Legion has proven to be an unexpected annoyance that must be dealt with immediately. In time, I will have their so-called Emperor captured, but he is of no great consequence. Until then, his soldiers must be weakened and unable to put up any great resistance.**"

"My lord, if I may, why bother capturing that fool Belial? Haou, Sylar, Quinn or myself could simply go over to the mother ship and kill him right away-…"

"**And so condemn the only individual we know for **_**sure **_**was near the Seal of Immortality against physical force to being unable to reveal its present location to us**," finished Apocalypse scornfully.

Blight instantly fell silent, furious with himself for not considering each and every word he had spoken in the presence of his eternal master. He was lucky that Apocalypse was relatively satisfied with how things had proceeded with Quinn's induction as a Horseman. Otherwise, he would have been in for some serious pain. In this case, the student was not even _close_ to the teacher, and never would be.

"**Leave me now, Blight.**"

Without a word, Blight bowed low respectfully and almost hurried his way out of the dark, infinite throne room.

The large black door slammed behind him, and he walked fast through the barely lit corridors. At every hallway, he heard dull, low hisses and moans.

He was quite used to them now, and ignored it. Still, he could not suppress the feeling of awe he got every time he realized exactly what was going on.

The entirety of Apocalypse's army was being birthed right before his eyes. This was not some literal ant hill like the Legion, where each and every organism that was born was simply trained and inducted into the army. No, each and every being that was going to fight for Apocalypse was unbreakably linked to him. In a way, he _was_ each and every one of these dark spirits that were slowly taking every possible form and shape in the fortress.

He continued to think on it as he proceeded to the dungeon. All these random demons that had existed in limbo for eons, having served Apocalypse before, were automatically getting a fresh lease by his re-appearance. In the very beginning, during the first war, they were just ordinary life forms, but upon being imparted a minute part of Apocalypse's own darkness, developed into unrestrained killing machines, almost as fanatical as the Horsemen. The difference was that the Horsemen could still think for themselves. The rest of the dark spirits in the army were mindless, and once set lose could not be stopped until eradicated.

It was not the most stylish way of waging war, but damn it, it was efficient, thought Blight. Nothing got the job done like an uncountable wave of shrieking, bloodthirsty undead demons that you could not stop unless you put a thrust through their hearts or loped off their heads.

He continued to hum quietly to himself, white electricity crackling around his hands in boredom, as he arrived.

The two guards at the door had already taken some measure of complete form. They were both red-skinned, and dressed in heavy black armor. Long horns were visible coming out of each helmet. They did not even acknowledge Blight, for their expressions and eyes were about as blank as blank could be. The Horseman knew that if problems arose, that would change. After all, when one had spent thousands of years floating all over the place, one conserved one's energy.

He walked along the line of cells. Almost all of them had no occupants.

Of course, one of them _did_. He arrived at the largest cell in the dungeon, and peered through the bars.

As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he froze.

The cell was empty.

It took him a good moment to process this, and then he whirled around, ready to sound the alarm.

He was stopped in his tracks, for standing in front of him, his rag-like prison garments replaced by a long flowing white robe, was the prisoner.

"_Horseman_," whispered Dartz's mouth. To Blight, it was Dartz's mouth, and definitely not Dartz. For the being in front of him was definitely not Dartz. His eyes were glowing a very brilliant shade of emerald. It was almost as if someone had extracted them and replaced them with a solid stone.

His right hand had not five, but six fingers. The extra one was grotesquely popped out of the side, right next to the little finger. Set in the chest was a heavy emerald rock, which seemed to be sucking the light of the entire environment toward itself.

His hair had changed from its former aqua-blue color to a stark white. The pale green color, however, was starting to show up on his skin. He barely looked human anymore.

"Who… Who are you?" managed Blight, half-stuttering, half-snarling.

He had never gotten this feeling around _anyone_. Barring Apocalypse or another Council member, Blight was used to being the most powerful person in the room by a country mile. People were simply not comfortable around him. Even Haou, for example, while definitely not afraid of him, would never be at ease when in the First Horseman's presence.

This… _thing_, seemed sure of itself to a degree Blight had never seen before.

He smiled. "_I am God_."

With that, the green stone in his chest began to vibrate, and give off pulses of energy.

The air around him began to move into currents. A normal person would have taken several uneasy steps back, but Blight was anything but, obviously. He let out a snarl, and began to dip into his own gargantuan reserves of power.

The white and green auras began to clash, and the Horseman dug his heel into the ground, drawing a fist back.

Without warning, he rocketed forward and unleashed a wave of pure destructive energy. 'Dartz' smiled, and closed his eyes. As he did this, his entire body turned transparent, and the energy passed right through him. Blight's eyes widened in shock as the white flames collided with the bars of the prisoner's former cell, leaving only ash in its places.

The superior smile remained as he slowly began to rematerialize. Blight whirled around and fired off another blast with an angry snarl. Before the energy had fully left his hand, Dartz's body had gone translucent again. This time the energy continued on down the corridor, and vaporized one of the demons that had noticed the disturbance and was making its way toward the 'battle'. It was really just a one way firing show.

Before Blight was ready to fire off another blast, his opponent surprised him by speaking of.

"_I would love to continue this little bout, but I have a number of things to be done. Please extend my well wishes to your master, I expect to see him very soon. On the battlefield."_

With that, he smiled his patronizing smile again and then vanished into thin air.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Joey had been to Newark a number of times, but it was eerie to see the roads so completely deserted. It seemed even the local law enforcement had given up hope. Every citizen had either run for it toward the interior of the country, hoping the army would provide protective support, or barricaded themselves within their houses.

Joey was fairly confident that against the Legion, nothing short of a panic room would suffice.

Ishizu held up her Millennium Necklace. It glowed slightly.

"Yes, we are certainly on the right track."

The quintet of Marik, Odion, Ishizu, Joey and Zeruge moved forward as a unit. Odion and Joey walked in the front, covering as much space between them as possible. Ishizu and Marik were shuffling behind them, while Zeruge's gargantuan frame more or less covered them as he took quick, suspicious steps forward.

From within the empty check in hall, they made their way down a flight of stairs to the lowest level. As they surveyed the long line of gates, with deserted runways on either side, Joey was distracted by a pained gasp coming from his right.

He quickly turned to see a man lying on his back behind a table. He had sustained a grievous wound to the shoulder, and was writhing in pain. He was dressed in a pilot's suit.

The duelist immediately abandoned his position at the head of the group and tore off toward the injured man, despite Zeruge's protests.

Joey knelt down in front of him and tried to get a look at the injury.

"What-… What happened to you, man?"

The man gasped in terror.

"Get… Get of here!" he managed.

Joey blinked in confusion. "Hey, calm the hell down. I'm going to see if I can fix you up." As he said this, he tore off a part of the man's shirt, and began making a makeshift bandage out of it.

"Joseph, we don't have time-…" began Ishizu, but the Brooklyn duelist roughly cut her off.

"All of us aren't like your dear brother," he snapped. "We care about the lives of others."

Marik stopped short at this blow far below the belt, and his face went pale. Ishizu looked to retaliate in anger, but Zeruge put a hand up to silence her as the injured man began to speak again.

"It's over… They're…."

A green bolt slammed into his chest.

His eyes widened for a brief second. "…. Here."

They closed.

Joey looked up in shock to see a trio of Legion Shocktroopers standing at the top of the staircase, each one wielding a laser gun about three feet long.

The Brooklyn man allowed himself a brief grin.

It was time to kick some ass. At very last.

He rolled to avoid another bolt from the middle trooper. As he did, he noticed a security guard lying dead a few feet away. Left in his hand was his service weapon, a Heckler and Koch UMP submachine gun. He had seen a lot of criminals use it during his younger, more notorious days on the mean streets of his city. It was a very deadly weapon, capable of firing 650 rounds in a minute. Joey was no marksman at all, so he would need each and every last one of those rounds.

He snatched it up, praying the safety was off. It was; the Customs officer who had held it had probably gone down fighting.

He let out a burst of bullets, spraying the entire top of the staircase. He had no idea how many bullets had found their mark, if any, for he immediately rolled into a sitting position behind a pillar as a counter-attack ensued, green bursts scorching the ground that he had been kneeling on three seconds ago.

He glanced over at his four companions. The Ishtar siblings had frozen. Only Zeruge had gotten to his feet, and was attempting to get them to do the same.

"What are you waiting for?" he hollered, before taking a second to peek out of his defensive position and let out another burst.

"I'll hold 'em off, find the damn portal!"

Zeruge grabbed Ishizu and Marik by the shoulders in each hand, and dragged them to their feet. Odion quickly followed suit, and the quartet began running in the opposite direction, desperately trying to think where a portal could be hidden in an _airport_.

"The scripture," Ishizu gasped. "It had said-… It had said the portal has to be behind a door."

Zeruge ducked behind a green bolt. Joey took the opportunity to unleash some suppressing fire, which allowed the demon to shove his three charges behind a boarding counter, and tore across the wide corridor to a line of doors, some of which led to the offices of various officials, others to restrooms, and the remaining to storage rooms for lost luggage.

Joey risked a glance back, and nearly took a shot in the neck for his troubles. He was able to look back for just enough time to affirm that Zeruge was about halfway down the corridor, pulling doors open one by one, not seeing what he wanted, and then moving onto the next one, with ridiculous speed.

The three Shocktroopers were making their way down the stairs every time Joey ceased firing.

They were about five steps down out of fourteen. Zeruge had opened seven out of seventeen doors.

It was a race now.

Joey bit his lip, knowing he needed to buy the demon more time to find the portal. He noticed a tear gas grenade on the dead officer's waist, and smiled briefly. Letting out an unusually long burst, he dived out of cover and ripped the grenade off, then pulling the pin out and flinging it toward their aggressors in one smooth motion. Seemed like years of baseball in his backyard had finally come to use.

There was an explosion of smoke, and Joey immediately recoiled back, knowing that even slight contact with the gas would result in incapacitation. He knew that the Legion, however, would probably only find it a minor inconvenience.

To rectify that, he dropped the spent magazine and reloaded from the officer's pocket. Keeping his left hand on the stock to absorb some of the recoil, he then unleashed fire with complete unrestraint. Tens of rounds were spat out into the center of the smoke. It was enough ammunition to overwhelm a small army.

Meanwhile, Zeruge had reached the end of the corridor. The last door led into a meek office, leading the servant of Eagle to slam it shut in frustration, which made it come off its hinges.

"Goddamnit…"

He whirled around to notice that Ishizu was standing right behind him, a determined look in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, I forgot, when opened for the first time, the portal will only show itself to a Millennium Item holder!"

The demon backed off immediately as the former priestess began to repeat the procedure that he had followed, but with a little less vigor.

Joey's weapon was clicking on empty. Nonetheless, he still held it, hoping that the mere sight of it might be enough to intimidate a wounded aggressor to continue the fight another day.

But then, he had very little knowledge of the Legion.

As the smoke cleared, it became clear that Joey's onslaught had managed to fell two of his opponents. Normally, he would have taken time out to congratulate himself on this. It had been a smart move to use the tear gas. While not as effective as one would find it on human beings, the gas at least caused the Shocktroopers sensory disorientation. That meant, of course, that they were unable to avoid his bullets. Most bounced off their body armor, but a good amount had found their way into their uncovered faces, causing their heads to erupt in an explosion of green matter.

Of course, it was not a time to congratulate oneself when an eight foot tall giant alien was bearing down on you. It had thrown its weapon aside, and seemed determined to avenge its comrades by throttling Joey with its bear hands… or, fins, he thought grimly as he abandoned his gun and crouched backward, fists hanging loosely by his side, in a boxing stance.

He avoided the first charge, and crashed an elbow into its neck.

He then fell to the ground, howling in pain and clutching the elbow. It had been like slamming it into solid rock.

"Damn it…!" he gasped, glancing up to see the trooper bearing down on him, its foot raised, about to squash his head like a melon…

Then, there was a flash of black, which slammed into the creature.

Joey pulled himself up to see Zeruge grappling with the trooper on the floor, primal snarls escaping his throat.

He then glanced to the other side to see Ishizu wrenching open a door somewhere in the middle of the line. Her Necklace began to glow, as golden motes of light issued forth from the entrance.

"I've found it!" she screamed.

Joey turned to see Zeruge snapping the trooper's neck with a satisfying _crack_. There were shrieks heard from the floor above them; apparently the troopers had called in reinforcements before confronting them.

Joey had already begun tearing toward the door. Marik and Odion were with him.

All three disappeared into it, while Ishizu remained at the entrance.

"Come on, Zeruge!" she shrieked in his direction.

The demon was running full tilt toward them. The first green burst had slammed into the ground not five feet behind him.

By the time he had arrived, more Shocktroopers were at the foot of the staircase. Ishizu was mumbling words in Egyptian, holding her Necklace, before the demon grabbed her arm and dragged her through the doorway.

He just had time to slam the door shut before they both blacked out.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

When the five woke up, it was as if they had risen from a light nap.

Ishizu was the first to do so, her big brown eyes fluttering open, and then blinking a few times as she hauled herself up.

The four men were lying on the ground beside her in various positions, all slowly stirring and opening their eyes.

She looked around her, waiting for her senses to slowly come back to her.

They were, surprisingly, in the same warehouse in which Zeruge had rescued the Ishtars from the Paradias strike team.

Ishizu immediately cursed herself mentally. How foolish of her to not know that the portal in Egypt was barely a mile or two from her own residence.

Marik and Odion were both fully awake, looking grimly around them. This place certainly did not hold any enjoyable memories.

"Come, now," echoed Zeruge's deep voice. He was not one for distractions. Time was always a valuable commodity.

"How far is our destination?" growled Joey. He was sitting up against a crate.

Ishizu consulted her watch.

"We will need to procure a desert vehicle. Across the sand, the location of the tomb of our father (Odion flinched at this, Marik remained firm), is about two hours away."

Zeruge nodded, and slowly, the five began to make their way to the back exit.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sylar waited quietly in the darkest shadows atop a dune.

He was quite a distance from the warehouse, but his enhanced vision could easily make out the five figures piling into a jeep.

A slithering form curled itself around his foot.

"Patience, my pets," he whispered. "Soon, you will be able to feast on the flesh of the traitor again. This time, you'll have every last ounce."

Also, he would be able to deal with those pitiful Tombkeepers and that oaf of a demon, fulfilling his master's orders.

It was a good day to be on the hunt.

Meanwhile, however….

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was all the other figure could do to contain a bout of snide laughter as he switched his gaze from Zeruge and his cohorts to the trench-coated figure, who stood alone in the middle of the desert.

The fool had no clue.

But then, that was where master spies were made: stealth and reconnaissance.

A Horseman, a servant of the Infinity Council, a Chosen Duelist, and a bunch of Tombkeepers, all in one night.

Sigma changed his gaze to the towering green sphere in the sky. There were a number of them, at least one of which was visible on every part of the Earth. However, it only meant something tangible to a select few… A select few that included him.

As he felt his body tremble with the power that was building up every second that he stood under the remnants of the Jade Star, he shifted his line of vision back to Sylar.

The hunter was now being hunted.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**There you have it. Please review, I will do my utmost to update once more before the end of April.**


	50. A Game of Shadows

CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT: A Game of Shadows

**It's a bit short by my standards, but I felt like ending it at a particular point. And btw…. Chapter 50! Huzzah!**

Blight found himself stammering.

He had never before been so nervous when speaking to his Master.

"My lord… My powers did not affect him at all. It was as if he was-…."

Apocalypse turned his gaze to him and fixed him with a frosty glare. The Horseman immediately shut up.

"**Your incompetence is substantial, but I cannot envision Haou, Sylar or even Quinn doing any better in your place against this particular opponent. There is a particular quality about him that I have only seen in one other.**"

Blight desperately wanted to know what that quality was, but knew better than to ask.

Apocalypse continued as if his oldest servant were not even present.

"**He has the ability to work outside the influence of the Infinity Council. I know who he is.**"

He then lapsed into deep thought again, and then spoke with an air of finality.

"**Assemble the other Horseman, and have my army ready for battle. It is time, I think, for the Legion to be made aware of the fact that they do not have free reign over this plane of existence**."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Staring out into the empty darkness, with the jeep maintaining a relatively smooth line of motion across the sand, Joey felt strangely at peace, for the first time in quite a while.

Ishizu was driving, with Odion in the front seat with her. Zeruge, Marik and Joey himself were somehow squeezed in the back.

Odion and Zeruge seemed to be in a trance of sorts, maybe asleep.

Marik looked quietly aware of his surroundings.

"Joseph," he uttered, breaking the silence.

The Brooklyn duelist turned to him.

"I know it will be difficult for you to forgive me for all that I have allowed to happen to you'll," he said quietly. "But I hope that if I am successful today, you will at least make a small effort to do so."

"Gee, your 'alter ego' nearly kills me, and then lets Dartz imprison the souls of me and nearly all my friends," mumbled Joey sarcastically. "I'm pretty sure digging up your dad's grave will make it all better."

Marik smiled bleakly. "In time, my friend, in time."

They then lapsed into silence, with nothing except the sound of the desert wind in their ears.

Joey pretty much lost track of time, but was jolted to his senses when Ishizu grinded the jeep to a halt.

He rummaged under the seat and came up with a torch, switching it on.

He aimed it in front of him, and could not contain a small gulp.

They were at the foot of a massive hill, which seemed to rise and dip in an alternating wave form as far as eye could see. There was a similar one a few hundred feet away, and in between the two was a crevice that continued on through the middle, dipping lower and lower.

Through the middle of the valley were a large number of sandstone buildings, varying in size.

"The Valley of the Kings," murmured Ishizu.

"Isn't that where Pharaohs were buried?" demanded Joey.

The holder of the Millennium Necklace nodded. "It is.. However, the tombs of a number of nobles, including Tombkeepers, are located near the mouth of the Valley."

She took the torch from Joey and shone it on a particular sandstone building.

"To access the room where our forefathers have been laid to an eternal rest, one must enter that building. The part above the ground is actually the tip of the iceberg, one must then proceed underground through a series of tunnels and chambers. I will guide you to the entrance of the room of the test, Marik, but once we reach there, I cannot proceed further. Only the patriarch of the Tombkeeper family is allowed to take the test; if I entered I would be killed."

Marik nodded slowly.

He then turned to Zeruge and Joey. "Thank you, both. I will do my utmost not to let you both down."

He walked over to Odion and gave him a rough, one-handed embrace.

"If anything happens to me, please, take care of her," he whispered to the large man.

He then took Ishizu's hand firmly, and with a final smile to the other three, the two siblings made their way into the Valley of the Kings.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sylar was perched like a hawk on the very edge of the building that Marik and Ishizu were entering.

He smiled a dark smile to himself and absently stroked the head of the reptile that had curled itself around a pillar next to him.

This would be fun.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Marik let out a grunt as he pushed the large sandstone door open a crack, allowing them just enough space to slip through.

The passageway they had entered was pitch-black. He fished into his pocket and came out with a flashlight, which he then flicked on.

Ishizu consulted a scrap of paper she had with her in the faint light.

"We need to proceed all the way to the end, and then take the first corridor to the right. Then we proceed down the stairwell."

Her brother nodded, and they silently continued.

While they did not talk, both were as nervous as they had ever been. There was _always_ something frightening about breaking into the burial place of one's forefathers.

"The test," he muttered quietly, breaking the tense silence. "Do you have any idea what it might be, sister?"

"I only wish I did," she replied, after a beat. "I will say this, it is certainly not for the faint of heart. The legend speaks of a well."

Marik quirked an eyebrow. "A well?"

She shrugged. "I know not the details; the texts are extremely vague."

She then paused. They were at the top of the stairs.

"Marik, this is your last chance. You do _not_ have to do this."

He smiled faintly. "I know that sister. However, we are now past the point of no return. I would never be able to live with myself if I did not continue."

No further words were issued as they proceeded down the winding stairs. It took them a good minute, meaning they were at least two levels beneath the ground.

By the time they reached the bottom, Ishizu took the flashlight and shone it around her. The floor was still sandstone. Along the walls were torches who's flames had died a very long time ago. On the floor were random strewn ornaments, and, she noted with a shiver, bones. The ceiling seemed infinitely higher than them.

Directly across from them was another door.

She turned to her brother.

"This is as far as I can accompany you. On the other side of that door is the tomb of our father, and his."

He nodded. She looked into his eyes, and was struck by the degree of self-confidence she saw in them.

"Good luck, Marik."

He clasped her hand and smiled.

"Thank you, sister. I will not let you down."

With that, he stepped toward the large oak door, pushed it open, and disappeared inside.

Ishizu stood there for a moment, no real thoughts entering her mind.

She swung the torch around, and then froze.

_The stairs were gone_.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sylar was hovering near the ceiling, and it was all he could do to contain a burst of cackles.

The look on her face was priceless.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ishizu blinked, and then looked again.

The stairs were just _gone_. There was no sign of even the tall cylindrical well in which they were contained.

She did not panic yet, and instead swung the torch to all four corners of the room.

There was no sign of the staircase that she had used to descend to the tomb.

The uneasy feeling of claustrophobia crept over her, but she was able to keep her head. This was surely some mind game that the Tombkeepers had installed with their dark magic all those millennia ago. It took all her self-control not to start shrieking for help. Instead she bit her tongue, trying to use the pain to draw her focus away from the predicament, and began searching for another exit route.

She could not follow Marik into the tomb. Only male members of the family were allowed to give the test. Entering that room would be akin to signing her own death warrant.

No, she had to find another way out. She trailed the torch over every inch of the wall, and finally settled on a small opening in the wall opposite to the one Marik had gone through. It was only about four feet high by four feet wide, but seemed to lead into a tunnel of sorts.

She walked over to the wall, and put the torch in between her teeth. It took all her strength to haul herself into the hole. There was not enough space to stretch her arms out, so she had to continue using the torch between her teeth.

She made slow and painfully progress into the darkness which the thin pencil of light was barely able to pierce.

Suddenly, she stopped short.

A hiss.

A coiling green shape flitted in front of her.

_A hiss_.

_**A snake**_.

She let out a horrified scream, dropping the torch in the progress. It was a mad scramble backward, as he bumped her limbs against the sides of the tunnel and hurt them. Within about half the time she had made it forward, she fell out of the tunnel in a heaving, sweating and bleeding mass of flesh and bone.

Now she had no light as well.

The terror almost caused her to black out then and there, but she forced herself to stay calm. She breathed in and out deeply, causing her heart-rate to subside just a little.

"_You've dealt with much worse… You can get through this. There is no snake in there, this is too far below ground for something like that to survive. Just get through it_."

Her body had stopped shaking, somewhat.

Taking another breath, she forced herself up and back into the tunnel. She crawled forward at a painstakingly slow pace, having to take care not to once again bump the various scrapes and bruises on her arms and legs.

When she reached the point at which she had dropped the flashlight, she then had to scramble around to find it in the dark. She found it, flicked it on, and cursed when it started flickering. Evidently the torch had been damaged when dropped, and she was unsure how long the light would last.

She clasped it between her teeth again, and began using her limbs to propel her forward once more, this time extra wary.

After what seemed to be an eternity, she came to a fork. The tunnel seemed to split into two, with both going in opposite directions. She paused, slightly disconcerted about where to go. It only now occurred to her that these tunnels might eventually come up in the middle of the desert.

She began crawling back, hoping to sort it out in her head, when she bumped into a hard wall behind her.

She gasped, unable to turn her entire body around in the confined space. Instead, she was forced to crane her neck painfully around, somehow shining enough light to see that the way she had come in by was blocked.

How the hell was this happening?

Her entire body began shaking again. The claustrophobia was creeping up once more. Having lived their entire lives in what was literally a small hole in the ground, the Ishtar siblings had sworn never to return to such a place once they had left. She _hated_ confined spaces.

Now, she had no option. She could wait there and sob, but that would only waste however much time was left for the torch's light. She began crawling toward the tunnel on the right.

She moved for another few minutes, and suddenly, the pressure on her shoulders disappeared. She blinked and turned her head up. The ceiling was getting higher.

She continued, and soon, she was able to stand up straight quite easily. She took the torch out of her mouth and shone it around her in confusion. She seemed to be in another dark room, but this one was much bigger. It was a hall of sorts.

Then, all the calmness vanished as she heard another hiss.

She swung the torch around in terror. This time she realized that she was _not_ imagining things. A scaly black reptilian form was visible, writhing on the ground not three meters from her. She recoiled and gasped in shock, dropping the torch as she took a few horrified steps back.

This time, the torch broke completely and the light went out.

But even as this happened, a torch on the opposite wall seemed to flicker on.

Illuminated underneath it was a larger form. It was a cobra, the desert variety. It seemed very angry, balancing just on the tip of its body with its hood flared out in anger.

More hisses sounded in the large empty space. She looked around in horror, and new snakes seemed to be visible every where her glance fell.

She felt for the hole behind her in desperation, thinking that maybe the other tunnel would be safer, but the entrance seemed to be gone. She fell to the ground and rolled into a ball, covering her head with her hands.

"_I'm going to die here, these creatures are going to kill me-…_"

"Get up, woman," sounded an ice cold voice from the other side of the room.

She turned to see a man standing near the torch, a green snake wrapping itself around his leg, and another curling over his shoulder.

He wore a brownish-military green trench coat, which hovered of the top of his heels in a strangely Kaiba-esque fashion. He also had a heavy black jacket of sorts covering most of his torso. His face was barely visible, with most of it being covered by what seemed to be a large gas mask. His mouth and nose were fully obscured, as were most of his cheeks by the straps. Military cut short hair framed two piercing brown eyes.

"Who… Who are you?" she choked.

The man reached up with a gloved hand and detached his mask momentarily.

Ishizu's hands flew up to her mouth.

"_Oh my God…!_"

He snapped it back on. "My name is Sylar."

"Tristan… What happened to you-…" she began, but was cut off by a thunderous roar.

"MY NAME IS SYLAR!" he howled, taking a step toward her. The hissing of the snakes began to grow even louder and more angry, and she collapsed into a terrified heap against the wall.

He breathed in for a moment, and then continued in a deathly quiet voice.

"The human race… requires punishment. I am among the ones who will met it out. We will begin right now."

A Duel Disk had appeared on his arm. It was metallic, with a tinge of green to it. It was a lot older and looked more worn out than the regular DD2s. On the side of it, the initials 'CV' were branded onto it in a deep black.

Ishizu gasped as he felt a large, thick, scaly form wrap around her legs.

"You can play this game of shadows. For every life-point that you lose, the boa constrictor that is around your legs right now will start winding tighter. If the count hits zero, then it will crush you alive."

Ishizu began straining and fighting with all her strength, but the snake was far too strong. Breaking free was quite hopeless.

"A Shadow Game has commenced, you wench," spat Sylar. "What arrogance can lead you to believe that you are beneath its rules."

She stopped struggling and clasped a hand over her Millennium Necklace, hoping for some inkling of what to do.

In her mind's eye, a sudden vision flashed, depicting a large armored form that could only be Zeruge grappling with this man who claimed to have been Tristan Taylor. Then, there was nothing.

"What happened to you? How can you be him-…" she pleaded once more.

"Silence!" he enunciated in his blank, emotionless voice.. "Duel."

She sighed. Through her life, she had seen enough sociopaths, such as her father and Yami Marik, to realize that they could not be reasoned with. She did not for a second believe that this lunatic was Tristan Taylor, who had died months ago. However, she could only play his game and stall, in the hope that Zeruge would come in search of her.

An old DD2 flashed into existence under her arm. She reached down under the strain of the tightening snake and picked it up, shivering every time she felt the scales against her legs.

She always carried her deck with her, even if she very rarely dueled. Maybe this time, that act of foresight would come in handy.

Sylar fired off his holo projectors and drew six cards.

(Ishizu: 8000, Sylar: 8000)

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Zeruge stirred.

Odion and Joey looked at him.

"Something is wrong," he muttered. "She shouldn't be taking this long."

"Maybe it's a long way down-…"

"No," replied Zeruge definitively. "She was supposed to join her brother until the entrance, and then return here. Either they have not been able to reach there for some reason, or she is facing an obstruction on the way back."

He flexed his fingers.

"I am going after her."

Odion shuffled his way in front of the demon in panic.

"Please…! Those tombs are sacred! None but a Tombkeeper may enter!"

Zeruge fixed him with a hard look.

"Do you think that at this point I am afraid of the wrath of a dead king whom I was probably far more powerful than to begin with anyway?"

He gently pushed the smaller man aside.

"Joseph, you wait here with Odion. If there is trouble, make for the jeep and leave."

"Right, because I travelled halfway across the world just to run away?" snapped the duelist in reply. "You can go down into that hole in the ground if that's what you want, but I'm staying right here until everyone returns."

Zeruge shrugged.

"Very well. Be careful, in that case."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I set one monster facedown in defense mode, and one more facedown card" quivered Ishizu. Two card appeared in front of her. One was vertical, the other horizontal.

"That ends my turn."

He snapped the top card off his deck.

"Normal spell, Snake Rain, activate."

He flipped a card around to show her a card that depicted a pair of explorers cowering in fear as a number of snakes descended from trees above them.

"One card is discarded. Four reptile-type monsters are sent from my deck to my graveyard."

He first slid one card into his graveyard from his hand, and then pulled out his deck. He then selected four cards from his deck, which joined the first one.

"Normal summon, Cyber Venom – Acid Lizard (1900/1800)."

A horrifying, bipedal reptile appeared on Sylar's field. It stood perhaps eight feet tall, and had ugly, brownish-green skin. It was roughly humanoid in shape, but far more muscular. It had the flat head of a snake, with a blue tongue and metal fangs visible as it hissed out at Ishizu. Strapped to its back was a vat of acid, with two wires connected its fangs to the vat. As it hissed again, drops of acid dripped off its teeth, corroding the floor beneath it.

"Acid Lizard gains one hundred attack points for every machine or reptile monster in my graveyard. I sent four via Snake Rain, and discarded another for its cost. Therefore, Acid Lizard will gain five hundred attack points."

The evil looking reptile growled as its score began to tick upward (2400/1800).

"Acid Lizard, _kill._"

It let out an ear-piercing screech and charged across the field. The brown-backed card flipped over to reveal what seemed to be a half invisible angel. Its body was completely transparent, but gloves, shoes and a crown were all visible. Clasped in the gloves was a bow and arrow. It seemed about to take aim at the oncoming attacker, but the motion was not completed in time, as the Acid Lizard sank its burning fangs into where the angel's neck would have been. Its body materialized for a bare moment, before going up in flames.

Ishizu gagged suddenly and almost fell over, as the boa began to tighten in a painful fashion.

(Ishizu: 6000, Sylar: 8000)

"But, my Skelengel (900/400) was in defense mode," she managed.

"Acid Lizard deals Piercing Damage," informed Sylar.

Ishizu struggled to digest this. A level four monster with a base attack score of nineteen hundred had an attack-boosting _and_ a Trample damage ability? What kind of cards did this Sylar have access to?

"Even so, I draw one card by Skelengel's flip effect," she managed.

The Horseman did not miss a beat, flipping another card in his hand around.

"I can discard Cyber Venom – Sinister Naga (500/350) whenever you draw a card outside of your draw phase, and draw two cards myself in return," he boomed.

A green cobra appeared for a moment on his field, with metal plates covering half its body. It disappeared soon after, but its master's hand size was increased by a net of one card.

He looked over his cards for a moment, and then slid another two cards into the magic/trap card zone.

"End turn."

Ishizu drew.

"I activate Monster Reborn, special summoning Skelengel from my graveyard in defense mode."

The invisible angel reappeared on her field.

"Then, I tribute it to call upon Majestic Mech – Goryu (2900/1800) in attack mode!"

Instantly, a white dragon like creature materialized onto the field. It had many bands of white on its body, with its mid-section, which was close to its head, having a pair of metal wings attached. A majority of its body appeared to be golden sparkling energy, which was somehow retained in the white bands.

"Goryu, attack his Acid Lizard!"

The levitating beast let out a battle cry and then spat out an orb of golden energy in the direction of Sylar's monstrosity.

"Zero Gazer, activate," interrupted Sylar. "The attack points of your attack target is reduced to zero, but I draw one card."

The Acid Lizard let out a cry of shock as its score tumbled down (0/1800), and it was shattered into millions of tiny pixels by Goryu.

Sylar, however, did not even seem like he had felt the damage.

(Ishizu: 6000, Sylar: 5100)

"_Why would he do that?_" she wondered.

It was as if he read her mind.

"Merely so that I can chain Damage = Reptile!" he continued with a condescending smirk.

A trap card depicting a large green snake looming over a red-headed duelist flipped up on his field.

"This continuous trap allows me to special summon a reptile-type monster from my deck who's attack points are equal or less to the damage I took through battle."

Ishizu gasped. "_But he took _2900 _damage_!"

"Come forth, my Cyber Venom – Mecha Conda (2600/2300)."

Appearing in front of Sylar was an enormous anaconda. Its body is covered in jet black metal plates that are changing colors to blend in with the jungle foliage, the upper half of its body de cloaking as its jaws, mechanically altered with metal hinges allowing it to open its jaw at almost a complete 180 degree angle. The initials 'CV' are branded on its bladed tongue.

"Complete your move."

The priestess looked at her hand, confusion entering her thoughts. She had done a large amount of damage, but had not expected Sylar to summon out another powerful monster so quickly. She would need to preserve Goryu.

"I activate Brightening Future. Until the end of the turn, any angel-type monster on my field is unaffected by the effects of monster, spell, or trap cards: including itself! Now, Goryu's effect states that it will be destroyed at the end of the turn if I tribute just one monster to summon it. Thanks to Brightening Future, that will not be the case."

"A lamb for slaughter."

"I end my turn," she mumbled, shaking her head and trying to ignore his taunts.

Sylar snapped the top card off his deck.

"Come, Cyber Venom – Metameleon (1200/800)."

Appearing next to the terrifying anaconda was a large, mutated chameleon. As one would expect with all chameleons, it had no definite color. Every time it shifted, its skin turned from blue, to black, to red, continually. However, parts of its skin were replaced by pieces of metal, which seemed to have computer chips in them, and 'CV' inscribed on them. It seemed every time the creature moved, the chips directed what color it would change to. It left its lower jaw hanging out loosely, a large object which Ishizu was hoping was not the creature's tongue flicking in and out.

"Metameleon's effect deals you two hundred damage for every machine-type monster in my graveyard."

Ishizu blinked. "Machine?"

Before the next thought could even form in her mind, the chameleon let out a disturbing hiss, one that seemed to cause even the Mecha Conda to take notice, and its tongue splashed out and latched onto Ishizu's arm.

She looked down in horror and disgust to see the long red thing wrapped around the area above her wrist. Suddenly, the chameleon changed color again, and white hot pain began to flash in Ishizu's eyes. She would have fallen over if not for the boa around her legs. She screamed until her throat was hoarse, but the pain would not end.

Finally, when it seemed like it was over, and the beast retracted its tongue, Ishizu felt another, familiarly horrible sensation around her legs. She barely opened her eyes to see the boa beginning to curl its way upward, and tighten its grip on her. She literally could not budge from that spot.

(Ishizu: 4800, Sylar: 5100)

"Now, I will activate Mecha Conda's effect," continued Sylar. "By skipping his attack, I can remove from play one monster on your field."

Before he even finished speaking, the cybernetic reptile curled itself backward like a spring, and then pounced across the field. Goryu looked up in time, but was helpless to do anything as the bloodthirsty beast of death wrapped itself around him, similar to what Ishizu was undergoing at that time.

Within seconds, the angel was on the floor, completely wrapped up in the anaconda's coils. It then suddenly contracted, and following a sickening _crunch_, Goryu stopped writhing. The snake then uncoiled itself, and opened its mouth to an almost 180 degree angle, swallowing the once powerful angel completely.

Ishizu was unable to look, but at the same time unable to tear her eyes away from the gruesome scene she had just witnessed.

"Mecha Conda will gain one Corpse Counter when this effect is used. That is not of your concern, however. Metameleon, make her wish she had never been born."

The terrible tongue shot out again. This time it wrapped around her waist, beginning to drag her towards the waiting and leering Mecha Conda and Metameleon. She cursed loudly again and again, batting away at the tongue with her hands as hard as she could. However, the boa began to tighten itself once more, and the pain effectively ended her resistance.

Her vision went temporarily blank. By the time she was able to see again, she found herself face to face with the disgusting yellow eyes of Sylar's mechanized chameleon, who's tongue was only just uncurling. She let out a sharp shriek and dragged herself across the floor as far as the boa around her feet would allow her.

(Ishizu: 3600, Sylar: 5100)

"It is now your move."

Ishizu drew weakly. She knew she had no hope of winning this duel. Sylar was arguably the most powerful duelist she had ever seen. Not Yugi, not Kaiba, not even Yami Marik had access to such devastating cards, as well as the knowledge to use them so effectively. Her only hope of survival was to prolong the duel a little more, in the hope that it would afford Zeruge enough time to catch onto the fact that she had not emerged yet and then find her.

"Hyster-… Hysteric Fairy (1800/500), come."

In a burst of angel feathers the female angel was born. The swirling mass of feathers coalesced into the tall figure of his angel. She wore a school uniform, clutching books in one arm. Small dovish wings extended from her back, and she absent mindedly adjusted her glasses.

"Attack… Metameleon."

The fairy gave her mistress a look of concern, but then nodded and flew across the field, white energy forming in her hands.

She threw it at the weaker Cyber Venom monster, which resulted in a small explosion that covered Sylar's field for a moment.

When it cleared, the target, as well as Sylar's life-points, seemed completely unaffected.

The Egyptian woman was too drained and in far too much pain for the horror to even register with her.

"When another monster is in play, Cyber Venom – Metameleon cannot be targeted by an attack," said Sylar coldly.

Ishizu's head lolled back, and she almost felt like welcoming the darkness that would emerge and take her very soon. She was by no means a fatalist, but the truth was, she would give anything for this pain to end. Any human being with a normal threshold for suffering would./

"End… End turn."

Sylar drew.

"_How pathetic. She is unable to put up even a fight. And yet, there is something to take from this. She is the first human I have encountered who is willing to roll over and accept the fate I have decided for him or her. Perhaps humans are indeed beginning to understand that their life has no meaning, and therefore there is no point in attempting to preserve it._"

"In any case," he continued aloud, even though Ishizu could barely hear him. "You have served your purpose as the bait."

He pointed toward her.

"Metameleon's effect will activate. Then, both my monsters will attack."

The Mecha Conda as well as its smaller comrade let out blood-curdling hisses. The former burrowed across the field, and then swallowed the squealing angel whole. The latter then reached out its tongue for one final time, sending waves of pain writhing through Ishizu's body.

(Ishizu: 0, Sylar: 5100)

Metameleon withdrew, and the boa began to finish the job. It was wrapping itself tighter. Soon, she was not visible at all, as the snake tensed its muscles, ready for the contraction that would eventually break every bone in her body-…

Then, suddenly, the sky fell down. At least, that was what it seemed like to Sylar, who was caught completely off guard as the ceiling exploded. He was buried under ton after ton of millennia old sandstone. That was only part of the ceiling: the other section, above Ishizu, seemed ready to crack under any second.

It was Zeruge. He descended from the gap in the ceiling like a vision from Hell, his wings were splayed out like some sort of monstrous bat.

He saw the human shaped form underneath the writhing boa constrictor, and it clicked within his mind.

He slammed down onto the ground next to it, and then knelt. He plunged his hands through the coils, desperately trying to pull Ishizu out. He was unable to find her underneath the mass of the now dead reptile.

Two massive hands descended, and he got a good hold on a portion of the snake's torso. His muscles tensed, and with a blood curdling howl he pulled in opposite directions. The snake had begun to let out a very low hiss of annoyance, but it was then silenced as Zeruge _literally_ tore it in half. Its entire body, rather, two pieces of its body, went slack, and he was able to uncoil it from over the woman's body like a string from around a needle.

He bundled the unmoving woman into his arms, and then leapt into the air again. He raised his head, and then slammed through the remainder of the ceiling, resulting in a complete collapse of the room. He continued on, smashing through the ceiling of the ground floor which Ishizu and Marik had entered, and then found himself in the cold, clear night sky.

He came to a landing a few feet across from where Joey and Odion were standing, watching him in shock and awe.

He laid Ishizu down gently on the sand. He did not trust himself to administer her, the adrenaline was still rushing through his veins.

Odion's look of fascination changed to utter horror.

"_Sister_…!"

He fell to his knees and placed a hand on her neck.

"Her pulse," he choked. "It's barely there…!"

Joey had no idea what was going on. He only knew that Zeruge was furious beyond words, and Odion seemed to be going into shock upon seeing his adoptive sister in such a helpless state. Ishizu was dying, and he was the only one in an emotional condition to save her.

He shoved Odion aside, who was now rambling away in Egyptian, and checked her pulse again for good measure. The large man was right, it _was_ very weak.

He began to administer CPR, pressing down hard on Ishizu's chest to try and force air into her lungs. He wrinkled his face and then placed his mouth on hers, blowing oxygen in as hard as he could. It was to no avail. She simply was not moving.

He continued on for at least three minutes, and then pulled back, gasping for air himself through the exertion.

He looked at the woman's face. The cold pallor of death was far too noticeable. He placed a shaking hand on her neck again, and this time felt nothing.

He fell back on his behind, cold realization dawning on him.

"She's… gone," he mumbled.

Odion fell to his knees and slammed his hand onto the ground, letting out a hoarse cry of sorrow and frustration.

Zeruge, meanwhile, simply stood facing the rubble, absolutely still.

Before anyone could say anything else, the rubble then exploded outward. Pieces rained down all across the desert, narrowly missing the small dune on which they were standing at that point. For a moment, their vision was completely obscured by the uncountable dust particles which were suspended in the air by the eruption.

Finally, the desert wind took over and began to blow it away.

Standing at the epicenter was a tall, lithe figure which Joey would recognize anywhere. The trench coat, the gas mask…

"_Tristan_," he gasped. "_No, Sylar_," he corrected himself mentally.

His blood ran cold, but at the same time, the rage began to build up inside him. It was not everyday that one could come face to face with one's own murderer.

The Horseman began to step out of the mess, slowly.

"Hello, Joseph," he said softly. "It seems you survived our last ordeal. This time, you will not be so fortunate-…"

His words were cut off by an inhuman roar.

Everyone turned to its source: Zeruge.

He was still standing in that same position, facing Sylar. His entire body was shaking, and his head bowed.

"**I… will not let you… get away with this**."

His body began to shake even more. The sand underneath him began to cave in. It was as if he was standing in a sinkhole; his position was just getting lowered. Any stones and rocks within five feet were beginning to levitate around him.

The demon's muscles were beginning to grow to twice their normal size, straining his armor. He let out another inhuman cry.

"I WILL NOT LET OUT GET AWAY WITH THIS!"

Joey gulped and grabbed Odion, pulling him back. The demon was beginning to scare the _shit_ out of him.

The sentence trailed off into a deep, primal roar, one which resonated throughout the desert, scaring people in Cairo awake and keeping all manner of birds and beasts on their toes.

Sylar said nothing, but then Zeruge finally looked up at him.

His eyes had acquired an animalistic quality. Normally, the yellow orbs looked quite arrestingly exotic. Now, they were completely wild, like those of a bear that had lost its mind and would kill everything in its path until it was put down. They were the eyes of a man consumed with utter fury.

When he spoke, it was a voice that was not his own. It had just as much pure hatred, venom, and primal rage in it as Sylar's did, perhaps even more. Now _that_ was enough to disconcert even the Third Horseman himself.

"**You… You think you can take life as you please, without any consequences**."

His fists tightened. "**Well, I have news for you…**"

A crimson aura exploded around him, sheer energy driving Sylar down onto one knee.

"**I will not allow it** **ANYMORE**!"

He then half turned to Joey and Odion, who were both absolutely terrified.

"**Get out of here.**"

The two did not need any further words. Joey quietly picked Ishizu's body up and dropped her into the back seat of the jeep they had used to get here. He then put a hand on Odion's shaking shoulder and dragged him over to the passengers' seat, getting into the driver's seat himself.

He hated Sylar more than anyone in the world, but knew in a straight up fight the Horseman could crush him like an ant underneath a boot. But that was not even the reason he was leaving, he would gladly trade his life for an attempt at vengeance against the Horseman.

He was leaving because he knew that when someone of Zeruge's power got that angry, one simply obeyed him unquestioningly.

He revved the engine up, mentally wondering where the nearest city was, and if it had a hospital.

"Give that son of a bitch hell," he muttered to himself, and drove off, leaving the two titans of battle facing each other.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Cannot wait for what is to come ^^ Sorry again if it was a bit short, will update soon.**


	51. Fire and Ice

CHAPTER FORTY-NINE: Fire and Ice

**Let me tell you, this was FUN to write. Seriously, things are getting EPIC. Hold on to your seats, by the end of this chapter you'll be frothing at the mouth!**

**GearfriedTheSynchro: He could try, but then it'd just be his ass that's going to get kicked ;). Don't worry, I have plans for Joey.**

**Sanokal: Haha yes, the personality was inspired somewhat by Heroes. An absolutely epic show. If you look closely, you will find a few obscure references throughout the story.**

**Reaver72: Finally someone gets it :P Yup, Sylar has more power in his little toe than Joey could even dream of.**

**Metal Overlord 2.0 : I am the hope of the universe. I am the answer to all living things that cry out for peace. I am protector of the innocent, I am the light in the darkness, I am truth! ALLIED TO GOOD, NIGHTMARE TO YOU :D Yeah, short of that the entire scene was inspired by Goku. Gives me goosebumps every time I watch it :'). Oh, you'll get your grudge match, and a lot more.**

The sound of Zeruge's heavy breathing was all that permeated the massive, empty desert. He stood directly opposite from Sylar, who had now gotten off his knee and was staring coldly back at the man who would probably rip his throat out if given the opportunity.

Finally, the Horseman scoffed.

"What arrogance, to assume that one can leave as one pleases. _I _am the Horseman of Death, and it is _I _who will decide who lives and who dies."

As he spoke, the translucent head and neck of a serpentine dragon appeared, curling itself around the back of Sylar's neck and balancing on his shoulder. It slightly resembled Slifer the Sky Dragon, only the God did not look so horrible. Every part of it seemed to be covered with heavy, armor scales, while it had teeth that resembled knives.

"Wind."

He spoke out the single syllable in as even a voice as possible, but what followed was anything but. The dragon let out a harsh cry, and then from its mouth shot out what seemed to be a pulse of low pressure, which then kept on moving, and as a result began generating an extremely powerful gust of wind in the direction of the jeep in which Joey and Odion were retreating, now a good mile away.

Zeruge didn't react, but when the wind flattened a wall that stood in its way, he curled his lips, and sprang into the air.

His wings spread out to make him look again like a gargantuan bat, and he then landed cleanly in the path of the low pressure zone.

Just like that, the wind slammed into his chest and then died away.

Sylar paused momentarily, his eyes revealing nothing.

"It seems you have a lot to learn. When I say no, I mean _**no**_."

Before the Horseman could react, Zeruge then took off at full power, flying across the distance between himself and Sylar in less than three seconds. He lowered his head, and rammed right into the sadist's chest. Normally, Sylar would remain standing if he was hit by a bus. However, as it would seem, Zeruge was carrying more momentum right now than any kind of automobile.

His momentum carried him as well as Sylar forward into a large wall, which immediately collapsed. Zeruge broke away at the very last second, taking back off into the air. He had no plans to give the Horseman a respite, however.

He extended his right leg, and dropped his wings, crashing into the rubble and drop-kicking Sylar underneath it, before spinning backward and landing in the sand. He drew back both hands, and spheres of fire began to form. With a primal roar, he unleashed both, setting the rubble completely ablaze.

The sand began to simmer underneath him from the heat coming off his body. His hands dropped to his sides, and he watched the burning rubble with a blank face for another moment. Zeruge then decided to speak.

"I'm well aware that an attack like that would not have really hurt you. You can cease the attempts at drama and begin the fight for real."

As soon as he finished, the rubble then exploded outward in all directions. However, the pieces did not hit the ground, but instead remained suspended in the air around the lithe figure in the middle of them. Sylar's face was obscured by the darkness, but his body was flickering with power, and the dragon's head was still visible, resting on his shoulder.

"If that is your wish."

The Horseman drew a hand forward, and spoke a harsh syllable which sounded a bit like, "_Earth!_". The translucent head let out another roar, and one of the levitating pieces was jolted through the air toward Zeruge.

The demon was anticipating this, so he deftly leapt into the air, allowing the large piece of sandstone to crash into a dune behind him. He then barely ducked as another one just barely passed over his head.

Sylar's face was alive, a sick, lively grin perverting his features. Both hands were snapping back and forth, and as they did, the projectiles went crashing through the air toward Zeruge. He dodged all but one, which hit him in the shoulder. This brought an agonizingly throbbing pain, but he ignored it, choosing instead to race across the sand toward the man who's heart he wanted to tear out.

He drew a fist back and dealt Sylar a punch that could end all punches. It was possibly the strongest one he had thrown in his four centuries on the planet. Most people's punches would just bounce off Sylar, but this one seemed to have at least a part of the desired effect. The Horseman keeled over, grasping his own stomach, trying to find oxygen.

This was followed up by a weaker uppercut, which threw his head back. Zeruge had purposely pulled that punch, as it then set up a _massive_ roundhouse knick to the torso that sent Sylar flying into the air. He seemed to continue to sail on weightlessly, until he suddenly caught himself in mid-air, his entire body shuddering and glowing crimson.

"_You insolent vermin_," he roared. "_You will regret crossing me_!"

He extended both hands again, and Zeruge heard a sound behind him. He just about dodged in time once more as one of the slabs came racing back toward him. However, this time it did not crash back into the sand, but stopped, floating in mid air a couple of meters in front of him.

Sylar then drew one arm back, and extended the other. Zeruge was anticipating another slab, and tensed himself to dodge. However, it never came. The slab _did_ leave its niche in the sand, but again stopped in the air a short distance away from him.

Sylar continued to look down at him with a disdainful glare, and his arms began slashing through the air in a synchronized storm. The pieces of rubble all began levitating off the ground, coming to a halt at various points around Zeruge.

After a minute, the demon began to realize what Sylar was planning. The mediocrity of it almost forced him to dismiss it. It seemed like the Horseman was actually trying to trap him in walls of the broken sandstone!

If he still wasn't so angry, he might have actually laughed out loud. As it was, he looked at the intense concentration in the Horseman's eyes, along with the glowing snake's head, and utter a scornful curse. What was this fool trying to do?

Then, Sylar suddenly dropped both hands, and the pieces stopped. Some were barely ten feet away from him, while the others were floating a lot higher than him, as well as at least thirty odd feet in terms of horizontal distance.

"_Die_."

Without warning, Sylar threw both his hands out, looking for all the world like an eagle spreading his wings. Then, he swung them back in, ending with the both of them crossed across his chest. As he completed this motion, every single piece of sandstone, which in total would have weighed over fifty tons, whizzed through the air and slammed right into Zeruge.

The _bang_ was deafening, and vision was completely obscured by the amount of dust. Even though he couldn't see Zeruge, Sylar immediately let out a soft, deathly hiss.

"_Feast on his flesh_."

As the last word left his lips, the sand began to shift, and a variety of serpents began to make their way out of the Earth. Within seconds, at least a dozen had crawled onto the pile of rock under which Zeruge was buried, slithering through the cracks to find the one whom they could kill and then devour.

Finally, Sylar then let out another hiss.

"_Ice._"

The snake's head on his shoulder vanished, and was this time replaced by a slightly larger one, this time with a horned ridge running along its neck. It looked over with glazed eyes at the epicenter of rock, and then, the ground underneath them began to freeze over.

A faint, sick smile spread over Sylar's face as the temperature plummeted, and a sheet of ice began to form over the pile of sandstone. There was nothing like being frozen to death while having a horde of bloodthirsty snakes rip you to shreds.

"_Now, you will die-_…"

His voice was cut off by an absolutely deafening roar. So ferocious was it that it would send a whole pride of lions whimpering away in the opposite direction. The temperature immediately skyrocketed, and a ball of flames erupted from within the hellish cage Sylar was in the process of building. It was so powerful that Sylar had to leap into the air to avoid the pulse that was being sent out in all directions.

The ice melted away as soon as it began to be formed, and scorched snakes fell to the ground around him.

In the middle of it all was Zeruge. He was panting with exertion, but his eyes were alive, and he was literally floating inside a ball of fire.

"Fight me like a MAN!"

Before Sylar could reply, the demon took off into the air and dealt Sylar a resounding punch in the gut. Before he could even register the unbelievably painful sensation, Zeruge pivoted and slammed his right foot to his opponent's chin, sending him going even higher into the air.

Not affording Sylar the time to catch himself, Zeruge took off at an even faster speed, so that he was about ten feet above the hurtling Sylar when he paused. Interlocking his gauntleted fingers, he raised both hands above his head and slammed them downward, clubbing Sylar in the back and then into the ground.

Zeruge knew full well that an attack like that would probably have the Horseman back on his feet within three seconds.

He was right. The ground beneath Sylar exploded, giving way to a night-black aura of spiraling wisps, spinning around him in a powerful whirlwind that amplified his energy output. Zeruge gave in to his anger once again and reached through the haze to make a grab at his opponent, though his lunge was only met by a swift boot to his knees followed by a spinning uppercut that sent him soaring to the skies.

Sylar darted after him, preparing a third strike just as the demon spun around, regaining focus and matching his attack. The two fists collided with such a force that Zeruge thought his knuckles might shatter on impact. After the moment's pause the two fighters reengaged one another. Blows were traded, a hundred in the blink of an eye, as every connection clapped a sonic boom which caused the sand to whip up into the air.

With a sudden discharge of energy, both contestants jumped back, only to reconvene in a flurry of fists and feet.

Sylar aimed two spinning kicks at Zeruge, both of which were dodged. He then tried an elbow, which was blocked. Zeruge tried two punches, then a roundhouse kick, which the demon backed up to avoid. Sylar lashed out with a fist, but Zeruge pivoted to avoid it.

The demon retaliated by punching the Horseman in the face and following up with a kick to the side, which sent Sylar flying. Zeruge chased after him, preparing to pound him into the ground, but before he could, Sylar snapped out of his fall and raised a hand., screaming "_Wind!_"

An invisible energy pulse ghosted through the air and hit Zeruge in the chest.

The larger man staggered back, but recovered as the Horseman charged forward again. The two titans of combat traded blows evenly for several minutes. Neither could outdo the other. Both combatants pulled back and sized each other up.

One could genuinely not guess what was going through each of their minds right now.

"You are no match for me, demon scum," spat Sylar. "I could easily smite you where you stand with but a _thought_. Believe me, you are merely an untamed beast let lose by a foolish master. I have seen things that you cannot imagine. I have spoken the language of Hell. I have command over creatures that the most fearsome warriors would cower before in battle. I could offer you a slightly less painful end to your façade of a life if you agree to cease wasting my time and step aside-…"

"You can do this, you can do that!" snapped the demon, cutting off the Horseman mid-sentence. "The one thing you can't do is cease your blabbering and fight me as you should."

Sylar's mouth curled into a faint, cruel smile.

"I believe you have me confused with that pathetic wench whom one of my friends enjoyed crushing to death. _She_ was the one who was unable to merely beg for help like a whore off the streets, far too weak to shape her own destiny-…"

"I WILL KILL YOU, YOU SICK BASTARD!"

Zeruge clenched his fists and let out a primal roar to the heavens. His entire body began to tremble, and his gauntlets burst open from the expansion of his forearms underneath them. There was a literal sandstorm in every direction about ten feet from him.

Sylar let out a disdainful, deriding laugh.

"You are beyond pathetic, demon! You do not know the power I possess, I can wipe out everything I see with a snap of my fingers. _I _am in control of _my_ own destiny, and have been so from the moment Apocalypse inducted me into his ranks. You, on the other hand, for all your supposed power, what exactly have you done? You are willing to reach out and aid others while asking for nothing in return. People see this and are then glad to squeeze their uses out of you. You are nothing more than a puppet, demon, a puppet for this disgraceful race to tickle, use for their amusement, and then toss away as and when they please! No one will remember anything you did, demon, and no one will thank you for it. You are just as unique as this grain of sand I crush under my feet!"

Zeruge had heard enough. He charged forward and lashed out with a right hook. Sylar leaned back to avoid it and then jerked his knee upward into his opponent's rib-cage. However painful it must have been, Zeruge did not react. He drew his right arm back, and then grasped Sylar's leg with both hands.

The Horseman expected his opponent to try and lift and then smash him into the ground in a mundane but painful fashion.

Zeruge ignored the punches that Sylar was raining down on his back and shoulders, and then began to squeeze.

Sylar paused momentarily. Zeruge was not lifting him up, but at the same time he was unable to break free of the demon's grasp. A grasp that was growing tighter by the second. At first, it felt like his leg was trapped underneath a car. Then, the pressure seemed to multiply a hundred times, and it felt as if his leg was sandwiched between two cars that had hit each other in opposite directions at well past the speed limit.

His eyes bulged, and he was quite sure that if the demon kept it up at that pace, his entire calf bone would be shattered. As he a Horseman, he was naturally immune to a certain degree of physical force and pain. But unlike Blight or Haou, he was not a being composed of energy. He was indeed a somewhat living, breathing creature, albeit one who commanded a truly vast amount of power. And how much ever power one commanded, a shattered calf was always painful, and best avoided.

Zeruge grimaced under the hail of blows, and kept on increasing the pressure. It was a trick he had employed prior to accepting his demonic powers on the rare occasion that he was forced into physical combat with an opponent larger than himself. Punches, kicks and any other conventional attacks were a sure way of tiring oneself out. The best solution was to simply crush the aforementioned giant to death.

He knew the routine. They always thought it was a prelude of sorts. Maybe he was going to wind them, and then unleash a hail of punches. But when they realized that it _was_ indeed the main event, they went mad with panic. He was used to all kinds of clumsy blows whenever he worked to cave in someone's ribs by utilizing his enormous arm strength.

Sylar, however, was obviously a better fighter than seventeenth century oafs that Zeruge had fought in taverns all over Japan.

He powered himself off the ground with his free foot, and then propelled that knee into Zeruge's face with gusto. He felt a satisfying _crunch_, and took the opportunity to rip his foot from Zeruge's loosened grip. Instead of stepping backward, he flipped in mid-air and aimed a kick at the base of the demon's neck.

Zeruge, however, had fortunately taken a stagger forward, which resulted in the knick meeting the space between his shoulder blades. He tumbled onto one knee, and Sylar _then_ paused for a moment before stepping away.

"Do you not see the hypocrisy of this war you find yourself fighting? This pathetic excuse for an ideal the Council has put forth? They claim that they wish to prevent Apocalypse from oppressing the multitude of pitiful life forms around the Universe, and making use of his own free will. However, in the same way, are they not _themselves_ attempting to rob another of his free will? They claim to be the kind and generous surveyors of existence, but in truth, they want to be nothing more than _rulers_! Rulers, with power and control over everything!"

Zeruge staggered upward and spat blood.

"Spare me that bullshit. You are not a born Horseman as Blight is, I know that you could care less for those ideals."

A mad gleam entered Sylar's eyes.

"Indeed, perhaps my motivations are not entirely accurate as per what I just said. However, they follow a similar line."

He raised a hand, and then curled it into a fist.

"The entire human race, they are just like their creators! The only things they truly care about are power and control. Every single one of them is selfish, and no human truly cares about anyone but themselves! When I died, I did so in an attempt to help someone whom I thought was my 'friend'. Instead of mourning me, instead of being grateful for what I did for him, he merely forgot all about me, and went on to further his own ambitions, attempting to defeat his other enemies for different reasons."

He reached a hand up, and then pulled off the mask, exposing the sharp, but now emotionless features that once graced the face of Tristan Taylor.

"Do you know who that person was? It was the Pharaoh Yami. And in his mad quest to overturn someone who was more powerful than him, he in avertedly caused the release of my Master Apocalypse, and by extension the eventual destruction of all existence! So you see, demon, humans care about nothing but themselves, and furthering their own goals and ambitions.

"Humans are the greediest race to ever exist on any planet. The fame isn't enough; we have to have money too. The money isn't enough; we have to squander it for mighty and commanding mansions that reach to the heavens. It isn't worth having money, power, and fans unless the entire universe knows how important we are. However, it means nothing if there is someone with just as much money or power.

"This kind of miserable, bloodthirsty, power-hungry race cannot be allowed to continue as the dominant species of existence. If one sees a four feral dogs fighting over a piece of meat, and in the process, harming any other animal that comes near them, the right thing to do is to kill all four dogs! That is what I intend to do, and that is what I _will_ do, whether or not you believe YOU can stop ME!"

He said these last words with an extra degree of emphasis, spitting them out as venomously as possible. Zeruge narrowed his eyes.

"I think I understand."

Sylar paused. "I would suppose that it is possible. Being a part demon, you are probably capable of seeing the flaws of the human race-…"

"NO!" Zeruge slammed a fist to his metallic chest-plate. "I understand that not every creation is perfect! If everyone was, then no one would be. Every creature deserves a chance to see out its own life, and encounter Death on its own terms! He who attempts to deny anyone that right is against everything that is morally incorrect, and I will fight to the last breath to stop them.

"You are disillusioned and foolish if you believe that everyone merely cares about power! The only thing I care about is doing the right thing, and honoring my duty to the Council, and more importantly, Lady Life. If I am destined to one day die as a mortal, then until that day comes I will show her my loyalty by fighting to defend all that which she has created, and all that which your kind now wishes to destroy. Every bird, every beast, every mortal, demon and angel, every breath they take is from Life's blood sweat and tears, and I will defend all she holds dear WITH ALL MY STRENGTH!"

He roared stretching out his wings as a flaming aura reached to the heavens.

"I WIELD THE STRENGTH OF A DEMON LORD, MY HEART BEATS WITH THE BLOOD OF HUMANITY, AND MY SOUL BURNS WITH THE FIRES OF HEAVEN AND HELL ALIKE! I AM ZERUGE MISTUNASHI, AND BE IT MAN, BEAST OR MONSTER I SHALL BECOME WHATEVER IT TAKES TO CRUSH YOUR DARK DESIRES AND SCATTER THEM TO THE WIND!"

Red laces of fire began to crackle in his right hand. A four and a half foot long broadsword composed entirely of flames materialized in it.

As he uttered his last word, Sylar let out a carnal hiss, and his black aura began to flare out and meet Zeruge's. The ground beneath him began to shift.

"A fine speech, demon scum. The time for words is over, let me see what you are really capable of!"

"You will regret that wish!"

Then, with a feral roar, Zeruge raced across the sand, and one of history's greatest ever battles continued.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Ladies and gentlemen, if you would all please return to your seats and fasten your safety-belts, I _think_ we could try to make a safe landing," hollered Max over the intercom. "If any of you feel the need to vacate your alimentary canal, we have bags for just that purpose tucked into the seat pockets in front of you. Remember: better out then in!"

Normally, Rikuo would have commented about how the man who stamped Max's pilot license should be strung up and slaughtered, but this time he was a little too preoccupied.

They were landing on a private airstrip in Florida. When he tuned the flight's radio on, Max had received a warning message sent out to all Eagle members, telling them to stay away from any major city, and instead make for any of the isolated garrisons near the interior.

He had then found a second message from Brian, that had been sent over a day ago, probably about the same time they were involved in that messy affair with Quinn and the Legion. He was addressing Eizan, and specifically requested him to come to EAS-J, if they were able.

Max obviously had no idea what it stood for, but Sarah immediately picked up at it was a shorthand for Eagle Air Station, Jacksonville. Obviously, Brian was worried about an unsecure radio transmission reaching the wrong ears.

Her blood had immediately run cold when she connected the dots mentally. If Eagle had been forced to bail on their New York facility, that meant the Legion had almost completely taken over the city. How on Earth were they supposed to manage combating Apocalypse, Paradias _and_ the Legion while still looking for the Seals?

No, she corrected herself, not _they. _She. She was now the Chairperson of Eagle, and would need to act in an accordingly decisive fashion.

"Put us down in Lake City. It's as isolated as they get, and I'd rather go to the garrison from another direction in case someone has either hijacked the frequency or forcing Brian to leave that message under duress."

Rikuo was impressed by the girl's tactical know-how. He still thought that Nakamura was a bumbling idiot in his last moments to put a nineteen year old analyst in charge of the entire damn organization, but not many were able to carry classroom lessons on basic military strategy into the field.

Inwardly, though he had the sensitivity not to worry everyone even further, Rikuo was wondering how many of the others were even alive.

As long as Daniel and Ryu were around, he was pretty unconcerned. The three of them together would be enough to get the job done; he didn't plan on placing limits on his methods any longer. You either got out of Rikuo Amero's way, or you suffered a lobotomy without the benefit of an anesthetic.

The wheels squealed as they grazed the blacktop of the runway, and came to a halt after a couple of minutes.

That bizarre MADness agent was still prattling over the intercom (something about being careful with luggage in the aisle), but Rikuo immediately got up and headed over to the door, which had already hissed open.

He stuck his head out into the cold morning air, and sniffed.

"We're not alone."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Lady Life was standing the in the middle of her garden, deep in thought. The birds chirped and flitted around her, and squirrels scampered around in the grass at her feet. A large stag was silently feeding on some vegetation growing off a large tree. As she walked by, she absently patted it on the back, and it immediately perked up, letting out a joyful bray.

The Infinity Council member seemed oblivious to all this, however. Her eyes had attained a glassy look, and her mind was in a far away place….

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_The six foot six samurai was reclining on a futon in a tavern, a cup of sake in one hand, his eyes half open._

"_You going to pay for that, Mitsunashi?" hollered a shorter man who was standing behind a counter._

"_In your dreams," muttered back his 'customer', leaning forward and downing what was left of the drink. Ignoring the bartender's protests, he picked his sheathed sword of the ground, strung it to his back, and prepared to head out once more. He had another assignment, apparently some local member of the Yakuza had been extorting farmers. Zeruge was supposed to go and show him the error of his ways._

_As he made for the exit, he glanced up, and then forgot all about the gangster._

_One of the most beautiful ladies Zeruge had ever seen had just walked past the tavern. She was perfect in every way. Her features were absolutely exquisite, and they framed an extremely lithe figure. She was wearing a long, flowing white robe._

_A child of the village had been running around outside, but mistakenly dropped a toy at the lady's feet. She let out a melodious laugh, and reached down to pick it up and hand it back to him._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Life was shaken out of her reverie by a quiet 'Milady' sounding from behind her.

She turned around to see Zerato kneeling down, but looking like he was going to collapse any second.

She gasped, and immediately stepped toward him. "Zerato… What happened to you? Do you have the Seal?"

He grimaced, and could not take it any longer. He fell backward, lying on the grass facing skyward. His vision was getting bleary.

"I am sorry, milady. Lilith is dead, but there was a Horse-…"

He seemed too weak to continue his sentence. Life kneeled down next to him and put a finger to her lips. He took a cue and closed his eyes.

She placed a hand on his forehead, and positive energy began to filter into him. His entire body began to glow. Wounds sealed up, and blood stopped leaking. Within sixty seconds, he was, as humans these days said, as 'good as new'.

He gasped and opened his eyes.

"Milady-…"

She put a gentle arm on his shoulder.

"Relax, Zerato. I've healed you, but you're naturally exhausted. Calm down, and tell me what happened."

With growing frustration, the Archangel recounted the events that had occurred in the Garden of Eden, from his encounter with the Incubi, to the lake of blood, to Haou's arrival, and the climatic three-way duel which culminated in Lilith's death and the Seal falling into the hands of the Horseman of Apocalypse.

She listened silently, and when he finished, she sighed.

"This is indeed disturbing news. We never counted on Apocalypse being able to acquire even one Seal."

"I cannot begin to express my apologies."

"It wasn't your fault, Zerato," she muttered, rising and turning away from him. "There was no way we could have known that Apocalypse is aware of the locations of the Seals. In fact, I'm _quite_ sure that he _isn't_. The only way he'd find out where we are keeping them is if someone told him."

She stopped short, as did he. An uneasy feeling settled over the garden.

"Are you meaning to tell me-…"

"I wish it wasn't true, Zerato, but there is no other possible explanation. We Council members and a few of our most loyal servants are the only ones with prior knowledge of the Seal's locations. However…"

"Before I left, I informed the Pharaoh and his friends where I would be going," finished Zerato.

Their eyes met. "I have heard from both you and Zeruge that some among their number have been…. discontent."

"Being discontent is one thing, betraying the human race and all of existence is quite another!"

"Yes, but Zerato, we have had prior experiences with this, when he attempt to reveal our existence to human beings."

"Do you mean BDS?"

Life nodded. "Believer's Disillusionment Syndrome can resonate rather strongly when humans awaken to the fact that the God they have been praying to all their lives does not exist, and in his place exists six entities, some of whom are not _entirely_ benevolent. It causes an irrational reaction of hatred toward the Council. Now most have been driven mad when confronted with their maker, but in truth some might reach out to work against us."

"None of the duelists strike me as being particularly religious."

"Religion doesn't have anything to do with it. Simple human ego does. Most sufferersof BDS cannot stand the fact that they have been created by someone, and can do nothing to prevent it if someone chooses for their life to take a certain turn. Of course, the Council is simply an observational body, and only interferes when the balance of Light and Darkness is threatened, but most do not understand that."

Zerato fell silent.

"I am not in any way accusing any of those individuals of betraying our cause. However, I will say that it remains a possibility, and you must acknowledge this by staying on guard at all times. I am now going to tell you the location of the next Seal. Choose five duelists, and then accompany them to the location. _If_ you'll are encountered by another Horseman, or anything out of the ordinary happens, our suspicions will possibly have been confirmed."

"_How is any of this ordinary_?" thought Zerato silently, but nonetheless perked up and listened intently as Life began to illustrate the next step of the plan to him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kaiba was laughing a chilling, cold laugh.

He stood triumphantly with his right hand raised, and a Duel Disk on his left. A trinity of white-scaled leviathans hovered in front of him: yes, he did indeed possess all three Blue Eyes White Dragons (3000/2500) (x3) in play.

On the other side of the field was a man bent low on his knees. He was dressed in a trench coat similar in style to Kaiba's but a dark black in color, with a strange mask covering most of his face. It was Sylar. The three dragons were snarling and bearing down on him, ready to fight over the unmoving body like a pack of dogs would over a piece of flesh on the streets.

"You thought you could get revenge on me with a snap of your fingers, but it would seem that you're rudely shocked!" snarled the CEO.

"I don't care why false God is propping you up, but face the truth you lowlife: all this time you've just been a lamb for slaughter!"

The Horseman then suddenly looked up.

"False God? Seto Kaiba, there is no_ true_ God."

Then, as he spoke, the wind began to pick up in the darkness around him. It crashed into the dragons, causing them to shriek in pain as parts of their scales were ripped off.

He took a step closer.

"You are the pathetic one here, Kaiba. Your entire life has been spent in the pursuit of power, and you have not even accomplished that."

Kaiba began to speak out, but he was cut off by a deep, familiar voice.

"He's right."

He turned to his right to see the sneering visage of Yugi Moto (or was it the Pharaoh?), walking to join Sylar.

"Rival? What rival? I have wiped the floor with you every time we've dueled, Kaiba. I'm tired of people considering us equals. After this is finished, no one will ever mention your name in the same breath as mine. And deservedly so."

"Go to hell you swine!" roared Kaiba. In response, both Sylar, and Yami began to laugh in a dark, demeaning manner. The latter then exploded into thin air, leaving only a wisp of noxious black smoke.

"Was it not me who saved your sorry behind in the Tournament of Shadows?" drawled another familiar voice.

This time, Kyle Gardner had appeared next to Sylar.

"I was sixteen years old, Kaiba, _Sixteen._ I help beat a guy whom you could never have handled by yourself, and then you just stand by and watch as I get killed? What kind of man are you?"

Even though his words seemed to be serious, the teenager was also laughing scornfully, before he too erupted into the shadows.

"A _pathetic_ man, is what you are."

This voice sent chills down Kaiba's spine.

It was Serenity. However, this Serenity was both more beautiful and more terrible than the one he knew. She had a mad, crimson glint in her eyes, and an arrogant and disdainful manner about her that he had never seen before.

"You were supposed to protect me, were you not, Kaiba?" she hissed, coming to a halt next to Sylar. "Yet you left me to the mercy of the chaos of the world. I am glad, however, as that process opened my eyes."

Sylar slowly pulled his mask off to reveal the familiar face of Tristan Taylor.

"You're _nothing_, Kaiba, you always were. Instead, I will choose the _real_ man…"

She leaned forward, their lips met.

Kaiba let out a scream of rage and charged across toward Sylar.

The Horseman laughed in a dark fashion, and Serenity evaporated. Even as he did, a titanic silhouette appeared behind him.

It seemed roughly reptilian, but had eight heads, and its sheer presence seemed to silence even the Blue Eyes White Dragons.

"_Die, Kaiba_."

Then, all eight mouths belched out streams of energy. The last thing Kaiba remembered was the sensation of being destroyed at the atomic level, before….

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

He woke up with an involuntary jerk. He was completely drenched in sweat, and breathing hard.

Kaiba cursed out loud. What kind of dream was that?

He heaved his legs over the side of the bed, and slipped into his shoes, pulling his trench coat off a nearby chair and slipping it on.

It was one thirty a.m. He cursed again; that was barely a couple of hours of sleep. It would have to do, there was no point attempting to turn in again.

Trying to ignore the taunts inside his own head about the bizarre nightmare, he trudged out of the tiny cabin, making his way back to the conference room where everyone had been sitting prior to the Librarian's visit.

Who the hell was that guy, anyway, thought Kaiba to himself. And how did he expect people to take him seriously with such a mundane title?

He looked up in surprise when he arrived to see that Yami was seated in one of the chairs, leaning over the table with his head in his hands. Splayed across him were a large number of cards. Kaiba recognized some as a part of his normal deck, and others were from the binder that the Librarian had left behind.

Apparently the Pharaoh slept enough whenever Yugi was in control and he wasn't needed. Right now, it seemed it was the teenager's turn to snooze inside the confines of his soul room.

The CEO preferred to say nothing, and instead walked over to a coffee machine to pour himself a cup of the strong, black vitalizing drink.

"Kaiba?" came the inevitable mumble. "What are you doing awake at this time?"

He got no reply. The dragon duelist simply stood where he was, taking a long draught.

The chair shifted and Yami got out of his seat.

"_Don't come here… I mean it, just _don't," thought Kaiba silently.

"Kaiba. Answer me. What's the problem?"

"What do you mean?" finally came the curt answer.

Yami reached over and placed a hand on his rival's shoulder. "You should be resting. We've had a very rough few days, and we don't know how much time we have until we're called into action once more. Why don't you-…"

Kaiba roughly pushed the hand away and turned around to face him.

"Save it. I don't need your therapy."

Yami, instead of reacting in kind to the curt words, seemed even more confused.

"Kaiba, we're on the same side here. We're all trying to achieve the same thing."

"Really? I'm starting to doubt if there really is a _side_."

He then began to stalk away.

"You're talking in riddles," sighed Yami.

The other man stopped, turned, and fixed him with a cold glare.

"My brother is gone. Serenity is probably gone as well, unless I can find that bastard Sylar and beat the daylights out of him until he undoes whatever voodoo bullshit he's pulled on her. That's what we should be doing. Trying to help the people who matter; instead of gallivanting across this world and so many others on the whims of a _fairy_ and a bunch of string-pullers we've never even met!"

Yami wrinkled his features.

"Listento yourself, Kaiba! You sound like a petulant child! What we're doing is for the greater good, defeating Apocalypse will automatically save everyone in danger! Your talk of cutting off our aid to the Council is as selfish as-…"

"As selfish as your wanting to atone for letting Apocalypse out in the world, and threatening all of existence?" Kaiba cut him off nastily.

This brought Yami's words to a close. He shut his eyes, and then opened them once more. There was a lot of barely contained rage in them.

"Thin ice, Kaiba. Very thin ice."

The CEO took a step back toward him.

"When you come to think of it, it was your inability to control your emotions that landed us in this mess in the first place. Isn't that what the angel said, isn't that why you retreated inside that Puzzle of yours and let Yugi do the grunt work instead?"

Yami did not reply, but his fist tightened.

"If I'd been the one facing Marik in the final duel, it'd probably have ended far sooner, and Apocalypse wouldn't have had the energy necessary to break out," continued Kaiba recklessly. He had no idea why he was ranting like this, but it felt good.

"Yes, it would have," replied Yami through clenched teeth. "I couldn't see you lasting five turns against him. If he lost more than five hundred life-points against you, I'd be quite surprised."

It was Kaiba's turn to clench his fist as his mind went back to another scene.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Flashback to Kaiba's dream_

_He turned to his right to see the sneering visage of Yugi Moto (or was it the Pharaoh?), walking to join Sylar._

"_Rival? What rival? I have wiped the floor with you every time we've dueled, Kaiba. I'm tired of people considering us equals. After this is finished, no one will ever mention your name in the same breath as mine. And deservedly so."_

_End Flashback_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Oh yeah?" Kaiba quirked an eyebrow. "If you that's what you think about my dueling skills, how about we put that to a test?"

Yami paused a moment, and their eyes met. Both men seemed to have forgotten about any reason or common sense. Each one was caught up in the intensity of trying to one-up the one man who was his one true measuring stick.

Typical male nature.

"Outside. Ten minutes."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Zeruge's arms and legs were basically on autopilot right now.

It was simple. Attack, defend. Attack, defend. Attack, defend.

He was still wielding his flaming sword in his right hand, and was using it in ways that even Kenshin Himura and Saito Hajime would be impressed by.

As Sylar drove in, leaning slightly to his own right to stay out of the reach of a forward swing by Zeruge's sword, the demon cocked his head to the right to avoid a punch, and in the same motion, reversed the direction of the sword in his hand. He then swung it in Sylar's direction, catching him on the cheek with the hilt.

The Horseman didn't even seem to feel it. He pivoted on his right foot, bringing his left knee into Zeruge's gut. The blow was cushioned by a piece of his armor, but still powerful enough to cause the demon to double over.

Sylar drew back, and delivered an inch-perfect uppercut to the chin. The knee had lined the blow up perfectly, and it sent Zeruge flying through the air. Sylar let out a grunt and then jumped after him. The extra force he put into the leap sent him higher than Zeruge, allowing him to then deal a downward two-handed blow that sent the demon crashing into the sand.

This caused a storm of dust particles to erupt, obscuring the Horseman's vision momentarily. He blinked, using his magically enhanced vision to try and focus on where the giant shape would be lying in the midst of the dunes…. Only he couldn't find it.

This state of confusion did not last long, however. With a primal roar, Zeruge descended off a nearby cliff toward Sylar, bringing his sword down in what should have been a fatal, two-handed blow.

The Horseman just heard him in time.

He turned in mid-air, uttered a dark syllable, and his body temperature, along with that of their surroundings, began to plummet once again. His hands had already passed the zero mark when he reached up and caught the sword in the middle of the downward swing.

He looked up, and his eyes met Zeruge's. Both sets contained nothing but absolute hatred and contempt.

The demon pressed down harder.

"I will not let you get away with THIS!"

"We seem to have quite the small vocabulary, wouldn't it seem?" snapped back the Horseman. But as it were, the banter was only getting him so far. Zeruge was winning. Even as he forced the sword down harder, Sylar was losing ground. Soon, his feet would be on the sand, and the demon would be right on top of him, with a flaming sword at his disposal. Not an optimistic situation.

"_Time to try something different_."

Sylar put in one last burst of strength in trying to force the sword back Zeruge's way, but at the last moment he ducked and let go off it. He shifted his body out of the way at the exact last second, and Zeruge's momentum carried him completely forward. This left his back to Sylar, who was now in a very good position. Zeruge could either flail wildly backward, or pivot through an entire clockwise circle to deal a forehand slash. But that would leave him wide open and unprotected for at least two or three seconds.

He chose the backhand flail. Sylar had been expecting it, and let out a scornful snarl as he bent backward to avoid the slash. In the same movement, he drew both his feet back, and then launched forward and extended them at the same time. This placed an incredibly powerful kick square in the middle of Zeruge's back.

This time, Sylar didn't just let him crash into the ground with time to recover. He descended _with _the demon, and when he hit the ground he was sandwiched between it and Sylar's powerful legs. With a sadistic laugh, the Horseman leapt off again, and uttered another few words.

Zeruge could barely move, and he already realized in horror that a variety of serpents were crawling over his limbs. They were coiling, tightening, to the extent that he was completely immobile.

Sylar was hovering about twenty feet above him, and continued to laugh creepily. The demon was a sitting duck.

He extended one leg, preparing for the finishing blow. One more unbelievably powerful kick to the spinal cord would do it.

"You should have minded your own business," he hissed.

With that, he descended at light speed, ready to snap Zeruge in half.

The demon closed his eyes, desperately struggling against the inevitable, when a green blur flashed in the sky across him, slamming into the Horseman.

He recoiled in surprise as the snakes immediately went limp. He stood up in time to see a familiar trench-coated figure floating away from a cliff that Sylar had crashed into.

"As should you," said the simple, familiar voice.

Zeruge couldn't believe his eyes.

"Sig-…. SIGMA?"

The Paradias agent cocked his head toward the one man who had ever bested him in a duel.

"Indeed, Mr. Mitsunashi. Nobody will kill you but me."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

They didn't care if no one was watching. After all, this concerned no one but the two of them.

Yugi had awoken in the Puzzle, and was pleading with Yami not to go through with it. However, his words were falling on deaf ears. After all, _he_ was not the one who had dueled Kaiba again and again in such ferocious, competitive affairs. This was personal to Yami.

And even more personal to Kaiba.

"_I don't care if it was my own mind playing tricks on me, I am going to prove that I can beat him_," thought Kaiba quietly, giving his deck a long look before sliding it into the slot. "_If I can't do it, then there's no point trying to take vengeance on those responsible for this chaos and suffering_."

"I hope you're ready, Kaiba," snarled Yami, before pulling out a card from his deck and showing it to the CEO. It was Reality Warp.

Kaiba understood. No tricks, no flash, no out-of-the-box broken cards. It was just him and Yami. Which was fitting, he thought, as he fired off the holo projectors. It was only recently that he had come to understand that he had never really dueled Yugi Moto, and it was the Pharaoh who constantly humiliated him.

The two rivals locked eyes. Gold met blue. Lightning flashed above them.

"LET'S DUEL!"

(Kaiba: 8000, Yami: 8000)

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**WHAT DID I TELL YOU BOYS AND GIRLS?**

**It's on like Donkey Kong now :D LOVING where the story is at right now, hope you guys are too!**


	52. Old Rivalry Renewed

CHAPTER FIFTY: Old Rivalry Renewed

**I can't say much right now. I'm a bit numb from writing this chapter. Really, it feels like the most important piece I've ever written. I'm emotionally drained.**

**For what it's worth, this celebrates both 50 official chapters as well as 600,000 words. Never thought I'd make it to 25, let alone 50.**

**Reaver72: Lol yes, just the idea of a sneakily powerful serial killer named Sylar was inspired from Heroes. Persona wise, yeah, there is probably some similarity. Hope you enjoy this chapter, it's one of the most intense I've ever written.**

**Sanokal: He's nowhere near safe ;). You'll find out why soon enough.**

Sarah, Rikuo, Deondre, Bakura, Max, Aaron and David were back in Max's camper, cautiously driving through the deserted rural streets. It was once again in stealth mode, meaning that unless someone was specifically looking for them, it was impossible for someone to notice them.

They had landed in Lake City, and then cruised for about an hour before Sarah decided to put them on a definite course toward the garrison.

"How should we do the approach?" she asked Rikuo, quietly. Despite her apparent position of power, she was more than intelligent and humble enough to know that she didn't have a patch on the five thousand year old demon when it came to battle tactics. She would seek his opinion in nearly every situation, and hopefully that would also help him warm up to the idea of answering to a nineteen year old girl.

He stroked a wisp of hair that was beginning to form underneath his chin: the product of not having lifted a razor in more than a day.

"It's a bit of a conundrum. If we approach directly, we might reveal ourselves to any enemy that has taken control of the garrison. If we approach stealthily, and still get noticed, they might think that _we're_ the enemy."

"A catch-22," she observed.

He nodded, and thought for another couple of minutes.

"In Eagle, do you and the other agents share a password of sorts?"

She shrugged. "Well, never specifically for a situation like this. Even if we did, I'm not too crazy about the idea of calling ahead, because if there are hostiles there, we're practically advertising that we're in the area."

"Yes, but if this vehicle possesses stealth capabilities, I'm sure our psychotic friend here can also mask our location when placing a call."

"I'm on it, Gen," hollered out Max from the front. He pulled Aaron towards the wheel, and set about on his laptop again.

"I'm almost starting to like you," growled Rikuo good-naturedly. "It will be a shame when I finally have to kill you."

"Yeah, but you'll have to catch me first," grinned Max in reply. "Think you can catch up to this baby? It can do 350. Wanna see?"

He half stood up and made as if to take the wheel back, when everyone in the camper yelled "NO!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Brian was fast asleep in his cabin when the call came. His snores almost drowned out the ring-tone on his cell phone, but he shifted, grunted, and finally picked it up on the eighth ring.

"If you're selling something, I swear to God-…."

"No, actually I'm interested in buying," came a familiar voice. "How about a guarantee of no guns when I pull into your driveway?"

Brian blinked.

"_Amero_?"

"Who else could it be, boy?" came the cackle in reply.

"We thought-…. We thought you'll were dead!"

"ME? DEAD?" exploded Rikuo. "Are you-…."

He was cut off by someone's snatching the phone from his hand.

"Brian, its Sarah."

The Eagle agent's face immediately brightened. "Damn! It's a relief to hear your voice. What happened in China, did you get the Seal? How's Jas-…"

"He's gone, Brian," she said quietly. "Jason and Mr. Nakamura, they're both gone."

Brian turned white, and almost dropped the receiver. "Gone-… What do you mean-…."

"I won't get into details now. Bakura, Rikuo, Deondre and myself are heading your way, and we picked up three stragglers in Russia."

"_Russia_?" choked Brian incredulously. "How did you'll land up there? What the hell is going on?"

"Brian, not _now_!" she snapped.

He immediately stopped talking, but his expression did not change.

She sighed. "Listen, I'm sorry. I'll explain everything. We should be there in the next ten minutes, just be ready."

With that, she disconnected.

The large man stood motionless for a minute, and finally replaced the receiver gently in its cradle.

Jason, gone? Eizan, gone? This was unthinkable. Right now, Brian was feeling like a child would when he was told for the first time that Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy were not real. It was inconceivable that these two titans, these Eagle _legends_, had been felled.

But how? Who the hell was involved in this?

He clenched a fist. Who the hell _dared_ to be involved? If you messed with one Eagle operative, you messed with them all. That had a hell of a lot of consequences.

He absently turned to the window to see two human silhouettes standing in the darkness outside. He checked his watch: it was nearly two a.m.

He looked closer. The ridiculous hair was unmistakable. As was the tall, lithe figure and the trench coat.

It was Yugi, and Kaiba. They seemed ready to be… _dueling_?

He slapped a hand on his face. He was quite numb right now, what with Sarah's news. He certainly didn't need this.

But still, he silently put on a jacket and made his way down to the back entrance, cautiously swinging the door open to look at the two rivals standing about twenty feet apart, directly parallel to the large, warehouse-like structure of the garrison.

"What are you guys doing?" he cried out in dismay.

"Stay out of it," said Kaiba shortly.

Brian ignored the words. "No, I mean it. It's two a.m. Sarah and the others are coming back, we need to strategize, not play a children's card game!"

"_You're_ not the one who is on his way to losing _everything_," snarled the CEO in reply. "I am going to get my revenge, and if anyone intends to stand in my way I will do the one thing that is acceptable: _crush_ them!"

Yami turned to the Eagle agent and nodded. "Leave this one alone. Do what you need to, but don't try and stop us.

Brian merely scowled in reply. "I can't believe you guys. Whatever, we're far too isolated for anyone to notice. When you'll are finished, come to the conference room."

With that, he stalked off toward the front entrance, where Sarah and the others would be arriving.

Silence reigned once more. They were alone again.

After a minute, Kaiba drew his sixth card.

"This is it, Yugi!" he snapped. "Payback! I summon Blade Knight (1600/1000) in attack mode!"

A metallic-blue-armored warrior with a curved and thick sword rose onto the field. He wore a protective, knight-like helmet with a diamond-shaped and closed visor. He had blue, double-layered shoulder pads, and his black-gloved hands grasped his almost glowing sword, and a gray and black shield. The sword had a red handle, with a green and circular gemstone embedded at the center of it. The warrior had diamond-shaped, blue, metal kneepads, and black velvet-like pants, leading to his blue-colored and metal boots.

"Then I'll add one facedown card and end my turn."

"_There's no going back now_," thought Yami silently.

He looked up from his cards, eyes blazing. "Come to me! Skilled Dark Magician (1900/1700)!"

A mage in black robes with large shoulder pads, a green staff held in two hands, black gloves, a black helmet, and only his face visible appeared.

"Now, attack his Knight with Skilled Dark Magic Attack!"

The magician raised his staff and from it issued forth a sphere of black energy. Just as it seemed ready to slam into Kaiba's monster, he reacted.

"I activate my facedown trap Command Silencer! Now your attack is negated, and I am allowed to draw one card."

A large totem pole materialized between the two monsters. It let out a wave of sonic energy, which was so loud that it brought the Skilled Dark Magician down on one knee, covering his ears in order to protect them.

Yami scowled. "Fine. I'll follow your example and set one card facedown. That ends my turn."

"Prepare yourself!" declared Kaiba, looking at his sixth card.

"I call out my Vorse Raider (1900/1200) in attack mode!"

A thick, tan, and bulky beast erupted onto the field, wielding a dark-chrome and pointed axe. It had vicious, yellow teeth, and equally disturbing, red eyes. Its war helmet barely contained the large, white horns on its head's tip.

"It's attack points are currently equal to that of my Skilled Dark Magician," defended Yami.

"Not if I activate my quick-play spell card, Shrink, in order to halve your magician's attack points!"

Yami gasped in shock as his spellcaster (950/1700) suddenly seemed to shrink to half his previous size. Meanwhile a small orb lit up around his staff.

"Don't forget that by your activation of a spell card, Skilled Dark Magician gains a spell counter," said Yami authoritatively.

Kaiba gave him a withering look. "Does it matter? Vorse Raider, cut his magician to pieces! Bloodlust Slash!"

The growling creature charged across the field, and raised its axe above the helpless magician, ready to cleave him in half.

It was then that Yami reacted. "I activate myfacedown trap card, Fine! This allows me to discard two cards from my hand: one of which is Repayment of Losses, allowing me one further draw, and the other is one I'm sure you'll remember from our duel in Battle City: Electromagnetic Turtle (0/1800)!"

A small, mechanical reptile appeared floating over Vorse Raider. It was barely three feet across, and had a metal shell and helmet. The letters 'S' and 'N' were emblazoned across its front, and a small tail which extended out behind it. It fell onto the beast-warrior, and a small spark left its body. The mad beast stopped in its tracks, and slowly stalked back over to Kaiba's field, unaware of the small reptile on its shoulder.

"Damn it Yugi, stop with these stall tactics!" snarled Kaiba.

Yami allowed himself a faint smirk, but the situation hardly warranted any stronger show of mirth.

"That's ironic considering your use of Command Silencer, Kaiba…. In any case, as I'm sure you know since Electromagnetic Turtle was discarded during my battle phase, it is immediately ended. Also, since the effect of Repayment of Losses was activated, as it _is_ a spell card, Skilled Dark Magician gains yet another counter!"

Another orb lit up around the mage.

Kaiba's brow creased. "Fine. I set one card and end my turn."

The strength of the Skilled Dark Magician (1900/1700) returned to normal.

The five thousand year old Pharaoh drew calmly.

"Now I play Pot of Greed, allowing me to draw two cards. More importantly, my Skilled Dark Magician gains his final spell counter, meaning I can sacrifice him to special summon my greatest monster from my deck: arise, almighty Dark Magician (2500/2100)!"

The black robed mage vanished in a small flash of light, but replacing him was a stronger mage in purple armor with flowing purple robes. He wore a strange set of armor, with a strange mage's hat, and had a powerful green staff that was nearly as tall as his body. His long hair that could be seen hanging out of his hat was purple and his eyes were the color of lilac.

Kaiba folded his arms in annoyance. "So he finally makes his appearance…"

"Now, Dark Magician attack his Vorse Raider! Dark Magic Attack!"

Raising his staff, the purple armored mage fired a blast of green energy straight at the face down card image. Upon impact, the barbaric soldier let out a howl of pain, falling down to one knee as the magical power burned through his body. Soon, nothing but a pile of cinders were left in his place, which were immediately blown away by the chilling night wind of the heartland.

(Kaiba: 7400, Yami: 8000)

"Not bad, Yugi, I must admit," said Kaiba narrowing his eyes. "One turn in and you've already brought out your favorite monster…. You haven't lost your touch."

"I am willing to prove that over and over again," retorted Yami. "But there is no need for this! Just discuss things sensibly with everyone and we can find a solution to this situation!"

"If you're scared of finishing what you started then I can't help it," spat Kaiba in reply. "Just make your move."

Yami averted his eyes from his opponent's glare. "Fine. I set one card facedown and end my turn."

The CEO drew.

"It's time, Yugi," he declared simply. "What are you talking about?" growled his opponent in reply.

"It's time to call out the instrument of your destruction! I activate Cost Down, discarding one card from my hand in order to reduce the levels of all monsters in my hand by two. So I send this card to the graveyard, so that I am allowed to sacrifice Blade Knight to summon my ultimate beast, the instrument of your demise: come out, Blue Eyes White Dragon (3000/2500)!"

From thousands of feet above the Earth, a mighty creature roared in response to the summons, and a vast shadow fell over the field. This shadow grew in size, and a faintly draconic shape appeared, and from this appeared a messenger, a fusion of light and darkness. Clad in silver armor, and with a wingspan comparable to an airplane, the creature lifted its massive head to its full height, opening and closing its great maw. With its cold cerulean eyes it scanned the field, and once it fell upon Yami, it gave another frightening roar.

The Blue-Eyes White Dragon. A true example of power, and one of only four.

The Dark Magician narrowed his eyes and lifted his staff. The two had no need to get acquainted. After all, this was just one of a series of instances in which the pair of legendary monsters would do battle.

"Now, watch as the exemplar of my deck blows your pitiful magician to shreds! White Lighting!"

The dragon opened its maw, and a sphere of white energy began to form within it. It raised its head, and a sphere of white energy began to form within its mouth. Like a whip-lash, it then swung its long neck forward, and let out all the pent up energy in one massive, glowing wave in the direction of its eternal rival. The attack hit the mage full on, and he was completely consumed by it. A dome of energy began to expand around the field, blinding everyone. When it finally exploded, dust clouded the air.

Kaiba began to laugh maniacally, until he noticed the life-point count.

"You didn't lose any life-points? Don't tell me it was that disgusting Kuriboh (300/200) again!" he spat.

Yami and his Dark Magician came into view, unharmed.

"Not quite, Kaiba," chuckled the Pharaoh. "It was Wabuko."

Kaiba exploded. "You can only hide from me with your stall tactics for so long!"

Yami ignored him, matching his gaze.

"Fine. I don't blame you for being scared," breathed Kaiba. "I activate my facedown Silent Doom. Now, the both of us may special summon one monster from our graveyards in facedown defense mode."

He found the appropriate one in his graveyard and placed it facedown, horizontally on his Duel Disk.

Yami didn't really have a choice, as the only monster within his graveyard was Skilled Dark Magician (1900/1700).

"Then I set my final card facedown," drawled Kaiba. "That ends my turn."

Yami snapped the top card off his deck.

"I tribute my facedown monster in order to call upon my Summoned Skull (2500/1200)!"

Lightning suddenly struck the field without warning, and from it came a demon like creature made of white bone with red muscle surrounding most of its body. Its hands had three claws; its feet the same way, and on its back were a pair of blue wings. The head of the creature had a pair of horns, and looked mostly like a skull.

"Then, Kaiba, I will equip my Dark Magician with Magician's Tome! This will increase his attack points by seven hundred!"

The purple-robed spellcaster glowed with magical energy as his attack points took a slight turn upward (3200/2100).

Kaiba merely growled in response. "Now, Dark Magician: destroy his Blue Eyes White Dragon!"

"Not so fast Yugi!" snarled Kaiba. "I activate my facedown trap card, Attack Guidance Armor!"

A large, mask-shaped metal piece of armor appeared out of nowhere, and fitted itself onto the Summoned Skull. It began to glow, and for some reason, attracted the Dark Magician's attention. He turned to the demon, eyes blazing, and let lose a bolt of green energy. It slammed into the fiend, who let out a small groan of pain before he exploded into nothingness.

(Kaiba: 7400, Yami: 7300)

"As you know from the past, Attack Guidance Armor changes the target of your attack to any one face-up monster on the field," chuckled Kaiba.

Yami narrowed his eyes. "You will pay for turning my monsters on each other!"

"All talk and no action, that's what you are," snapped back Kaiba. "And I intend to show the world that I'm not at your level."

Yami tried as best he could to block out the CEO's taunts, and slid one card facedown into his magic and trap zone. "That will end my turn."

Kaiba drew.

"Now, watch as your favorite monster is torn to shreds by mine! I activate White Dragon's Aura, which can only be activated if I have a Blue Eyes White Dragon in play. Now, I can destroy one face-up magic or trap card on your side of the field, and draw one card!"

The Blue Eyes opened its maw, but this time it was not an attack that issued forth. It was a sort of light, cleansing wave of energy which washed over Yami's field, specifically, the Dark Magician. When it finished, he was gasping for air and his strength had taken a noticeable dip (2500/2100).

Yami frowned. "You should know that when Magician's Tome is destroyed, I gain one thousand life-points."

(Kaiba: 7400, Yami: 8300)

"It doesn't matter!" boomed Kaiba. "Blue Eyes, destroy his Dark Magician! White Lightning!"

The powerful dragon let out another torrent of shining white energy in the direction of its eternal rival. This time, it seemed like the attack was well on its way to succeeding, when Yami tapped a button on his Duel Disk once again.

"Go, Zero Gravity! This will change the battle position of all face-up monsters, meaning that since it'll be

in defense mode, Blue Eyes will not be able to target my Dark Magician!"

As if by some unseen force, the jaws of the dragon were clamped shut, and it folded its wings over itself, stopping the attack mid-stream.

"Fine!" snapped Kaiba. "I set one card facedown and end my turn."

Yami drew calmly. "Time's up for your dragon, Kaiba. I activate Thousand Knives! When Dark Magician is in play, I am allowed to destroy one monster!"

Six knives immediately appeared in the Dark Magician's hands, and he skillfully threw them the Blue Eyes. The remaining nine hundred ninety-four appeared from the air around the Dark Magician and quickly followed the ones he had thrown. Just as it looked like the dragon was about to be skewered, Kaiba reacted.

"If my Blue Eyes is going down, he's going to take your Dark Magician with him! I activate my facedown Book of Taiyou, which allows me to flip one facedown monster face-up, preserving any effect which would have been activated had it been flipped normally!"

The brown-backed card was replaced by a small, sphere shaped jar. It was made of stainless steel and had all kinds of complicated dials and antennas on it. On one side, it seemed like half of it had been shaved off, replaced by a deep blue surface and a large, green, bulbous eye.

"Cyber Jar (900/900)!" gasped Yami in realization.

Kaiba nodded. "Now, the chain resolves in reverse order! All monsters in play are destroyed, and we each draw five cards from our deck. Any level four or lower monsters that are drawn this way may be special summoned in face-up attack or facedown defense position!"

The small, mechanical creature suddenly exploded, sending out arcs of energy. Two arcs hit the dragon and the magician respectively, slicing them both in half, which resulted in two further explosions. Amidst the smoke and devastation, the two rivals drew the appropriate number of cards from their deck.

Kaiba gave a feral grin. "I summon X-Head Cannon (1800/1600) in attack mode, and then I'll set another monster facedown."

A blue and yellow robotic creature, that was legless and hovered on a spiked ball, and had twin cannons extending out of its shoulders materialized. The robots hands were metal clawed, making it seemingly more dangerous.

Next to it appear a brown-backed card positioned horizontally.

Yami grimaced. Well, time to start from scratch again.

"I summon Queen's Knight (1600/1400) and Magician's Valkyria (1600/1800)."

Two females appeared on Yugi's field. One was awarrior with blond hair that fell to her mid-back, dressed in pink armor, except for her legs which were bare, and holding a sword in her left hand and a triangle like shield.

Next to her was a young female mage with long chestnut colored hair that reached her mid-back that wore a mostly light blue with some light purple like dress and an odd looking light blue mage's hat appeared onto the field. She held a scepter in her right hand that looked like a ram's horn on the end of a stick that had three green jewels on each side. The scepter itself was a light grey.

Now Yami had five cards in his hand, as compared to Kaiba's three.

"Well, it's still my move," intoned the Pharaoh, gazing over the five cards he held. He knew their effecs and attack scores by heart, and had long memorized every combination they could be used in. Well, it was time to show Kaiba what he was up against.

"I play Reinforcement of the Army, which allows me to add one level four or lower warrior-type monster from my deck to my hand. I choose King's Knight (1600/1400)!"

Kaiba sighed dramatically. "You are so predictable, Yugi. That doesn't change the fact that they are both weaker than my X-Head Cannon," he growled.

"That will change in time, Kaiba. First, I use my normal summon to call out King's Knight (1600/1400)."

A tall, blue-caped knight appeared on the field; he had a golden suit of armor, similar to that of Queen's Knight's, except it also had blue, spiked, ring-like attachments near the right wrist. The shield he held was thick, golden, and round-shaped, with a star-like design on the front of it. He had a short, golden helmet, that covered only his head, allowing his somewhat long, blonde hair to flow behind him. He too pulled out a sword, matching the one Queen's Knight had.

"Now, with both King's Knight and Queen's Knight on the field, I can automatically summon Jack's Knight (1900/1000)!"

This one had a blue, king's-like crown, and similar armor to King's Knight; however, this one's armor was blue in addition to golden. He had blue, cape-like pants, and a kite-shaped, blue shield with a golden cross design. He drew his sword, and the three knights clashed them together.

Kaiba rolled his eyes. "_Still using _that _old combo_?"

"Now I'll have Queen's Knight attack your facedown monster: Sword of Hearts!"

The red armored woman ran forward, bringing her sword back and then swinging it forward to cut the facedown card in half.

It flipped up to reveal a black-robed demonic creature, with a lean frame and skeletal hands snaking out of its sleeves. Its face was completely shrouded, and it had two horns sticking out of either side of its head. A jet-pack seemed to be attached to its back. It raised a scythe in defense, but it was to no avail, as the sword mercilessly cleaved it in half.

"That was a mistake, Yugi. By destroying my Abyssal Guardian (0/0), you not only take eight hundred points of damage, but the battle phase ends then and there!" he hissed.

Yami recoiled as black smoke exploded outward from Kaiba's field, ghosting through his monsters and then surrounding him.

It made him cough heavily, but the real damage was done to his life-points, which were now once again nearly equal to Kaiba's.

(Kaiba: 7400, Yami: 7500)

He growled in frustration. Attacking X-Head Cannon with Jack's Knight, followed by direct attacks from his other two Knights and Valkyria would have brought Kaiba to his knees; a total of forty-eight hundred points of damage. Yet the CEO had neutered it all with just one monster.

"Fine. I set one card and end my turn. Your move, Kaiba."

Kaiba snapped the top card off his deck.

"I switch X-Head Cannon to defense mode, then I set one monster in defense mode. I add two facedown cards, and end my turn."

The hovering machine touched down on the ground, and its massive arms formed an 'X' across its chest in a defensive stance. Appearing next to it was a horizontal card, and behind it were two vertical ones.

Yami drew, giving him four cards in his hand to Kaiba's just one.

"All right, try and find a way out of _this_, Kaiba! Jack's Knight, attack and destroy X-Head Cannon for good!"

The most powerful monster that Yami had on the field nodded to his master, and then took off through the darkness, bringing his sword down on the weaker machine. This time, there was no avoiding it. With a heavy metallic screech, the X-Head Cannon broke apart, and the multiple pieces exploded in mid-air.

"Now for your facedown: King's Knight, attack!"

The second male knight took the charge this time. He slashed downward, and the card flipped up to reveal a furry, demonic creature. It looked a bit like a pumpkin, with orange skin, large, primal yellow eyes, and long, green limbs. It let out a harsh screech before it vanished into nothingness.

"You took out Sangan (1000/600)," growled Kaiba. "You know what that means: I can add one monster with fifteen hundred or less attack points to my hand from my deck! There's more: I also chain my facedown trap, Soul Rope! This trap is powerful in that when a monster on my field, I can pay one thousand life-points to special summon a level four monster from my deck to the field!"

He let out a small grunt as his life-points dipped, but it was then that Yami realized the genius of what Kaiba was working toward.

(Kaiba: 6400, Yami: 7500)

"I special summon Y-Dragon Head (1500/1600) in defense mode. Then, with Sangan's effect, I'll add Z-Metal Tank (1500/1300) to my hand."

Suddenly, a red, metal dragon soared down to the field. Lightning currents ran through it, and it had claw-like feet. It's turquoise eyes glowed upon it landing on the field.

"Y-Dragon Head has too many defense points for either of your remaining two monsters to destroy it," continued the CEO, smirking faintly.

Yami shook his head in frustration. Of course, this was true.

"Fine. That will end my turn."

Kaiba drew, and a full, vindicitive grin spread across his face.

"It's time for me to introduce you to an old friend now, Yugi. First, I summon Z-Metal Tank (1500/1300) in attack mode!"

A yellow four-legged machine landed on the field after. The legs were yellow and fat, with green circular designs around the top of each of them. Antenna-like attachments stuck out of its head, and it had one large, Millennium-eye designed eye.

"_Still only two_," thought Yami desperately, but he knew that Kaiba wouldn't summon both Y-Dragon Head and Z-Metal Tank if he couldn't bring back X-Head Cannon.

"Then I activate my facedown trap Call of the Haunted, which allows me to once again special summon X-Head Cannon (1800/1600) from my graveyard!"

The familiar blue mechanical terror reappeared, floating in between Y-Dragon Head and Z-Metal Tank.

"I think you know what's coming now, Yugi… I remove all three monsters from play to fuse them into XYZ Dragon Cannon (2800/2600)!"

Launching into the air by use of their thrusters, the three machine creatures began to form into one creature. The tank became the bottom and took up position while waiting for the other two to link up. Slowly, the red dragon's wings broke off of its body and it retracted it's head. The large blue robot creature lowered itself into a port within the dragon's back and linked up, before finally the two came crashing down onto the blue and yellow tank, which hooked up as well. A bit of electricity flashed through the air when the three finally fully powered up.

"I'm sure you remember hm quite well," growled Kaiba, drawing a hand backward. "If so, you will also remember that I can send one card from my hand to the graveyard in order to destroy one card on your field. So I'll send White Stone of Legend (300/250) to the graveyard, in order to let your Magician's Valkyrie bite the dust!"

Yami just barely registered that he had never heard of White Stone of Legend. Was this a new card Kaiba had acquired? He immediately stopped focusing on that when the mechanical fusion's main guns began to glow. Its entirety began to whir and buzz, and soon it expelled two columns of white nuclear energy from the two guns toward the female mage on Yami's field.

She let out a small cry of shock before the energy consumed her completely.

"And to your unsaid question, _yes_, White Stone of Legend is a new card that's going to go further in helping me beat you," continued Kaiba evenly. "It's a level one effect monster that allows me to add one Blue Eyes White Dragon (3000/2500) from my deck to my hand whenever its sent to the graveyard!"

Yami frowned deeper. Yet another way for Kaiba to access his ace monster sooner.

"You don't need to worry about Blue Eyes though, because I have something else for you right here! XYZ Dragon Cannon, destroy his Queen's Knight! Full Laser Destruction!"

The mechanized terror let out another whir, and once again, two streams of nuclear energy exited out of the X-Head Cannon's turret guns. The attacks surged forth, slamming into the female warrior and evaporating her on contact. The beams continued on and hit Yami in the chest, bringing him crashing down onto one knee, gasping for breath.

(Kaiba: 6400, Yami: 6200)

"I set this final card facedown and end my turn," chuckled Kaiba. "Make your move."

Yami pressed his knucles into the Earth, and willed himself back up to his feet. He then drew.

"All right, Kaiba, if you are ready to start breaking your heavy hitters… I think its time I do the same."

"Nothing I would like more," retorted the CEO.

"You will regret that," warned Yami, sliding a spell into his magic and trap card zone. "I activate the Warrior Returning Alive, which lets me add one warrior-type monster in my graveyard back to my hand. I choose Queen's Knight (1500/1600)."

"What's the point of that?" snapped Kaiba. "Are you planning to just give me another chance to destroy her?"

"Actually, no," interrupted Yami. "And if you let me finish, you'll see my true aim. I then activate Fusion Sage, which allows me to add one Polymerization from my deck to my hand."

Kaiba's eyebrows crinkled. "Wait, Polymerization…"

"Then I will play just that! Polymerization, activate, and fuse the King's Knight and Jack's Knight on my field with the Queen's Knight in my hand to special summon from my Extra Deck my Arcana Knight Joker (3800/2500)!"

A spectral form of the female warrior appeared on his field once again, next to her husband and their stronger servant.

The three knights each drew their swords, and crossed them in mid-air. Then, they began to meld in mid-air, entering a rapidly spinning vortex that gave off an extremely bright light.

Then, a far more powerful looking knight leapt out of the vortex. He stood a good seven feet tall, and wore purple armor. However, many parts of it were covered by golden and silver plates, such as the shoulders and abdomen. He had a black joker's hat on, with a gigantic broadsword in his left hand and a triangular, silver shield on his right hand.

"Don't let the name 'Joker' fool you, he's deadly serious," warned Yami.

Kaiba snorted. "So you sacrifice four cards for a monster with less than four thousand attack points? That's just a beginner's move, I wouldn't have expected that from you, Yugi."

Yami was very tempted to point out that while Arcana Knight Joker _did_ have an effect, Kaiba was the one who regularly took a minus-three to summon a certain effectless dragon that was not all that stronger than his Knight.

Instead, he took it on the chin and pointed at the XYZ Dragon Cannon. "Arcana Knight Joker, attack and destroy XYZ Dragon Cannon!"

The tall man switched is sword into his right hand, and a flash entered his eyes. He took three menacing steps forward, and then charged full tilt toward the mechanized opponent. He brought his sword backward in a flourish and was about to swing it forward, when he paused in mid-air, disconcerted by the appearance of a spinning black vortex.

"Negate Attack," realized Yami.

"You catch on quickly."

The Pharaoh shrugged. "Very well. Your machine will survive for another turn, I suppose. I end."

Kaiba drew, and with a single glance at the new card he slid it into his graveyard.

"I discard this card in order to have XYZ Dragon Cannon destroy your Arcana Knight Joker!"

The mechanical beast let out another strange groan, and the X-Head Cannon's turrets, the Y-Dragon Head's mouth, and the Z-Metal Tank's cannons began to light up at the same time. At Kaiba's command, all three unleashed a wave of energy simultaneously in the Knight's direction.

"It's over for _your_ fusion!" he roared over the din.

"Not quite," replied Yami evenly, sliding a card from his hand into his own graveyard. At this, the seemingly defenseless warrior snapped his shield upward, letting it take the full force of the attack. It was strong enough that the energy generated by the XYZ Dragon Cannon just bounced off and crashed into a rock in the corner.

Kaiba froze.

"Wait… How did that happen?"

"You didn't _really_ think Arcana Knight Joker had no effects, did you?" taunted Yami. "It's got a rather simple one, but its quite effective! By discarding one card from my hand, any effect of a spell, trap or monster that would destroy it is negated! Meaning you just discarded a card for _nothing_!"

Kaiba allowed himself a faint smirk. "_Not nothing_…"

But he did not say it. "All right. Since you're so confident, I'll give you a chance to show off. I end my turn."

This gave Yami pause. In all his duels with Kaiba, the man had never seemed so calm at being foiled. There was something different about him. Something more _mature_. He seemed to still be using a deck focused on pure power, but his entire outlook seemed to have changed. He was thinking the duel through a lot more.

This, of course, worried the Pharaoh. When you had a weapon as powerful as the White Dragon set, and you were able to use them to their full potential because you were not clouded by anger and frustration, you became a hell of a powerful duelist.

Yet, Yami said nothing. Inwardly, he was gladdened by the change. It would hopefully just make the duel all the more competitive.

He drew, and then pointed at the apparently defenseless XYZ Dragon Cannon.

"This time, your machine is gone for good! Attack, Arcana Knight Joker!"

The warrior nodded and rushed across the field again. This time it would succeed, Yami was sure of it, Kaiba had no facedowns and only a Blue-Eyes in his hand…

"I remove Necro Gardna (600/1300) from my graveyard in order to negate your attack," interrupted Kaiba coolly.

Yami gasped as a black skinned, red armored demon materialized in front of the XYZ Dragon Cannon. It had long, dirty white hair tumbling down its shoulders, along with black, heavy gauntlets covering his hands and arms.

With a low growl, the undead creature exploded in mid air, preventing the Arcana Knight Joker from advancing further.

"When did you-…" spluttered Yami.

"I just discarded a card to my XYZ Dragon Cannon's effect," replied Kaiba, a dark smile curling across his face. "Surely you remember?"

"Of course I do!" snapped the King of Games in reply. His head was spinning. This was _absolutely_ unlike the Kaiba he knew. The original one used to just plunder head-on, attempting to crush everything in his path. Now, he was planning ahead. When he activated XYZ Dragon Cannon's effect, he had already acknowledged the possibility of failure and was planning for it.

He looked over his hand.

"I set one card facedown. That will end my turn."

The CEO drew, and flipped a card around.

"I activate Card of Demise. I'm quite sure you remember its effect: I draw until I hold five cards, but on the fifth standby phase after activation, I must discard my entire hand."

Even as he increased his hand size by four, Yami thought silently, "_And he's probably already got something planned for that eventuality._"

Kaiba smirked with satisfaction at his new cards.

"All right, I've had enough of your Arcana Knight Joker. I discard a card for my XYZ Dragon Cannon to destroy it."

"That's not going to happen," informed Yami, even as the machine let out another hum and prepped for attack again. "As long as I discard a card, Arcana Knight Joker is immune to-…"

"Not really," replied Kaiba evenly. "I activate Forbidden Chalice. At the cost of increasing the attack points of your Arcana Knight Joker by four hundred, its effect is negated till the end of the turn."

Yami swore as his fusion's attack points (4200/2500) rose to a level that was fifty percent greater than those of Kaiba's.

This time, even as the energy kept surging on, the Arcana Knight Joker did not react. He merely stood stoicly, facing the oncoming blaze without a reaction. Just as it seemed he was a goner, Yami finally decided to act.

"I won't allow you to destroy him! I activate De-Fusion, which returns Arcana Knight Joker to my Extra Deck and allows me to special summon Queen's Knight (1500/1600), King's Knight (1600/1400) and Jack's Knight (1900/1000) from my graveyard back to the field, all in defense mode!"

The purple warrior smiled at Yugi, and then evaporated into a large sphere of light. Before the XYZ Dragon Cannon's attack could hit it, the sphere dematerialized into a trio of similar colored ones, which spread out into three different zones of Yami's field, causing the attack to slam harmlessly into the ground a distance away.

The three spheres then began to gain shape and color, morphing into the familiar Knights that had appeared in duels between the two so many times.

This drew no outward reaction from Kaiba, which made Yami think again.

"_I just made him discard a card for nothing, and he doesn't seem to mind. Obviously, that card is probably something he wants in the graveyard. He already has one Blue Eyes in the graveyard, and one in the hand…. Could he possibly be trying to get his Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon out as early as this_?"

"I'm not going to bother discarding another card, so instead I'll just move into my battle phase and target Jack's Knight!"

The most powerful remaining warrior seemed prepared for the end as the XYZ Dragon Cannon prepped another powerful attack.

"I won't let you destroy him like that, Kaiba," growled Yami, tapping a button on his Duel Disk.

"I activate Spellbinding Circle, which prevents your XYZ Dragon Cannon from attacking and changing its battle position!"

A green circle with strange golden symbols with formed on the top, left, right, and bottom formed, with a white question mark like symbol in the center appeared above the field. The circle took up a defensive stance in front of the blonde knight, quelling the flames. Pushing the flames backwards, the circle finally wrapped around the vibrating machine, holding it steady. The fusion struggled for a bit, but was unable to free itself.

"_I'm surprised he still runs a card as dated as that_," mused Kaiba. "_Well, that just makes things a bit easier for me_."

"I'll just set this card facedown and call it a turn."

Yami gritted his teeth and drew. Just like that, Kaiba had neutered the advantage of the Arcana Knight Joker he had.

But then, he saw his new card, and forgot all about it.

"All right, Kaiba, I think it's time you realized just what you've gotten yourself into."

Immediatley, the dragon duelist narrowed his eyes.

"A God."

Yami nodded.

"I normally wouldn't have done this, but you said you wanted to see if you could stand up to divine power? Well, I think it's time we saw if that was the case."

A faint smile crossed Kaiba's face, as thunder lanced across the sky.

"I sacrifice all three of my Knights!" Three streaks of light shot down to the field, taking the Poker Knights into the sky.

Lightning blasts rained from above, as a long, waving, red-scaled tail could be seen fluttering through thick, gray clouds. The body began to drive itself from the heavens, growing thicker as more of it appeared. It was long enough to wrap around itself numerous times; soon, the double-mouthed head of the legend soon made itself known, breathing out light mist in impatience. It had unforgiving, unwavering, yellow eyes, and sharpened, red spikes running all the way down its enormous body. Long, thin, red wings also were present on its sides.

"_The heavens twist and thunder roars, signaling the coming of this ancient creature, and the dawn of true power_," thought Kaiba grimly, quoting from the text inscribed on the one-of-a-kind, unbelievably powerful red-bordered card.

"This monster needs no introduction! Kaiba, you now face the God of Osiris…. _Slifer the Sky Dragon_ (X000/X000)!"

Seto remained completely silent, staring impassively into the face of the behemoth that had risen up over Yami's field, casting a shadow over the fields for as far as the eye could see.

This was just what he wanted.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Flashback_

_Kaiba punched the wall in frustration. This drew blood from his knuckles, but he did not care. Pain didn't matter, _nothing_ mattered if he was not strong enough to do what was absolutely necessary. And the way things were looking, he just _wasn't.

_Serenity had been hurt and nearly killed, and he had only just been able to prevent it._

_He spat his contempt and collapsed into an armchair in anger. This was not how he had planned his life. It just wasn't. He couldn't even beat a spikey-haired kid at a card game, and here he was attempting to match up to the world's biggest corporate villain, an extraterrestrial civilization, and the God of destruction. He was in over his head._

_These fatalistic thoughts scampered through his brain as he rested back against the chair. Where was he supposed to go from here? He had just returned from a place where he had been stretched to his very limits, both on as well as off the dueling field, and he was still just _barely _able to achieve a positive result._

_After a while, he fell asleep out of sheer exhaustion and frustration._

_When he opened his eyes, he was not in the same room as before._

_He was alone, in a dark room._

_Standing opposite him was a man who resembled him to a remarkable extent. He stood the same six foot two, and had the same icey blue eyes. However, he was dressed in a completely different manner to Kaiba's usual trench-coat. He wore a flowing blue robe, and had gold laid into it. He clutched the Millennium Rod in his right hand, and met Kaiba's eyes._

_The CEO felt cold realization wash over him._

"_You."_

_The Priest Seto inclined his head just very slightly in acknowledgment, and then uttered a single word._

"_Come."_

_He turned on heel and walked off into the darkness. Kaiba quickly followed._

"_Where are you taking me?"_

_He got no reply, and then just decided to continue walking._

_Finally, he reached an end to the darkness. It was a large room, with a selection of engravings on the sandstone walls._

_One of them stood out, however. It was the northern face, and a large coffin was laid out in front of it. On top of the coffin was the triangular inscription of the Millennium Puzzle, with the drawings of the three Egyptian Gods lined over it._

_Various symbols were scrawled all over the coffin's cover. Kaiba could find himself reading them, even though he consciously did not know what they meant._

"_The Pharaoh Atem. The greatest ruler Egypt ever had, and a man whom the Gods themselves bowed to."_

_The Priest then gave him a gentle push in the direction of the eastern wall._

_Next to it was a small urn. _

_On the wall itself, the hieroglyphs read "The ashes of Aknadin, and his son Seto, who were both killed in the battle against Zorc Necrophades. Their misguided actions nearly resulted in the destruction of Egypt."_

_Kaiba then turned, feeling the Priest's cold glare on his back._

"_This is how history remembers us," he uttered once. Then, everything around him seemed to meld into nothingness, and Kaiba felt himself grow weightless._

_He uttered a short curse, but then he jerked awake in the chair._

_So, a dream. He shook his head. He tried not to think of dreams much. They were, after all, thoughts that did not matter enough to come to one during the day, when one was cognizant of them.  
_

_He decided to abandon his attempts at sleep._

_He had to do something now. Perhaps a phone call to a certain CEO of Industrial Illusions would shed light on some matters._

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

_Kaiba was alone in a room in the underground Eagle bunker._

_He had never felt this alone and angry. Both Yami and him – no, he corrected himself, him and Yami – had unloaded some venom in the direction of Nakamura and Zerato,but what difference would it really make?He was still unable to do anything of substance._

_He had just given his all in Europe, stretched himself to his limits both on and off the dueling field. Yet he had only been able to achieve just about a bare semblance of a positive result. Finding out information about Paradias was only worth so much when he came to realize that Kyle Gardner was actually dead._

_The truth was that Kaiba had grown a bit fond of the boy, at least as fond as Seto Kaiba could be of someone who was not his girlfriend or brother: grudgingly respectful. He reminded Kaiba a bit of himself as a kid: headstrong and someone who could not be intimidated._

_His death would hit Tea very hard, but it actually had a deeper effect on Kaiba._

_He would never forget the duel against Dartz, where he had practically exhausted all options available to him and was yet unable to beat the Atlantian prince. It was like pounding a brick wall with your bare hands, until you broke all your fingers and shredded the skin of your knuckles, only to find that just a small amount of red dust had collected at your feet, and the wall was literally sneering in your face._

_He had practically given up by then. He had no way left to win, and not the energy left to look Death in the eye when it came to claim him._

_Then Kyle had put together one of the most miraculous sequences of moves that Kaiba had ever seen anyone just wouldn't let up. He threw wave after wave of his magicians at the Great Leviathan, and when nothing succeeded he suddenly realized it was not the monster that needed to be beaten, but the duelist._

_And beat the duelist he did. Through the sixteen year old's sheer know-how and unwillingness to give up, the Atlantian lay defeated._

_Not through Kaiba's ability. __Kyle's_.

_If Kaiba had gone on to beat Marik in the final duel, perhaps his ego wouldn't have taken so big of a blow. But he hadn't. It had been Yami, and all Kaiba had done was just stand by and let two other men _save_ him by defeating the biggest threats to his existence and that of the world's._

_And now one of his _saviors _was dead. How did that work? If he was able to do something Kaiba was not, and he was no longer alive, did that mean Kaiba was worse than dead? How worthless could he get?_

_Yami, of course, remained. He was like an everlasting presence, taunting Kaiba, reminding him of his weakness. And time and again, Kaiba had been unable to disprove him._

_He fell into a restless sleep again, his mind no longer able to sustain such things._

_Again, when he awoke he was not in the same room he had fallen asleep._

_This one was quite familiar though. It was his office in the Kaiba Corp. tower in Domino._

_He was sitting in a place he was unaccustomed to: the visitor's chair. Because of this, he was facing the window._

_Down there, he could see fires burning all over the place. Few buildings were left standing, and no one seemed to be alive and walking the land. _

_He murmured a curse to himself, and then noticed someone sitting in _his _seat._

_He was about to raise a protest, when he noticed that the other person _was_ him. _

_It was Seto Kaiba sitting in the other chair. Kaiba whirled around in shock to check in the mirror what his face looked like. Was it possible that he was someone else, and his own body was sitting across form him? No, he looked unchanged. Haggard, and seemingly defeated, but quite definitely Seto Kaiba._

_So there were two Seto Kaibas in this room now._

_The other one was dressed in Kaiba's other favorite trench coat, a deep purple one. He had a long scar on his right cheek, and a gun was strapped to his waist._

_Kaiba froze. This was surreal._

"_So you finally decided to make it here," growled Seto._

_Kaiba just stared at him, before finally asking, "Where am I?"_

_Seto stood up and walked over to the window._

"_Don't be stupid. Where does it look like you are? You're in my office."_

"_This is _my _office," replied Kaiba automatically._

_His clone turned around and looked him directly in the eye. "No. Your office is light years away. Hundreds of billions of light years away. Right now, we're in my office. Don't argue with me on that anymore, all right?"_

_Kaiba shrugged. "Whatever floats your boat."_

"_I wish," replied Seto bitterly. "If I had had even the slightest modicum of the ability to do whatever I thought I wanted, maybe we wouldn't be having this discussion."_

_Kaiba didn't say anything for a minute._

_Then, he dared, "What happened?"_

_He got no response for some time. He did not follow it up. He knew himself. Repeated attempts could not get an answer out of him. Only patience._

_Seto turned around to face him again._

"_This is the year 2016."_

_Kaiba did not respond. He had been to the past enough times. Going to the future was not something that had a big impact on his emotions._

"_Near the beginning of 2010, I had a duel with Sylar, aka Tristan Taylor. That duel left me with _this_."_

_He pointed up to his face, where the enormous and ugly scar remained._

"_I was also in a coma for six weeks. When I woke up, pretty much everyone I knew was dead. Well, except for Yugi Moto. Apocalypse and the Legion had ravaged the planet to the extent that no major city was left standing. I was in too much of a mess when I woke up to really hope to help in any way. The Council hid me in their healing chambers while the war raged on. _

"_As no one he knew was alive, the Council felt they could afford induct Yugi as some sort of honorary Council member to help in the battle. He's pretty much a demi-God now, and about the most powerful being in existence not on Apocalypse's side."_

_Kaiba noticed that he had not said 'our side'. He had said 'not on Apocalypse's side.' That implied there was a third party in this._

"_The Council has more or less forgotten about this planet. The entire galaxy is now their battleground. Every day, for six years, the Legion, Apocalypse and the Council have been fighting through space to decide the fate of existence. You know who's the most key figure in it all? _Yugi. _If he doesn't defeat Apocalypse, well, there's no way anyone survives."_

_He laughed bitterly again. "Not like there's much to live for."_

_He then began pacing back to the desk. "I returned to Earth four years ago. About ten million people are alive. The planet is still crawling with members of the Legion. We've had to band together in a makeshift resistance. We've gaine a small advantage over the last few months, and if this keeps up we may be able to kill most of the remaining Legion still on Earth."_

_He shook his head sadly._

"_And for what? Even if he cleanse our own planet, it could still be wiped out at any second if Yugi screws up and lets Apoclaypse end it all."_

_Seto leaned across the table and grabbed Kaiba's collar._

"_I've lived through this hell long enough. I just can't do this anymore. The idea of having my very existence hanging in the balance of someone else's whims has become too much for me. I'm sure you can understand that, can't you?"_

_Kaiba continued to remain silent._

_Seto pulled the gun from his belt._

"_I'm a broken man. Fear has killed me. The question is…"_

_He put it to his head._

"_Will it kill you as well?"_

_He pulled the trigger._

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

_Kaiba jerked awake again, screaming._

_His entire body shook uncontrollably, and he rocked back and forth for a minute until his voice was hoarse._

_This was not a dream. No. It was far too intense and vivid._

_The question was… What _was _it?_

_It was like someone had pulled him forward across a corridor that was time and let him look into the peephole of the future._

_He calmed down sufficiently to pour himself a cold glass of water. As he drank, he made a conscious decision._

_Whether or not the future he had witnessed was real, he would never_, ever _let himself get into that kind of position._

_Deep down, to Seto Kaiba was Seto Kaiba. And truly, he did not feel ashamed for it. In their heart of hearts, everyone truly cared about themselves the most. Self-preservation was man's most primal instinct._

_This alternate timeline would remain alternate. It would not come to be._

_With that thought, Kaiba began a process that would change the very nature of the path that Time was taking. The fabric of the Universe was being affected by Kaiba's decision._

_He knew what needed to be done. So, he began planning._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kaiba had not planned to challenge Yugi as soon as this. But the latest dream had proved too much. He _had _ to know. Was he ready?

And as he stared down Slifer the Sky Dragon, he felt he was. All the planning had finally come to fruitition. It was time to show how.

He spread his arms out, and laughed brazenly as the wind picked up around him.

This day was made for Seto Kaiba.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**See?**

**I don't want to say anything else. Just please review, I'm going to update as soon as possible. Very hyped by writing this.**


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